Bandsplain - SOUNDTRACK: ‘Pretty in Pink’ With Rob Harvilla

Episode Date: July 30, 2026

Rob Harvilla joins Yasi to revisit the music of the John Hughes coming-of-age classic ‘Pretty in Pink.’ They discuss the film’s defining mix of new wave and college rock, the eponymous Psychedelic Furs song and its misinterpretation, the ’80s classics that were written specifically for the movie, and why ‘Pretty in Pink’ remains one of the decade’s essential soundtracks. CREDITS:Host: Yasi Salek @yasisalekGuest: Rob Harvilla @harvillaProducer: Rob SundermannEditor: Adrian BridgesAdditional Production Supervision: Justin SaylesTheme Song: Bethany Cosentino Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's with this band anyway? I don't get it. Can you please explain? Wait, like, Bansplain? Hello and welcome to Bandsplain. I am your host, Yossi Sallick. This is usually a show where I invite an expert guest on to help me explain a cult band or iconic artist. But today, we are in the midst of our ongoing best 80s soundtrack series. And today's episode is about Pretty and Pink.

Welcome to another day of higher education. My guest today, you guys, he's still the duck. It's Rob Parvilla. Bobby Harvilles. I think we're going to unpack what that means to be the duck precisely. That's a very loaded term. There's a lot there, I think, that we need to get into. I'm honored and also concerned to be your duck.

I would be glad to, but I don't know if I understand exactly what my role is. I can say you were my duck. I just said you were still the duck. The world. Okay. That's better. That makes more sense. Rob, I'm going to put on my Sean Fennessee hat, my Sean Fennessee Cajmere sweater and say programming note.

Get some brook cream. Yeah, exactly. Yes. But my programming note is nothing like theirs because I am flying by the seat of my pants, as always. So when I say we're in the midst of our 80s soundtrack series, That can mean anything. That can mean this week is an 80s soundtrack and next week is something totally different. Or maybe next week there'll be another 80s soundtrack.

Actually, I'm lying. I know that next week is another 80s soundtrack. It's Times Square. So you guys, for the people that have been grumbling about the lack of guitar rock music on this program, I think this episode should please you as will Times Square, one of the least known but I think best coolest rock soundtrack. that we have. The rockists are after you?

The rockists are tired of all the... They're tired of Madonna. Manufactured pop. Yeah, they're tired of working girls. They're not allies. They don't believe women should be in the workforce. They don't care for Carly Simon. It's a lot.

There's a lot to deal with, you know. Right. Maybe they just don't like Staten Island. I don't know. There's a lot of that coming around too. There's a local regionalism. But I think Pretty and Pink is a crowd pleaser. And I was thrilled. I was thrilled that you chose it. We got into a little debate on the episode I did with Chris Defer Ryan and Sean about we tried to sort of make it, I think we failed, honestly, but we tried to make an 80s soundtrack Hall of Fame. And Chris was really lobbying hard for Ferris Bueller's Day Off as the entry, the John Hughes entry. But here's the thing. I think what we're,

we landed on is that one didn't really have a commercially released soundtrack, so already a notch against it. And I still kind of think Pretty and Pink's more major. I would agree with Chris on the grounds that the single greatest musical moment in a John Hughes film for me is the Ferris Bueller, the instrumental version of please, please, please, let me get what I want when the kids are going. That's the best. That's the best. That's right. Yes, that is my favorite musical cue in a John Hughes film. But I think that what Ferris Bueller doesn't have is a don't you forget about me or, you know, the OMD here or the Pretty and Pink here for that matter. Like I understand both sides of that argument. I have a very sentimental attachment to the whole Ferris Bueller soundtrack,

but it was less a thing that you bought on CD or tape. It didn't exist until 2016. It didn't exist. So it's disqualified. But also, we'll get into it. We settled it. We settled. I think Pridian Pink is more major. And I think, to be honest and to my own detriment or discredit, I didn't realize until I was sort of deep diving that the bulk of this soundtrack was songs written explicitly and exclusively for this film. Maybe not exclusively, but explicitly. Like they were original creations by these bands made for this film, which is so fucking cool and so rare. And we used to be a proper country, et cetera. Like, you just don't get that that much anymore.

I guess you do, like, one track by a Taylor Swift or whatever to, but you don't, you very rarely get an entire soundtrack full of, like, new music from bands that are, I don't know, I was very, I was very pleased with that information. No, like, a Black Panther or an, I saw the TV glow was really struck me in that way. Like, it's as a throwback to exactly this 80s or 90s, like bespoke, you know, until I hear it from me. you. I don't know if that gin blossom song was specifically for them, but you know what I mean. It for Empire Records? We know what we mean. Yes. It was. Okay. There we go. There we go. But yeah, it's it's the music fits really well. Even the old music, even the music that obviously was super preexisting. Like it's recontextualized really beautifully by this movie and it becomes part of this movie. Like it, it doesn't feel just thrown together. There's a lot of intention and a lot of logic behind

even the pre-existing jams that appear on the soundtrack or not on the soundtrack. Like, you can build an entirely separate soundtrack of like, try a little tenderness, you know, et cetera. Like, there's an entire, there's an entire second string, you know, that wasn't on the tape or whatever, but it's just important, as important to the movie as what did make it on the official soundtrack. I couldn't agree more, Rob Harvilla, and I'm so pleased that we're on the same page. Yes.

Because it's Bion's plane, you already know I'm going to. go ahead and talk about John Hughes's history. But just a light one, because I think that's important. So I won't go all the way back to the ad agencies or whatever. But his film career, I guess, like, so he had done, he had written vacation, National Ampoon's family vacation, but I think it's, you know, often known as vacation. It was based on a short story he wrote for the National Ampoon, one of the greatest common days of all time, and also Mr. Mom, but they hadn't, I guess he had written them,

but they hadn't come out yet because they both came out in 83. Also, Mr. Mom were really great movie. In 82, that's when he made a deal with A&M films to direct his script that was like kind of like working title, the detention script, which was about five kids from five different social groups who are confined to the library of Shermer High for a single Saturday. Let's fucking go. Yeah. Apparently. Apparently. Apparently, Shermerville was an area in that Chicago, the Chicagoans are going to kill me, because I don't remember exactly where he actually went to high school. But they're very understanding people, Chicagoans historically.

They don't mind if you biff the geography of Chicago at all. Very, very laid back. Well, hence, Shermer being the place. And I guess I thought it was interesting that it got, you know, they were like, we're going to make this. You have one million dollar budget, which is like five cents, even back then. And then he was like, what if it's bad?

What if that's my one thing that I put out on? It's bad. So let me just write one more Shermer story about a teenage girl whose family in the fevered run-up

to her older sister's wedding forgets all about her 16th birthday, 16 candles. And that one, they were like, yes, we would like to put that one out.

We were excited about that one. and that is how Molly Ringwald comes into the picture because they were going through headshots looking for breakfast club, you know, actors, and John Hughes stopped on Molly Ringwald's picture and was like, you know what, this is my girl. And that he wrote 16 candles looking at her picture, being like, talk about, you know,

musdom. Right. And it's not creepy. It has the potential to be creepy, but like, I'm sure we will discuss in detail, you know, the intensity of this relationship and sort of the long tale of how we think about these movies and the way Molly Ringwald has sort of grappled with these movies. But there is something fundamentally very sweet about this muse type relationship, which is going to carry over into Pretty and Pink. But it seems there's something very genuine about it that allows for even like the super awkwardness of just the reality of what this is. This is a dude. Like, how old is John Hughes when he's writing?

I mean, they make him sound super old, but I think he's like 35 or something. Like 32. I don't know. And she's 15. She's a teenager. Like, what are, how many actual teenagers are in the breakfast club? Because one thing that strikes me about Pretty and Pink, it's okay. So everyone else is like in their early 20s as you are in a high school movie.

I mean, I think Judd Nelson looked straight up third. 31 years old, but I don't know how old he was. But yeah, I think it was just, I think it was only Anthony, Michael Green and and Montrey-Wald who were like actually 15 years old. And I think the other ones might have been a little bit older, although I'm not totally sure because I don't look it up. It's all right. No, it's fine. We're riffing, babe.

We're making stuff up as we go. Magic. Ali Sheedy is going to write us a letter and be like, excuse me, actually, I was also quite young. She will shake her dandruff into the age. No, she was older. She was six years older. So she was already 21, not that old. Oh, wow.

I would have thought, yeah, just, I'm sure based on the breakfast club, her being that much older than Molly Ringwald is very jarred to me. I would have thought of them as, you know, twins totally illogically. So, yeah, that's a fun thing about high school movies is the age variance. Of course. He was like 45 at that point, I think. Yeah, he was, he was. as a grandfather.

Rob, have you ever been The Muse for a film? Not that I'm aware of. It could be happening right now. It could be a work in progress. It could be happening right now. I've had people who I've dated remark upon my similarity to John Cusack in high fidelity, which is not a comparison you want made. You know, that's not ideal.

