🎶 ALBUM VAULT #216 🎶
SOUNDTRACK MONDAY
Good Morning, Vietnam – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack — 10/10
💿 Plex Server
This one is just flat-out fun.
The movie is Robin Williams at full speed as Adrian Cronauer, the Armed Forces Radio DJ dropped into Vietnam in 1965. The crazy part? A lot of those radio bits were improvised by Robin. That is exactly why they still feel so alive.
And that is what makes this soundtrack so good.
It isn’t just a pile of old songs.
You get Robin’s Adrian Cronauer bits woven right through the album, so it almost feels like you are listening to the radio station from the movie.
The movie itself was a huge hit too, pulling in about $123.9 million in the U.S. and Canada on a reported $13 million budget. The soundtrack reached #10 on the Billboard 200, went to #1 in Australia, and eventually went platinum in the U.S.
And the music is fantastic:
- Martha Reeves & The Vandellas – “Nowhere to Run” – Great Motown opener. Originally a #8 U.S. hit.
- The Beach Boys – “I Get Around” – Pure summer. Went all the way to #1.
- Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders – “The Game of Love” – Another #1 U.S. hit.
- The Searchers – “Sugar and Spice” – Great British Invasion track. #44 U.S., #2 UK.
- The Castaways – “Liar, Liar” – Garage-rock fun and a #12 U.S. hit.
- The Beach Boys – “The Warmth of the Sun” – Beautiful track. It was the B-side of “Dance, Dance, Dance.”
- James Brown – “I Got You (I Feel Good)” – Come on. You hear that scream and you already know. #3 U.S.
- Them – “Baby Please Don’t Go” – Young Van Morrison. Didn’t quite crack the Hot 100, peaking at #102.
- The Marvelettes – “Danger Heartbreak Dead Ahead” – More Motown. #61 U.S.
- The Vogues – “Five O’Clock World” – Great song. #4 U.S.
- The Rivieras – “California Sun” – Pure garage/surf rock. #5 U.S.
- Louis Armstrong – “What a Wonderful World” – The perfect ending. The movie gave the song a whole new life, and the 1988 reissue reached #32 on the Hot 100.
But honestly, the thing that makes this a 10/10 for me is Robin.
Those little comedy breaks between the songs turn a really good oldies soundtrack into something completely different.
He was a legend.
Gone way too soon.
But man, hearing him on this album still makes me smile.
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