Soundtrack vinyl label Mondo offers a killer new expanded release this week that'll make even the staunchest opponent to selling, buying or processing anything reconsider their position: the stirring soundtrack to 1989 romantic comedy Say Anything...
Already lauded for his teenaged work as a journalist for Rolling Stone (which inspired his 2000 film Almost Famous) and the book-turned-'80s film classic Fast Times At Ridgemont High, screenwriter Cameron Crowe made his directorial debut with this unlikely hit about a high school valedictorian (Ione Skye) who falls for an underachieving misfit classmate (Jon Cusack).
The film's mixture of sweetness and drama - a constant presence in Crowe's filmography - was bolstered by a powerful mixtape of a soundtrack album featuring popular cuts by Living Colour, Depeche Mode and The Replacements, plus a handful of originals like opener "All for Love," performed by Crowe's then-wife Nancy Wilson of Heart. The film's arguable musical highlight is Peter Gabriel's already-released "In Your Eyes" from the hit 1986 album So, which plays in a pivotal scene when Cusack's Lloyd Dobler serenades his beloved by holding a boombox over his head on top of a car roof.
Mondo's new vinyl reissue - pressed on 180-gram vinyl on either red or black wax - will feature 16 pages of new liner notes and unseen photos in the packaging, plus a disc of extra material including tracks by Aerosmith, Soundgarden and Fishbone; a live version of "In Your Eyes"; and, for the first time ever, Wilson's "Joe Lies" demos created for Lloyd's friend Corey Flood (Lili Taylor).
This release, available to pre-order starting at 12 p.m. CST on February 3, marks a new partnership between Mondo and Crowe's own Vinyl Films imprint. Future projects are planned for 2021, including vinyl versions of Crowe's Singles (previously expanded by Legacy Recordings in 2017) and, in its first time on the format, Jerry Maguire.
The full track list is below.
Say Anything...: Expanded Motion Picture Soundtrack (Vinyl Films/Mondo, 2021)
LP 1: Original album (released as WTG Records P 45140, 1989)
- All for Love - Nancy Wilson
- Cult of Personality (Live) - Living Colour
- One Big Rush - Joe Satriani
- You Want It - Cheap Trick
- Taste the Pain - Red Hot Chili Peppers
- In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel
- Stripped (Live) - Depeche Mode
- Skankin' to the Beat - Fishbone
- Within Your Reach - The Replacements
- Keeping the Dream Alive - Freheit
- Lloyd Dobler Rap - John Cusack
LP 2: Bonus tracks and demos
- Take Five - Dave Brubeck
- Toy Box - Soundgarden
- Back in the Saddle - Aerosmith
- Brandy (You're a Fine Girl) - Looking Glass
- Turn the Other Way - Fishbone
- A Girl Like You (Demo) - The Smithereens
- Sit Down I Think I Love You (Demo) - Nancy Wilson
- The Joe Lies Demos: He Hurts Me/That Will Never Be Me/He Cries/Man Child - Nancy Wilson
- In Your Eyes (Live) - Peter Gabriel
Jason Bellenger says
FYI. "In Your Eyes" was actually a hit in America. It hit No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1986 (including No. 1 Rock) and No. 41 in 1989 (No. 39 in both sales and airplay).
DJPaulySLC says
Ordered it, along with The Big Lebowski Soundtrack. Thanks for the heads up!