That's not a compliment. That's not something to aspire to. challenging. He's a challenging man. He is. He's growing up before our eyes. As are we all. As are, as am I still. Not to my knowledge. How about you? I have to, what famous movie is actually based on you, Yasi? I'm sure this exists. Shockingly, none yet. But if filmmakers are out there listening, I'm available for musdom and to- If anyone in Los Angeles. Co-star. It's time. Of course. for my Hollywood turn. I've been saying that, yeah. Famously, Hollywood is very receptive

to 44-year-old women on Janus. So I can't wait for that for me. Well, back to Molly Ringwald, who was not 44, she was 15. They met, and they, like, immediately bonded her and John Hughes. They have the same exact birthday, February 18th.

They're both of various. Oh, that's nice. That is nice. And 16 candles came out in 1984. for. Molly Ringwald said when they first met, she was like, he was like, unlike any other director I had ever met, he had spiky hair and these crazy sneakers. We really clicked and got along immediately. They bonded over music. Did you read this as well? I had the vague sense, yes, that, you know, yes, a little bit. I was aware that, you know, they're

trading tapes or whatever, yeah. So I guess after the Breakfast Club came out, which was in 1985, also featuring Molly Ringwald, Then he wrote Pretty and Pink also for her to be Andy. And she had been, so she's from California and she's a child actor, so she had been in L.A. for a long time. And what we have in L.A. is a little radio station called K. Rock. And back then... Heard of it. Heard of it, maybe on this program, maybe a billion times. Back then, K. Rock was playing all the coolest English and UK and Irish.

import bands. Like, it was kind of like that was the vibe, right? Like Depeche Mode and they were like kind of early in playing all this stuff. And so she was very into the psychedelic furs, particularly the song, Pretty and Pink. And she showed that song to John Hughes. And that sort of inspired the title and kind of the concept of her being this like girl who always wore pink, which I think is very cute. I have to say, and maybe you were aware of this, but I was not. I was not. In rewatching the movie for the billionth time, I had never realized pretty and pink, the song is pretty mean. Yes. Like, it's, it's, it's, and it's, it's not even a criticism.

Like, it's just a fact. Like, this is a song about a promiscuous woman. No, Nellie Furtado. Yes. I don't think Richard Butler thought it was so cute. I mean, I don't think he hated it, but he was like, this song, I think his, his, his, direct quote was it's about a girl who sleeps around a lot and feels like she benefits from it, whereas in reality, people are talking and laughing behind her back.

Oh, boy. Pretty in pink is naked. Yes, yes. Pretty and pink in this song means naked. And so there's something very sweet about the fact that Molly Ringwald suggests this song to John Hughes. And John Hughes takes this song, which is a mean song about a promiscuous naked lady, and writes a movie for Molly Ringwald called Pretty and Pink in which she is Pretty and Pink. Like he takes it, it's like a catastrophically literal misinterpretation of like a mean adult song as like a childlike sort of fairy tale song, which strikes me as really poignant. Because like what is being a teenager if it isn't like not a child.

understanding what you're looking at and like everything being over your head like i the foundation of this song being a misinterpretation of what the song is and what like being a teenager or an adult is like it's almost it's a little it's beautiful to me the misunderstanding at the core of this movie yeah i like that interpretation a lot and also in in um molly ringwald and john hues's defense if you don't like closely read the lyrics the song is like very romantic and sweet in feeling, you know. His voice, right, exactly. Yeah.

Even like the, well, nothing you can touch. Like, when I listen to it, it sounds sweet. It sounds romantic. It sounds like at the very least, he is sympathetic. Towards this slutty girl. That's what, that's his word. He said, isn't she easy? Isn't she easy?

Yeah. It's rough. It's rough. It's rough. It was a different time, I guess. It was okay to. to write songs like that. We should mention John Hughes

did not direct Pretty and Pink, which was kind of, that's the first of this trilogy that he doesn't direct, because he did 16 Candles and Breakfast Club himself, right? Yes. As a director, do you feel like this film

Pretty and Pink is visually lacking or just different as a result of this? I guess I should have re-watched Breakfast Club and, and fixing candles next to it to it to sort of compare. I enjoyed pretty impink when I rewatched. I didn't find the directing to be particularly lacking, but what do you think?

It's not fancy. I mean, yeah. I mean, I don't think we're not talking about Christopher Nolan here, right? Like, you just point the cameras at the teenagers or noticeably not teenagers and just roll with it. You know, it's not like there's an epic style that is lacking here. But it is interesting.

Why didn't he direct it? Do you know why John Hughes did not direct this? There's like various theories. I mean, one that one might presume, although I didn't dive deep into like the timelines, but didn't Ferris Bueller come out the same year? I don't know that for a fact. But this is a very compressed period of time. Yeah, I think so.

Ferris Bueller comes out also in 86. So I'm like maybe he was busy doing that. Also, there was some speculation on Molly Ringwald's part in an interview of that because her and Anthony Michael Hall struck up a relationship during breakfast club that perhaps he was put off by that. Not, I mean, I don't think because he had a sexual interest in her, nothing like that, but more like, I mean, her, her idea was like that perhaps he wasn't, it's a very funny idea if it's true. And John Hughes died many years ago, but. Yeah. And she gave this interview after he had passed away, so he had no way to rebut or rebut.

No. Rebut? Rebutte. Rebutte is how they say it in France. That he was so attached to his characters and their arcs that he was like upset that it went against what his video. Like she ends up with Emilio Estevez's character. Like right? Isn't that that that's the jock and the beauty?

Who ends up to get? No, she ends up with a, sorry, Bender, duh. So it's like he's supposed to be with the bad boy, but she actually in real life starts dating the nerd. And that was just her speculation. Anyways, we don't know. Either way, Howard Deutsch is who directed Pretty and Pink. He does some kind of wonderful right after. He is the father of the actress Zoe Deutsch.

Is that true? Wow. Yeah, that is true. And also. And the celebrity sex pass. Yeah. In a new film that I've heard is really good, but I haven't seen it. And also the son of the president of United Artists' Records at the time.

And he started out directing music videos. He did flesh for fantasy by Billy Idol, for example. Well, that's nice. You're saying he's a nepo baby. I'm saying he's a bit of a nepo baby. And then has yielded another nepo baby, and that's so fine. My father was the president of a record label. You could bet your bottom dollar.

I would have been doing many things with that availability. My father worked in fire insecurities and not a lot of room for me in that field. to shine. Did you do like an internship or something? Did you consider it? No, but I've told this or anything on the podcast. Famously, one time he tricked me into going for a job interview that I thought was a lunch with my like, his like good friend from college who was like basically like my aunt who worked

at SoCal Edison. And I showed up like ready to go to lunch with my aunt. And she was like, why aren't you wearing a suit? And I was wearing like a leather jacket and jeans. And I was like, I'm sorry. And she was like, have a seat. And then the HR woman came in. and they brought lunch in and the lady goes,

so why do you want to work in energy? And I was like, mm-hmm. And then I just said, you know, I've always been really interested in sustainable resources. I just had to like fucking do theater

all of a setting. So I was like, didn't want to humiliate my aunt. It was a guerrilla job interview that I was set up on. That's really rude of your father. It's like, I don't want to buy anything sold or process.

I don't want to sell anything bought a price. Yeah, like that's, you don't, a job interview ambush. is not a thing that works in theory or in practice. It was rough. Did you get the job? I didn't because that job didn't exist.

But the lady, the HR lady was like, wow, that's like, you know, totally I hear you. She's like, we don't have any openings in that department right now. They're keeping my mind. And then I was like, okay. Nice jacket. Yeah. We've digressed. Let's talk about Pretty and Pink in real time.

Did you see it in the theater? You're like a couple of years older than me. But you would still have been. 86, right? Yeah, I was four, so I didn't see in the theater. I was eight. I don't think so. I do not have a conscious memory of seeing any of these movies in theaters.

I think that I was a little too young. Yeah, same. And I think that's actually importance to my experience. Like, I understood this to be the high school experience of people older than me. Not much older than me, but just enough that I didn't see them in theaters. And I don't look at these people and think that I'm in the same generation as them. I have this crystal clear memory of being in grade school, in Catholic grade school. And I was in second or third grade.

It was the last day of school. And the sixth graders who were graduating were all sitting in a room watching Ferris Bueller's Day Off. And I understood that that was like the adult. That was their passage into teenagerdom was happening right there. And I was not a part of it. And so I came to these movies later. I have to assume just VHS or whatever. And I watched them a billion times.

like everybody did, but it was never quite my generation or my experience. Did you see? You didn't. No, of course you didn't. I was a small child. I was a small child. I don't actually don't even really remember my first viewing of it. I think it's kind of one of those movies that like I don't remember not having seen.

You're born. Yeah. Exactly. Yes. Because it's such like a middle school, probably like sleepovers, you know, like I remember it. I thought they were so cool. Yes.

I was like. Who did you? Did you have like a face? Favorite? Like, were you drawn, like, of the Breakfast Club? Like, did you have, like, is that a movie that you watch and you, you, you mind meld with one person specifically? Are you supposed to walk out of that? Yeah, isn't it kind of, like, meant to be like, here are the archetypes? Which one are you, like, a boy band or something, you know? Exactly. Right. Okay. I always really liked Ali Shudu's character. Sure.

She was, like, a kind of a precursor to the manic pixie dream girl, you know, although she was a little more mentally ill. I think then. Oh my God, I haven't seen Breakfast Club in a long time. But is that another one of those movies where then they make her look normal at the end? And they're like, wow. That's what I was going to say. Like, there's a very sort of hilarious, like, borderline insulting, like, yassified effect that she gets at the end. And that if you see this movie referenced on, like, Twitter, you know, several years ago, I guess now, like, they would show her at the beginning and her at the end.

Like, it's sort of a version of the. girl takes her glasses off and she's hot now. Her ponytail and glasses. She's all that. Exactly. Yeah. What about you? Did you, were you like, I am John Bender? See, they were too old for me to even, I mean, Anthony Michael Hall by default, I guess. Chicks can't handle the smoke. Is that his big line? Like, that was, I thought he was funny. Like, Emilio Estevez, he would have beaten me up, right? He's the wrestling, you know, know he's a surprisingly good dancer in the end but it's like no i can't say i identified with the principal more than everything more than anything like just the thing where like the the chair is too

heavy for the door you know and like then there's door shuts of the chair like that's the kind of thing that i would do like even as even as an eight-year-old it's like i am probably the closest in spirit to the lame old man in this movie and i should not think very hard about what that Paul Gleason for my future was the actor's name. Okay. He was also on All My Children. He passed away. Sure.

Many years ago, actually. Well, let's get into, let's more get into this film. It did not crack the top 10 films of 1986. Would you like to know what the top 10 films of 1986 were? I bet you can guess what. Where's Ferris Bueller? Number 10. Oh, all right, so I guessed one.

I'm bad with specific years, what, Back to the Future is 85, 84. Yeah, that's not in this one, but I'll tell you one, and it involves Tom Clues and an airplane. Oh, okay. All right, okay. Speaking of soundtracks. Yeah. Of distinction.

So a real yin and yang here. Okay. Okay. That's lovely. Yeah. So Top Gun was No. No. Number two, Crocodile Dundee.

Have you ever heard of it? Is that, that's shrimp on the Barbie? That's right. Number two. Number two, can you believe it? Is that shrimp on the Barbie? Only two million dollars less than Top Gun. People fucking love, I am dead.

One, 176.8 million top gun, 174.8 million Crocodile Dundee. People loved that Australian man and his wrangling of crocodiles. Sure. That's not a knife. Yeah. Okay. Good for him. Good for them.

Platoon. I saw the sequel. in a movie theater. I saw the back to Crocodile Dundee too, like back to Manhattan or whatever it was called. It's not as good. Crocodile Dundee, too fast, too furious. Yeah. That was good.

Yes. I didn't see it. But I believe you. Platoon is number three. A feel good movie. Sure. Number four, the karate kid part two. Oh. Then Star Trek 4, the Voyage home. Back to school. I don't remember

Badney Dangerfield Oh yes What a fucking film actually Oh my God What a great movie Number six is impressive I would have gotten this Completely wrong

It beat aliens Aliens Aliens number seven Okay The Golden Child Oh okay All right I would have guessed that was higher

Eddie Murphy Yeah that's a great movie Yeah And then ruthless people One of my personal All-time faves Number nine and then Ferris Bueller number 10.

But Pretty and Pink had the number three highest-selling soundtrack. Sure. Yeah, I think. Highest selling or at least most highest charting. So that's very cool. It did really okay, I think. In the domestic gross, we talked about it, it was like $40 million or something. And then it didn't cost a lot to make.

It was. I was going to say. It's not like there's a lot of CGI million dollars. Sure. And, well, should we say the rough plot line? Sure. I will jump in. Andy Walsh is a working class high school student who is a bit of an outcast amongst her more affluent peers at her high school.

She must navigate the dueling affections of her best friend Ducky, played by John Cryer, and the popular rich boy, Blaine, by Andrew McCarthy. They do not name people Blaine anymore. Have you noticed that? Blaine is such, like, the most rich 80s guide name that I've ever heard.

And I don't think I've ever seen another Blaine sense. Yeah, it's like every year, like when they're like, their lacrosse championships, people just list the rosters of lacrosse teams. And it's, I think any Blaine that you're going to find

in society in 20, 26 is playing lacrosse and is like actually nailing that job interview in energy. Yeah, that's, that's a very blame. And like, it's so close to bland that it's almost suspicious. You know what I mean? Like, yeah, yeah. Just so you know, I googled it and it ranks number 8,475 in the baby named data tracker. Out of what?

Well, out of every, out of all of them, I think. Sure. Okay. Like for this year. Yes. Blaine is the... Or for like last year, I suppose. Okay.

And then also really notably, her father, who I think were meant to bully of a sort of a bit of a deadbeat in terms of work. And also pining for the loss of Andy's mother who left the family is played by the late great Harry Dean Stanton. What a casting on that one. It's pretty incredible. Like, Molly Ringwald is really excellent in this movie, like, legitimately as an actress. But, like, her scenes with him, there's a noticeable sort of shift in, like, tone and ability. It's not like anybody in this movie is, like, bad in their role. But, like, he is, like, an actor-ass actor, you know, compared to anybody else in this movie.

And it's, like, really effectively so in that he's, like, the dead be dead. And he's, like, confined to his house. And it works, you know, it's like you're watching Paris, Texas with Molly Ringwald in it for like five minutes at a time. And it's awesome. Totally. He's great. And also, we should also note some secondary characters played by the world's best mean, rich 80s guy, James Spader. He's so good at that role.

Why is he so good? He is. He was born to play that. He also, he was born to play that part. It's another sort of poignant thing about this movie for me is that, again, Molly Ringwald, I think, is the only actual teenager in it. Correct. Like, my brain refused to process the idea that James Spader was attending this high school. Do you know what I'm saying?

Like, he looks like he's 35. You know, it's crazy. He's only two years older than her. No kidding. He's two years older than Molly Ringwald? Wow. Okay. But I think it's like his, like, his, first of all, has just cheek.

bones, but also, like, he's wearing a suit at all times, like, a linen suit with, like, Miami Vice unbuttoning. And, like, you're like, what 18-year-old kid dress like that? But, again, I wasn't in high school in 80s. If you are to believe Brady Sinalis and or this film, a lot of them did. Is he, I just level with me, Yasi, is he the, the hottest person in this movie, in your opinion? Yeah.

I figured. Well, Molly Ringwald is pretty exceptionally beautiful. also of course but like of the dudes like of the potential people who are vying for molly ringwold's affections like just anecdotally it seems the internet in 2026 is like screw all these other people she should just end up with james spader like that's obviously the right call despite his personality god off yeah yeah um and i yeah this is neither here nor there but um the blacklist was a beloved show of mine and i did watch every single season i believe that is it over yeah i think it ended believe that was still transpiring.

Red Redddington? Do I have that right? Okay. Yeah. Does he prevail at the end? We can just spoil it. Like, does he get away? I don't remember.

Okay. That's fine. That's for the best. It feels like he would have, right? They're not going to end that show being like he went to jail. No, no. Because that would be a bummer, you know? Good for him.

Yeah. Raymond Reddington. Anyway. Raymond Redding. Excuse me. Yeah. But I think they called him red. So you're correct.

Okay. All right. And then of course, Annie Potts, who plays Iona, her mentor, her boss at the record store, her sort of older protector figure, who is very cool. The quirky best friend who is also weirdly a mentor and who is like pining for high school in a way that's very strange to me, given that there are high school students who look older than she does. Like the idea that we're supposed to register her as like impossibly old and like having done drugs in the 60s. And like she's she's singing like Copa Cabana or whatever while everybody else is into psychedelic fur. It's like, yeah, it's, I was having trouble processing her as far in a way the oldest non-father figure in Molly Ringwald's life. But like her entire arc is that she misses high school, which happened for her a long time ago.

Yeah. I mean, she's eight years older than Molly Ringwald. So. Sure. It makes sense. You know, that's your pushing in your mid-20s by that point. High school is a wink in your eye. Very Cindy Lopper-coated.

Totally. Antipods in this movie. Yeah. Down to the hair. All right. Well, we talked about the cast, but I wanted to make some call-outs, which I thought are really interesting. Ducky, played excellently by John Cryer, was meant for Anthony

Michael Hall because John He was. loved him, but he was worried about being typecast. So he turned that down. And I've also apparently turned down the titular role in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, which is kind of insane. And Molly Ringwald said she wanted Robert Downey Jr. to play Ducky. Yes. Right. Where is he in his fall and rise, Robert Downey Jr.?

Had, like when was the darkness? Less than zero come out yet? I don't remember. Less than zero comes out in 87. Okay. All right. Okay. He was in weird science the year before.

Okay. So he's around. He could have done it. Yeah. Sure. Sure. He could have done it. It's interesting to think about, the thing is, like, I think that even though John

Cryer has said he didn't mean to play it this way, the way. the way that Ducky is played, and Molly Ringwall said that the character was based on her own best friend, Matt Freeman, who wasn't out at the time but did come out later in life. And that's maybe why the character has gay best friend energy.

I don't know that Robert Downey Jr. would have played it that way. So I think it would have made the story. Like, I wonder, this is not a spoiler. I mean, I think it's a movie came out 50 years ago. But 40 years ago The original ending of Pretty and Pink Had Yeah had Ducky and Andy ending up together

Because she was rejected by Blaine And people at the test screenings were like watching the movies And be like yeah yeah I love it I love it And then that happened they were like boo hate it This movie sucks And so they had to rewrite and reshoot the ending To have her end up with Blaine Which is very funny because

actually, um, my God, Andrew McCarthy had shaved his head at that point because he was doing a play. Yeah. Once you see it, you cannot unsee it. Once you see it, it's like, yeah,

it's really rough. But then I'm like, I'm like, do you think if it was Robert Danny Jr.? And she had ended up with Ducky, people would be like, yeah. I mean,

possibly. I mean, like, as you said, like John Cryer didn't think that he was playing the gay best friend. Right. Right. Like,

this is. And he technically wasn't. Technically wasn't playing a gay character, but... No, it's bizarre, right? Because, like, half of his dialogue is sexual harassment. Like, the first scene, like, he's talking to Molly Ringwald and, like, they go to lunch, and then John Cryer turns around and there's twin teenage girls. And he says, I could arrange to have one of you impregnated by Christmas.

And one of them slaps him to the ground. Like, he is established. as like a horn dog, like, ultra friend zoned, like quirky asshole guy, but also Molly Ringwald's best friend. And I can't get a handle on whether she understands that he's pining for her the whole time. It's very confusing. It's very confusing. This role. Yeah.

And it's like maybe productively so, like it's interesting, but it's just bizarre. As a sidebar, have you ever booed? movie based on what happened? Like, have you ever physically booed in a movie theater? No. Yes, yes, because apparently that transpired. Like, what, like, like, Armageddon ends and like Armageddon does not trend. And people boo.

Like, I'm trying to think of an example of when I was so upset about a pairing, romantic pairing. Yeah, you're supposed to. You're supposed to. Okay. Sure. No, I don't think I've ever. booed at a movie in my life. I mean, I've internally booed. I've been like this, you know, but I haven't, you know, voiced my opinion out loud. I think I'm more like audibly groaned.

Sure. Yeah. That's a different thing. Do you think she should have ended up with Ducky? No. Because they didn't, it didn't, it didn't, they didn't earn that, you know? Like, Right. He, he's a great character, but he, he, is more of a nuisance than anything throughout the thing. Like, the great thing that he, the great romantic gesture that he does

is show up for her when she's been stood up, more or less stood up, and abandoned by Blaine McDonough. That's his last name, Blaine McDonough, for prom, because he simply can't bear

the humiliation of his peers for, and his mother and father or whatever for dating this weird, trashy girl. And he shows up for her, so she doesn't have to go alone, which is really lovely.

But other than that, I don't find them to have any chemistry or connection. So it would be strange for them to end up together. That ending prom scene is just, it's an uncanny valley for like 10 different reasons. Like once you see the hair piece and once you understand that this has been tacked on and like they're scrambling to save the movie, like it just, nothing makes sense about it. I tried to take a screenshot and Hulu won't let you do it. but like when you're watching the movie, look at this stage. When they introduced the prom.

So, uh, uh, what's the OMD song called? If you leave. Thank you. If you leave starts playing and it's a giant photo of like an orchestra that is behind the stage and on stage are two guys dressed identically,

including like hats. I don't know if they're deshique. or what, but they have two giant synthesizers that are pointing an opposite. There is no DJ components. It's wild. It looks like the Chicago Pet Shop Boys. I was trying to figure out, like, are these real people? Is this John Hughes's idea of how this music is performed?

It was very confusing to me. And then, like, again, everybody is as old in the Pretty and Pink's. prom scene as in the gross point blank 10 year reunion scene like it's the same extras like those were shot back like it's in the hairpiece and just every and the other thing and I apologize if this is too personal a question do you like her prom dress I do not but also neither did she she did not yeah famously she did not I'm not a big fan of any of her outfits in this in this I'm more of an Annie Potts, Iona. I liked her looks the most.

Or even honestly, I probably wore more what Duckie was wearing. But, like, there was a lot of florals and, like, Blossom hats and stuff that isn't, like, particularly my style. But also, you know, she pulled it off accidentally. Blossom is a great framing. Even though Blossom is early 90s. She is the proto-bloss. Right. But, no, it's that there's a direct, there's a straight line.

Another straight line, which I think is very cool, is that for my so-called lifeheads, you might notice that Ricky Vasquez dresses almost exactly like Ducky. And he is the gay best friend in my so-called life. It's kind of cool to see that reimagined on an actual gay best friend, you know, with another redhead leading lady. I hadn't thought about it until I rewatched pretty in pink. Then I was like, oh, it's giving Ricky Vasquez. You know also some fun cameos in this film we should discuss just really briefly. The shoplifter. Oh, who is that?

Okay. So in the record store where Andy works with Annie Pottsiana and she nail gun, shoots a nail gun. Yes. And he goes out. That was an inch from my eyeball and she goes half an inch. That man became the lead singer of a little band called The Aquabats. and also the creator of Yo Gabba Gabba. His name is Christian Jacobs.

What? Wow. Wonderful. Wonderful bit of trivia. Also less exciting and no disrespect to Deweasel Zappa, but Dewezel Zappa is also in this film. He's in that first... Dwezel is used to it. Yeah, he's in that first nightclub scene.

He's sitting at the table with Molly. He was Molly Rewald's boyfriend at the time, which is how... Oh, that's nice. He was cast in the film. All right. He was Lisa Loeb. Dwezel was the one who dated Lisa Loeb. Oh, did he inspire?

You sing. No, I think it was after that. Okay. I don't miss a mom. Sorry, it's such a good song. Yes, it is. It is. Howard Deutsch, incorrectly,

originally wanted the film to have primarily theme music. Wrong, bad, Howard Deutsch, incorrect. But John Hughes was like, let's do something a little different, shall we? Also, imagine seeing two John Hughes movies with absolute banger-ass music in it, and then you get to this and it's like theme music. What do you mean by theme music? Like, just an orchestral swell. I guess so, yeah, like just like original instrumental.

Not pop songs. The song is, the movie is named after a pop song. Notably, yes. The titular song opens the film in this like gorgeous and wonderful way. You're like, hell yeah, let's fucking go. It's time for pretty and then 20 minutes later, it just happens again. I was really hoping it would happen like five or six times. It's just every music cue was,

like, go ahead. Kind of let the river run core. Exactly. Just different versions. Okay, well, we should mention the psychedelic verse song. It was re-recorded in a different, way for this film. It features prominent saxophone, which is not

and I'm going to say it. It certainly does. I'm going to say it, the original is better. The original is better. I don't know why they needed to add a bunch of sacks to it. I don't want to step on a street band. Yeah. Yeah, I know what you mean. Maybe they just wanted to distinguish it because the song had come out in 81 on Talk, Talk, the psychedelic first album. Right. But yeah, the original is better.

Well, no, the real killer here in terms of a re-recorded song is wouldn't it be good? which is not the Nick Kershaw version and I would be real pissed if I'd have bought this tape. This is with like the most love and respect in their heart the band Three Dog Night

who is a great band and their singer Danny Hutton who's band the Danny Hutton hitters that's right re-recorded wouldn't it be good I tried to get a little tea on this through my sources

and my source being my friend whose landlord was previously Danny Hutton of Three Dog Night and they're still in touch. That's right. Hold the fuck on. Yeah. He's a Laurel Canyon staple. And I was like, can you get in touch with your former landlord, Danny Hutton, and ask

how this came about. But Danny Hutton is upwards of 80 years old and also still touring. So I think I just didn't ask with enough lead time to get an answer back. Playing a casino near you. That's rude. It's good for him. I think, good for him. Listen, if I'm 80 years old and I'm still doing literally anything, amazing.

Danny Hutton's an icon. Do you know he used to manage Iggy Pop? He has a crazy story. I actually need to go and meet him and talk to him. There's no way I'm going to absorb any other information than he's your friend's former landlord. That's where it begins and ends with Danny Hutton for me. I mean, maybe they ran out of money because, like, as people love to inform me on Instagram.com, cover songs, cost less than regular songs.

And I'm like, I know that I'm not like some genius Mensa level scholar, but like, I do know that, you know? This is, we've discussed you not reading the comments, Yassie, and I'm starting to worry that you have disobeyed me. I avoid most of them, but you can't avoid your own Instagram comments. Do you not read your own Instagram comments? I am bricked eight hours a day and still I managed to find a little. You are, you are brand name bricked.

Does that work? Capital B. Is it? Yeah, it works because it physically locks you out from your phone. And if you stick that shit on your fridge and go about your day, there's no way to get back into Instagram.com to read the comments about how cover songs cost less than regular songs. It's a bad version of wouldn't it be good. I have to be honest.

It's very. it's shrill. It's in a different, it's higher, it's in a different key, and I really reacted poorly to it because I do like Nick Kershaw quite a bit. And so I'm sorry to that man. I'm sorry to that, Lord. Good for him, but no, thank you. We're going to go track by track as my want. But I just want to mention a couple. You already mentioned one, which is Otis Redding's Try Little Tenderness. There's several songs that you were like you were saying that are in this film, but we're, on the official soundtrack. Another is the associations cherish, which listeners of this podcast who do like Madonna might recognize as the inspiration for her song, Cherish.

And the song Rudy. Great antipot scene. Yes. Yeah. And talk back song, Rudy. And also two songs by a band called The Rave Ups. Right. Are you up on the rave up?

Up? Out of this context, no. They're the bands playing. That's right. They're actually, what is it called? Okay. It's not called endemic. That's the wrong word, but there's, like, that word that's the distinction between whether a song is actually being heard in the movie by the characters or whether it's just playing over the characters.

I can't remember the name. Yes. So sorry, you guys. Let's just say endemic. It's wrong, but let's be wrong. Let's be wrong. It's like just total confidence. You can go ahead and tell me on Instagram.com if I was wrong.

You put it in your refrigerator? Did you say that your bricked phone? I put it on. On. It's a magnetically. Yeah. What if I put it in the refrigerator? I put it in the freezer.

I put my whole phone in the freezer and then I throw myself off a balcony and then I'll never use the phone again. Sure. The rave-ups were apparently Molly Ringwald's favorite band. Yeah, they were. Yeah, that makes sense. I can't get behind that. Good for them.

But one of those songs is pretty good, actually. Shut up. They're good, and they're effective in that, you know, it's like, I believe that band is performing for 10 people in, in, on the wrong side of the tracks. It's giving, it's giving has a 10-person audience, but also, like, I thought that song was good. They have, like, a look that I feel, again, I didn't delve too deep into their history, but they have a look that was so 80s that people forget about how much rockabilly existed, like how much stray cats ass shit was happening in the 80s. Exactly. The rock this town of it all. Sure, sure.

Yes. Okay. But then the rest, it's important for us to talk about these ones. Because, again, it's really like a huge portion of this soundtrack was written. They're all original songs. Not all, but the most. Okay. Let's take it from the top.

And the top in the track listing, well, let's take it from the very top. The liner notes. John Hughes wrote, The music in Pretty and Pink was not an afterthought. The tracks on this album. and in this film are there because Howie Deutsch and I believe in the artists

respect the artists and are proud to be in league with them. Meanwhile, Howie Deutsch wanted some fucking theme music but we don't have to talk about that. Okay, it starts with would you say even more than pretty in pink

if you leave by orchestral maneuvers in the dark is the most associated with this film song in the same way that the Simple Minds song that ends Breakfast Club is like that's the song of Breakfast Club. I would agree.

I mean, those two songs are twinned in my head. You know, if enough time goes by, then I will start mixing up John Hughes movies and soundtracks. Right? Like, I was genuinely relieved that this was not, that Long Duck Dong does not appear in this movie. You know what I say? Like 16 candles is just like, there is fucking bananas.

I think at some point Long Duck Dong. transpiring. First of all, Longdokong, that's, I guess, borderline of Vietnamese's name, if it's close to anything. The man is Chinese. The actor is Japanese. And at some point, he says bonsai, which is not anything except the tree and I guess it's Japanese word. Nobody was doing their best work. There's a gong every time he says something. It's rough. Yes. Rough. And like, Molly Ringwald's underwear is a like plot point. Like, I, 16 candles is, I'm very grateful to this movie for not being 16 candles. Look, I do not want to talk about that.

There was a little learning curve between National Lampoon Family Vacation and Pretty in Pink. And I think we just brought a little National Lampoon into 16 candles that we should have left at the door. Right. Like Molly Ringwald has written, she did like a New Yorker thing, right? Like a very, very thoughtful, like post-Me2 reassessing of these movies. movies and just like her relationship with john hughes and like she goes back and she reads john hughes's national lampoon like writing which is like ultra rough like it's it's even trying to understand that it was a different time you know i it's it's this is pretty in pink among many other things is

like arguably the least overtly problematic was of these movies was problematic um not at i mean Breakfast Club has the scene with... I mean, there's not a person of color in sight in the entire high school at all. So that's odd. I mean, problematic is... I just always think of the Ali Sheedy, like, fake makeover. And like the scene, again, with Molly Ringwald's underwear where they weren't, she was so young that they couldn't even, like, ask her if she could, like, there's a body

double, right? Because she was underage. Like, I... There's a discomfort. uniformly to all of these movies, but maybe it is, maybe the breakfast club, not the breakfast club,

excuse me, maybe 16 candles is like far and away the gnarliest. Like everyone, like, you rewatch, rewatching Ferris Bueller and understanding that he's the antagonist

of the movie is like an important step in your personal development. But like, I, it's 16 candles, I think is far and away, like the, oh my God,

you know, this, Yeah, that's the roughest rewatch now. And pretty and pink by comparison is like, yeah, this is fine. It's a bit, yeah, there's, there's redeeming qualities for sure of fixing candles. I don't want to completely say it's, you know, but yeah, some of the parts you're like, one of those. Okay, back to orchestral maneuvers in the dark. Should we do a quick OMD sidebar?

Please, please. Good, because I have 22 bullet points on in together. Great, great. Great band name. Is it a great band name? Why is maneuver spelled like that? Is that the British, the Queen's English spelling? I'm going to assume that slash it's more sophisticated.

It's like what, there's a U in there, right? Yes. Menowivers. Minowivers. Minow verse. Yeah. I thought this was cool because I didn't know it actually. I guess maybe some people would enjoy an OMD episode.

The first single that they put out was called electricity. date and was actually put out on factory records in 1979. Yeah, they loved factory. They sent it on over. Tony Wilson, my beloved, my king, was like, eh, this is what Ives, but his wife really loved it. And so... Oh, one of them. Yeah. So then he was like, okay, I'll put it up. The girls know. Yeah, so he put it out. And actually, they did kind of blow up from it. And they got a big deal, and they had two albums go gold in the UK, their first two. And then their third, which was architecture and morality came out in 1981 and white platinum. This is all still in the UK.

But they had three international hit singles, souvenir, Joan of Arc and Made of Orleans. Those are three songs that I couldn't hum for you, but I will know them instantly if you play them for me. Like this is a big, oh, that song, band. Right. Oh, that's that. Yeah, yeah. And the record company was like, hell yeah, brothers. This was so rad.

can you just make one more of architecture and morality and then you'll be Genesis and we're going to be all set? And they were like, hmm, okay, that is, sounds like that's probably the worst thing you could have said to us. They said no heart and they went ahead and made a little departure in sound. They went a little experimental mode and they made dazzle ships in 1983. Dazzle ships. Couldn't tell you.

I listened to some of it. It wasn't really up my street if I'm going to. keeping it 100 with you. But... Sure. I was not alone. They lost 90% of their audience, according to Paul Humphreys of the band.

And then they kept trucking. They put out junk culture. They had a little minor hit with locomotion. Not that one. Different locomotion. Not that one. And then Tesla Girls is a song that was in weird science.

So John Hughes was, I guess, a fan. Okay. They're on his radar. Yeah. Okay. And then they put out another album in 1985 called Crush.

that did okay. They had a single called So in Love that had a Billboard 100 moment. So they're making some progress. And then along comes John Hughes again. Knock Knock, Hello. I would like you to write an original song from my film, Pretty and Pink. And they said, yes, absolutely, John Hughes. And they came to the Paramount Picture Studios. They met Molly Ringwald and John Cryer, who were huge fans of theirs. And they were really like, oh, my God, you know about us. And they wrote a song called Goddess of Love. to go along with the original ending of Andyana diabu Ducky And as we said The original ending was boo And so John Hughes was like We made a new ending And then he was like

You need to write another song And it needs to be written at the 120 BPM Because that The actors were dancing to Don't you forget about me Because John Hughes loves one song And it's don't you forget about me by simple men and OMD was like

we have to go on tour in a day and a half so okay no problem we'll be right back and they recorded that song in 24 hours can you believe that? First of all I noticed the speed of the dancing wrote and recorded it's but you know first thought best thought right like there's like that's you notice how they're dancing

off beat it's funny because the guy from a crystal maneuvers in the dark was like we literally did what he said and then we watched the movie it's too fast and we're like nobody's dancing Well, he was like, everyone's dancing to a different BPM, so I have no idea what would have matched. The guy from OMD said that he thinks there was a sink error or something, but he was like, yeah, nobody didn't.

I believe that. It looks like a cocaine. That is one of the uncanny valley aspects of that. Like, first you see the Chicago Pet Shop Boys and you're like, what on earth is this? And then you see everybody in the crowd like this to if you leave. And it's like something, this has like a dream sequence. And then you see the wig. The wig.

The hair piece. Everything. It's a lot. I didn't notice when I was a kid. When I was kid, I was like, fuck, yes, this is so cool. I'm so happy. She ended up with the hot, rich guy, Cinderella story. This is wonderful.

What a gorgeous song. If you leave, I'm emotionally moved. So he said they usually wrote their songs very, like, they're like a synth computer. band, right? Like, but he said this time they actually like played chords on the piano and like came up and he was like, it was something like Tin Pan Alley. It was just so not their style of like writing a song normally. Um, and it worked.

Sent it at 3 a.m. Because it sounds like a cent like do do do. Well, yeah, I think they recorded it that way, but I think the way they wrote it was not the way they usually wrote it. I'd love to hear that demo then. I want to hear the Tim Pan Alley sounding version of if you leave. Also, here's what they said about the writing to it. Lyrically, it's about the end of high school, the ending of your childhood.

And then they were trying to capture the fear of what comes next. Andy McClesque also said, we felt sorry for Duckie. So it was sort of a sad song for him. It was almost like Duckie was saying they would continue to be friends. Seven years passed under the bridge, like time is standing. Okay, sure, sure. Do you know that if you leave was more than five minutes? long when they first wrote it?

How long? Is it like three and a half? I guess it has to be three and a half. This is a very bespoke piece of music. That's actually a really good question. Let's see how long it is. Like did it have a guitar solo in it or something or like yeah, okay? No, it's four and a half minutes. And funnily enough, they were asked, they were like, you have to cut it down to four minutes so it can go on the radio. And they were like, yes. And then they made it four and a half minutes. And they were like, we just wrote on the tape box four minutes and sent it in. And nobody ever checked and no one said anything and we went about our business. I don't find the song to feel long because it's so catchy and fun that you kind of don't want it to end.

The outro is really good. That part is great. Right. Like that part earns, you know, the extra 60 seconds that it tax onto a normal pop song. I agree with that completely. Yeah. It made them stars. It went to number four in the U.S. charts. However, I do believe it broke their entire band in a in half and they put out one more album after that and then had a creative meltdown of the partnership and totally that was that I think they have sense made me reunited I want to hear dazzle ships now you can't it's available to you on spotify dot com okay on the spotify app on your phone sure do you like this song Rob I do I love this song I was trying to decide like this has been done a billion in times.

This over, don't you forget about me? Like, who you got? Yeah, it's a tough one. I don't know, man. Maybe I'm a slightly, I might be a little more OMD

because it's a little more melancholy. It's definitely a little more melancholy. Yeah. I feel bad for simple minds, but you could have convinced me that OMD did, don't you forget about me as well, right? Like, that's how

similar these two songs are like even if you remove them from the context of the john hughes universe like they just they're serving very similar functions you know both in the movie and in real life i just synth pop almighty jams i might go don't you forget about me but it's close enough you like you prefer scottish people to i prefer i do generally prefer scottish people there i mean it's a real sophie's choice they're both really phenomenal bangers of tunes. Sure. There's a few covers of this song. I just want to mention Good Charlotte covered it for Not Another Teen Movie, which is actually

very funny since that was a parody of Pretty and Pink slash other teen movies. There's a not a surf cover of this song. Have you ever heard that? It's actually quite good. It was using an episode of the OC. Sure it was. I just, I finally got into like the post popular, like, reemer. They are. They are. And they did like a really hard thing in going from like a 90s

alt rock band to like a 2000s like Gray's Anatomy extended universe band. And so I can totally, I have not heard that, but I sure they would do this on justice. That sounds very well-paired band and song. I think they did. Also Angel Olson covered the song a couple of years ago on one of her. Oh damn. Oh that. Oh, that's right. That one I think I heard because she did like a whole bunch of 80s. Yeah. I remember that one. That was really good. I love her. So that's cool. That's cool. Okay. The next song on the soundtrack is Left of Center by

Suzanne Vega. Do you have a relationship with Suzanne Vega and her music? Other than like, Tom's Diner. It's almost insulting to say Tom's Diner, Luca, you know, like that. Yes. I'm so sorry.

It's, I don't, I have not done the deep dive that I think she warrants because I'm never unhappy to hear her. And I dig how this song, she wrote this song for this movie, right? Another original composition. It sounds like it. Like this is, she's basically

trying to write Andy. Yeah, the lyrical conceit is very much about an outsidery girl, you know? So yeah, I'm never unhappy to hear Suzanne Vega's voice. And so I think she does a good job here. I did read, she thought this would be like the big song of the movie and like be the credits but um she was a little upset to find out that it was only like in like two seconds of the

movie or whatever um right did you know that this song was also remixed by um arthur baker i did not know that but our friend chris sutton was just talking up arthur baker's is it autobiography or maybe just a biography of him and and just i he wrote it on his recommendation yes okay so i i've been meaning to get all the way into arthur baker as well because there's a For those who don't know, he is maybe best known as the producer of Africa, Bambata's groundbreaking Planet Rock single. But he's done many incredible remixes throughout the 80s and made a lot of incredible dance music. And he's kind of a fucking G. Okay, this is a song I can't wait to talk to you about.

It's called Get to Know You by Jesse Johnson. Go ahead. I don't know a lot about this dude other than the prince extended universe of him. Yeah, he was the original guitarist of the time. Right. I don't either. I know the song was written specifically for the film. I can't help but wonder if they were like, it was a bit like we have Prince at home.

Yeah, I feel terrible thinking that. It's a good song. No, it's a good song, but it's very Prince. It's very Prince. It's very Prince. It's very Prince. In 1986. Yeah, this is, yeah, we're in full Prince.

But I think, I mean, I mean. That's pretty cool that like, because I originally assumed they must have just picked this song up to put on the soundtrack. Because like it doesn't, it's not, it doesn't really fit in with the other genre. You know, we're doing a lot of like English and UK post rock or what, not post rock, but, you know, that, what would you call it? Post Punk. Anyways. Yeah. New way.

Wave, yeah, Perish funk New Wave. And then they were like, yeah, but if we're going to be real, if we're going to keep it 100, there would have been this kind of music as well. So let's tap Jesse Johnson for a cool kind of funk song, and it's great. Yeah. That's our R&B soulful. Do What, WOT, you do by NXS is the next song, also written specifically for this soundtrack. No kidding. Yeah.

What in the hell? I looked up, the first thing I did was look up when Kick was, which was 87. So this is a year before in excess, like, blow all the way up. I know they're, like, already pretty prominent. They had only put out the one album, the listen like thieves. The Don't Change, yeah. Like, so they were. Don't Change is one of the best songs of all times.

Fantastic. I agree. I do not disagree with that at all. Yeah. Yeah, so that's a pretty good poll, pretty good time to buy stock in excess to use Ringer universe language. Pretty, pretty smart decision here. Don't change is not on, listen, like thieves. When did don't change come out?

I feel like that might be later, too. Hold on. Maybe you're right. Maybe I'm confusing. Let's get this right. I want to get it right. No, I lied. That came out even earlier, 1982.

Shaboo Shuba. Shabu Shuba. That's right. I'm really glad that we found a way for you to. say that album title out long. I don't know that I knew that that's what it was called. Shaboo Shabu-Shaba. I know that name.

I have like a sense memory of that album title. That is the third Inexus album. Inex has been fucking busy as hell. They were around. Yeah. They were around. Yeah. They were a sneaky, not one, you know, not overnight success.

Michael Hutchins, the late. And Andrew Ferris wrote this. And later on, um, I mean, I'll be honest with you. It's not exactly like an A-tier in-exec song, but it's a good song. Well, no. That's a testament to the A-tier in-excess songs, but I agree. You know, it's, no one's going to mistake this for Need You Tonight or whatever, yeah.

What else to say about this song except that it exists and was written for this beautiful song? We already kind of talked at length about Pretty and Pink. I will mention that they had already had a song, a big song in a film, Love My Way was in Valley Girl. Another amazing soundtrack from 19A3. I don't want to call out the copy editors atspin.com, but I was reading a Spin article about this soundtrack,

and they did say that that was a John Hughes movie, and that is absolutely not a John Hughes movie, Valley Girl. But that's okay. It is a good movie. Disappointed and spin. Yes. Is it because of woman directed it? Maybe.

Maybe they were like, we don't believe in female directors. Do you happen to know that charts, like, is this the psychedelic Furs' biggest hit? And is that a direct result of this movie? Pretty imping. It isn't.

Because as you said, it's like a three or four-year-old, five, six-year-old song. At this one. Right. Okay. The new version. Yeah.

And I don't think it, so the first version was pretty, was produced by Steve Lillywhite, this man, at every scene of every crime in the coolest way possible. Mr. Mr. DMB himself. Yes, correct. Yes, yes, yes. But the, so the original version only hit 43 on the singles chart of the UK.

But the 86 version hit 18 and narrowly missed the top 40 by getting to 41 in the United States. But still pretty good. Pretty good. Okay. Good for them. Weren't they a little weirded out by like the, wild misinterpretation of the song. Like, it was like a thanks for the money.

Yeah. I think they also were like, we don't like the movie. They were like, this isn't, I think Richard Butler said, it's not my kind of film. Sure. Okay.

That's fine. It's fine. You don't have to like it. I don't want to know what his kind of film is. Exactly. Yeah, you can just pornography. Just,

um, shell shock by new order. Hmm. Isn't the next song? Also written specifically for this film. John Hughes was making calls left and right. I guess he was. At the premiere of the movie, Peter Hook was there,

and he remembers waiting for the scene where Shell Shock was placed. And he said, quote, I was absolutely cock a hoop. Caca hoop. I was absolutely coca hoop. And then all of a sudden, later on in the film, Shellshot came in and had only been in the film for eight bars. which I thought was fucking hilarious. I liked the film a lot,

and I love the breakfast club. So to be asked to do it was such a great honor. It was a very strong soundtrack, and we were in great company without a shadow of a doubt. I don't know what cacao hoot means. I can't even... I was going to say, like, even in context, I can't... Hammered?

Is that positive? Do you want... No, I looked it up. It probably does. It's extremely happy, excited, or proudly triumphant about an achievement. So chuffed. Okay.

It's sort of a chuffed variant. I was going to say it was he was mad that it was like in a car driving by or whatever. I don't even remember where it occurs, Shell Shock in the movie. I actually don't. It's up. And I saw it like 48 hours ago. I don't remember where it is.

That's how much. I mean, eight bars. I bet you it's probably in the record store scene or something. Right. Yes. They also did two, an instrumental version of thieves like us and an instrumental song, Elegia, which are both in the film and not on the soundtrack. The Thieves Like Us instrumental plays when the pre-prong part where Andy's making her dress and Duckie and Blaine are sitting alone in their bedrooms and James Spader smoking the sig.

Miss Tucks. Okay. Yeah. I don't want to disparage anybody. But there's going to have to be a worst song on the soundtrack. Okay. And it doesn't mean it's a bad song. But there's going to have to be one.

Somebody's got to do it. Somebody's got to do it. And I'm sorry, I think it might be Round Round by Bluey Somme. What do you think? Yeah, again, it's Danny Hutton hitters. Wouldn't it be good. Yeah, it's, this is the low point, the one-to punch of this song. It's, yeah, I can't say this song made much of an impression on me round, round.

Bluey song I think of the cartoon Bluey which is totally not He didn't know That was coming He had no idea He didn't know Yeah

It's just a reminder That not everybody who made music In the 80s became famous For making music In the 80s That's really rude Fairly successful in the 80s

He made a whole living out of it You know But just not Totally Not remember I mean Let me just tell you If he had put his whole

Bluissian into it And written something more like bring on the dancing horses, perhaps we would be remembering Bluey in a different light, but he didn't. Who among us has not written Bring on the Dancing

Horses? That's right. He did write that song specifically for this film, so I'm just saying he could have worked a little harder. Sure he did. Well, it's, yeah. Should we talk about Bring on the Dancing Horses? Because I'm going to say something controversial. I want you to just

say something controversial. This is the best song. This is the best song on this entire soundtrack. No, I agree with you. I, the pre-chorus, the do, do, do, do do, do, do, do, do. Structurally, this is an incredible song. How old was it?

This song was written for this film. Are you dead fucking serious? Bring on the dancing horses by Echo and the Bunny Men was written for Pretty and Pink. Are you even? Can you even? It only came out as a standalone single and then was later on like a greatest hits compilation. That's shocking to me.

I thought it was as old as pretty and pink was. That's shocking to me. No. That's wild. They should have called the movie Bring On the Dancing Horses. They should have called the movie Bring on the Dancing Horses. No, I agree with you. As great as every other non-bluey song is on this record.

When you are listening to bring on the dancing horses, you're like, is one of the great pop songs of our time. I had no idea it was exclusive to this movie. That's wild. I really wonder because I guess, I mean, Ian McCullough, in my experience with him, as we've talked about one time, I asked him if he was Morrissey as a joke and he got really mad. I made fun of my eyebrows and called me the C-word. No, we don't have to get into it. It's fine. That's incredibly rude of him and you. It's rude or. The way they use the C-word over there is like more light and powerful. playful.

Even so, that's not nice of him. I always curse on this podcast. I don't want to just... What was the context? Were you at like a dinner? Was he your friend's landlord? He was my friend's landlord.

No, I was at, like, I was working for some short-lived, nobody would remember this magazine. I don't think he ever even, maybe even came out in L.A. And it was run by a British guy

who was like friendly with Ian McCullough. And it was in L.A. It was at a bar. Sure. And he was like, introduced me as like a massive echo in the bunnyman fan and of course that makes me medically incapable of not making some sort of joke and i thought it was quite funny it's funny it's funny i'm glad i wasn't there and didn't do it and but it's funny to think about he didn't like

it he didn't think it was funny he didn't think it was funny did you talk to him did that start or ends your conversation. Well, like I said, he said I had mini Riperton eyebrows. That was a diss and the C word. And then that sort of, that was the beginning and ending of our friendship. Mini Riperton eyebrows. Is that a common? Is that like a reference people get?

Okay. I would have had to Google. First of all, mini Riperton, a goddess. But secondly, I do have to point out that I'm saying. Yeah. Ian McCullough is quite a bit older than me. that's the insult he improvised when a stranger called him Morrissey. That's fascinating.

Okay. This is a lot of information. I guess he spent like 10 or whatever seven years being brutally comment-mogged in the British press by Morrissey. In the parlance of our time. In the parlance of our time. So perhaps it was just like too tender, even though it was multiple decades. No, it does not shock me that he did not like that. I don't think Morrissey would have liked it.

No, it's hilarious, but it's like to us. What's that famous British sense of humor? You know what I'm saying? Anyways, I've digressed. My point being that... I think the C word was, yeah, that's where that manifested. Okay. They did not, they have not, to my knowledge, done much by way of talking about this song

or, I mean, again, I didn't go super deep, but I was like things that were like anniversary of the soundtrack we interviewed. Like, it's never like, and then Ian McCullo said, or Will Sargent said, yeah. Sure, okay. But, so I didn't get too much deeper in that. But when you read the lyrics, it kind of,

I have to assume they did see the film. And there's a lot that kind of has the, break your brittle heart It goes from break your brittle hearts to break my brittle hearts It's like a Taylor Swift's Perspective Switch Guy

Taylor Swift did not invent that move I mean okay so yeah Yeah I have to rethink the entire song Now that I know that it was ostensibly It was written for this movie That's wild as hell to me I'm sorry I mean

There are like I guess at one point Ian McCullough said that bring on the dancing horses is a Russian phrase about things falling apart. Is it though? I don't know. Is that true?

People in Russia are like, this dinner is a disaster like bring on the dancing horse. Like that's, I would rather think that he invented that phrase himself, just as he invented the phrase, Minnie Ripperton eyebrows. That seems like an original.

He's known for him. his mini-referring phrase. Eyebrows. I mean, I guess when you get to the Messiah part, then it's like, I don't know what we're talking about anymore. But it's, what a fucking banger.

What a goddamn tune. They had already put out four albums when Pretty and Pink came out. They had already done pretty well. I mean, I think in 81 Rolling Stone called them the greatest band to come out of Liverpool since the Beatles.

Where's Killing Moon? Like, Killing Moon is much earlier. K.N. Had already come out. Sure. As well as the cutter, which I did look, and I was like, I'm biased because I thought those were massive tunes in America, but they didn't even chart. It's just they were massive on K. Rock, which is what raised me. So I heard them all the time, but I don't know that everybody heard them all. But they were big in L.A. because I know that they, I don't know why.

I think this is in the Wikipedia, but in 84 when they toured, they played the Greek theater in L.A., which is quite, it's a big, decently sized venue. Their biggest hit is probably lips like sugar. Would you agree with that? Yes, I would. Probably chart-wise. That didn't even chart in America either,

which is so crazy. But that came out in 87. Anyways, this is a God-tier song, and they play it in the record store when Blaine comes by to talk to Andy and try to ask her out. I enjoy the scene where Andy sells him like a lame record and like he you can never quite tell if he understands that he's being played like

there's a really interesting dynamic i think you're referring to the steve lawrence album take it on home that is what i'm referring yes thank you for that information did you play that album i did you research extend to actually throwing on c yeah i did not i quit google um but i think we're to understand that that is not a cool album and that she is she is taking the piss as Ian McCollin might say. It is rough because you're like, who do you want her to end up with? And then you're like, okay, what did Blaine do? What did Blaine do?

The one actual romantic, like, noble scene in the movie is where out of nowhere, they're in the stable. Yeah. Right? Like, they're in like the fucking hay with like horses. Like maybe this is what Ian McCollett was like, these are the titular dancing horses. Those are the dancing horses that were brought on by Blaine. Like, because their first date is horrible.

Yeah. Well, he takes her. He stupidly takes her to his richy friends party. And they're all extremely mean to her. Just it's a, and then they go to the punk club and every, the 10 people watching the rave ups or whatever. And everybody there is mean to him. Like, there's no, like, there's no period where this relationship is going well,

except for when he asks her to prom. and when they're like smooching amidst the hay. You know, it's a really protracted relationship that I'm supposed to understand is there one true pairing. There's like, I mean, he does the cute thing with the computer. Yes, he invents AIM in 1986. That's impressive. With like a full photo on like a MS DOS ass computer, which is really. Purrs and then hit.

That was very sweet. That was very creepy, but sweet in the way of romantic. The part that always sticks with me is where like all the weirdos sit outside. And at some point, Blaine like comes out there to find her. And it has such a cool shot because all the extras are obviously like super like punk and new wave and they all look so cool. And he says something to her like, I'm not really into all this shit. It's like the clue. It's like the clueless scene of the cruise.

The burnout hangout over there. Yeah. The Persian mafia is over there. I like that scene too. The Persian mafia. It was at Beverly Hills High, so that made sense. Yes. And then we wrap it up with,

please, please, please let me get what I want by this myth. Not written originally for this film. Written in, I don't know when it was written, but it was put out in 1984 as the B-side. To William, it was really nothing. I love William. William. Anyways, the other B side of William, it was really nothing, was how soon is now.

Those were the two B sides of the single. They were like, well, just stick those on the fucking back. Interesting. How soon is now and now, obviously, probably the most famous Smith song of all time. Did you find, I laughed out loud when this song appears in this movie, which is when Ducky, who has been absent from the movie for some time, reappear, it's just a quick shot of him in his bedroom, which is a mattress on the floor and he's listening to this song, but he's listening to it conspicuously quietly. I compared to every, like, pretty in pink is like three times as loud. Yes. Every other song

on the soundtrack is like, this is a movie that's about the soundtrack. Like, it understands the role of music. But there's something suspiciously quiet about, please, please, please, let me get what I want in that. See, I couldn't figure out, like this, as you said, this is the same year as Fair's which is again my personal favorite john hugh's musical moment like i wondered if there was a reason like do they did they have to pay morrisy by the decibel or something like is there some reason where they're trying to sneak that song past you compared to every other soundtrack hits in this movie it's very quiet it's really strange because like obviously they paid for it they put it on the soundtrack it's like on they certainly did he liked it so much that he

used it instrumentally on another film in the same year. Did you know David Gilmore of Pink Floyd produced that instrumental version by the Dream Academy? I did not. The style council is that, no, that's the Dream Academy style council is Paul Weller. Yeah, I did not know that. I did good for David Gilmore. Good for David Gilmore. He needed some money.

Yeah, I don't know why it was, I don't know why it was hidden, quiet. You know, it was. It's the ideal song. It's almost too literal. for the scene. If you buy into the notion that Ducky's whole thing is he wants to get with Molly Ringwald, if you do not subscribe, as Molly Ringwald famously does to the idea that Ducky is secretly gay the whole time.

Like, that's, you can't think of a better song for that situation than that one. Yeah, it's a little on the nose, but I like it. And I'm glad it's on the soundtrack. And I think it gave the Smiths, if I'd have to dig back to my research of, multiple years ago for the Smith's episode,

but I think it gave them a considerable bump in breaking, quote, unquote. I don't think they ever fully broke America, but into having a little more footprint and visibility in America because they put out louder than bombs the next year in the USA. And this was a third. When did they break up? Did they make it to the 90s? No.

Yeah, I didn't think so. So this is pretty late. 86 is pretty late into the Smith's. They broke up right. Right, I believe, before their final studio album, Strange Ways Here We Come, came out in 1987. So just one smooth year after this film came out. There was a nice, less than five-year run that they had their tight, compact. Is it a lame Smith's opinion?

If that's your favorite, my favorite, Smith song, it probably is. Are you that sad in your heart? That or asleep. I don't feel that sad in my heart. Sleep is the other most depressing. Yeah. These are the two suicide watch songs. Right.

Yes. Yeah. But I, when I think of them, like, I agree with you completely that how soon is now, in terms of, like, ubiquity is now the one. If you know one song of theirs, it's going to be that one. But no, I would say that's one and two in some order. I feel pretty well adjusted in general. I, but that's my truth. I think my, there's like, now I'm worried.

No, you're okay. You seem okay. I won't call on one. Okay. Thank you. Okay. My Smith's songs change, favorites change all the time. But I've been on like a real heater with rush home ruffians.

It's a different energy. The last night of the fair. Yeah. By the big we generate. Boy, stabbed that his money is grabbed. Panic. dig panic. Panic in the streets of London.

That's hang the day. Hang the DJ. I mean, they have pretty much wall-to-wall perfect songs. There's like three Smith songs in the entire catalog that are like a little lackluster and like that every other song is just like God tear amazing. So our ideal podcasting mode is me just naming songs and you're singing them. That's right. Yeah.

That's I really, there's really no need for. for any additional company. Well. Just podcast karaoke, I think is the form that we need to just bring to the people.

Rob, this was, trademark. This was such a treat. I guess to close it out, how do you, how do you feel the pretty and pink

soundtrack's legacy has held up? I mean, you thought of it pretty quickly when I asked you to pick your favorite. I know it wasn't your number one, but I did and I dig it it's it's sad and I'm sure you've talked about this at length like you go to

Spotify and this it's like chopped up and grayed out like it's it and this is as true of the 90s as the 80s right like you can't go it's the way that compilations were so important in real time but it's you have to like painstakingly YouTube reconstruct the listening experience of having and just like I that's a drag, right? Because I didn't own this tape, right? And I can't, I don't have a conscious memory of listening to this soundtrack from front to back. But like, just John Hughes, like, I was going to ask you, like, there is no 90s equivalent to John Hughes to Molly Ringwald. Like, you could say whatever you want to say.

You could talk about clueless, you know, every generation has its movies. But I feel like the John Hughes extended universe. and the synergy of like these three, four movies in particular, in these soundtracks in particular, like this, he gets a lot of credit now and maybe it's overblown and maybe it's not for sort of inventing the teen movie and the idea of like a movie that takes a teen's feelings and music taste seriously.

Like again, like I, this doesn't feel like mine. This is not my teenage experience. And so I still weirdly feel like a kid when I watch, these movies or listen to them because they still seem like teenagers who are older than me even now even though you're 40 something years old yes yeah how about you like i what was your like do you go back to the john hughes movies do you have like a huge emotional connection to john hues or is it just yeah i think in your storehouse of knowledge and it's not an emotional thing i've probably seen the breakfast club like a thousand times

for some reason. I've seen that one more than any other one. Me too. And I thought that one maybe had the most thoroughly realized idea that was like, we're all this, you know, like there's so much alienation in being a teenager because high school is all about being categorized and kept in these like kind of tight boxes that seem better to people who are on the other side of them, but actually everyone is, like, fighting their own war

and when forced to come together. The concluding letter. Yeah, it's like, I found that one to be the most, yeah, the most enduring for me because the message stays the same. It is kind of interesting because I don't think, in the 80s it was like a novel concept, right, to make films for teenagers because that's not really what people were making films for before. And then obviously in the 90s, we kind of had like a bonanza.

of amazing films that were for, I mean, you could name so many, right? It's like clueless Empire record. These are all kind of aimed at young people slash teenagers. Reality by it's singles. Like, they're not all high school movies, but they're all young people movies, you know?

Yes, yeah. Can't hardly wait. Like, there was a ton of actual high school movies, too. American Pie, if you want to go that far out. Yeah. I mean, yeah, ghost world. I mean, there's like a lot, a lot going on. And then you, then you,

Then you start to get to, like, more recent times, and I'm like, they don't make them as much anymore. And I don't know if it's because it's not like they don't exist. Like, Bottoms was like a high school movie, and I'm sure there are, you know, one or two that come out every year or whatever. But it's, I think we still have always coming of age movies, but those are a little different than, like, ensembley high school movies. And I wonder if it's just because people of that age don't care about. this as a format as much? I don't know. I don't know.

What is the 80s euphoria? Like, please don't answer that. But yeah, that's the first things I think of as like trying to capture what it's like to be in high school now, which is like, I don't even want to think about it. I'm going to have high school age kids. I'm going to have a high school age kid in three weeks. He's very euphoria coded for sure, I think. He should be worried.

Okay. That's a good way to end. Yeah, it's very, very. frightening but I wonder how much of that energy went to prestige TV yeah first of all yeah yeah totally or to like Twitch streaming well Rob this is this has been it's been a real delight it's been a joy it's been a pleasure we brought on the dancing horses you shaking Ian McCalla's hand and being like are you Morrissey that's incredible it's rough that is amazing I apologize to you in McCullough if you're listening to this podcast I

He's fine. I was simply trying to be cheeky. He can handle it. I don't think that's the most insulted Ian has ever been to his face in the city of Los Angeles. Morrissey alone has probably said meaner things in one minute. To quote the great Iona, aka Annie Potts of this film, it's after 7 p.m. Don't waste good applause. Actually, her best line, sorry, that was such a good way that ended, but her actual best line in this film and maybe the best line in the whole film is,

I'm good in bed. Should I be a whore? She's saying she's good at something and she's like, you should go do that for a work. She's like, I'm good at bed. Should I be a whore? Well, Rob, on that note, thank you again for coming on to talk about Pretty and Pink. Anytime. Come back next week for a brand new episode of Bansplan.

If you liked what you heard today, subscribe for more episodes of Bansplain. Our guest today was Rob Harvilla. You can listen to 60 songs that explain the 90s, colon the 2000s, on Spotify or wherever you got your podcast. This episode was produced by Rob Sunderman and edited by Adrian Bridges with help from Justin Sales, video production by Sarah Reddy. Executive producers for Bansplaine are Gina Dalback and me, Yossi Salik. Our gorgeous and catchy theme song was composed and performed by Bethany Costantino and Jennifer Claven and graciously recorded by Carlos Dela Garza in Los Angeles, California. Special thanks to our producer Emeritus, producer Dylan, aka Dylan Tupper Rupert, and also Sean Fennessey and the onion

dip packets that you get at the grocery store and then you mix it with a bit of Greek yogurt and then you just get a bag of chips and that's really a delicious meal. Come back every Thursday for a new episode of Bansplain on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. Questions before we begin, Rob Harvilla? I don't think so. I'm vaguely familiar with how this program works. I understand. understand this to be a special format, but I've been around for a few special formats as well. So I, yeah, it's my fault if I'm surprised, unpleasantly by anything that occurs.