So, we’ve already discussed one of my favorite John Cusack movies, Better Off Dead. This week I thought we’d talk about the other film he did with director “Savage” Steve Holland: One Crazy Summer (1986). It’s a wacky, offbeat comedy starring Cusack as Hoops McCann, a wannabe basketball star who isn’t any good at the game, though he is a pretty decent cartoonist. He decides to channel his basketball frustrations into illustrating the perfect love story.

To help Hoops get some perspective, his good friend George (Joel Murray) takes him to Nantucket for the summer. Hoops meets all kinds of interesting characters, including the Stork twins (Bobcat Goldthwait and Tom Villard), who are mechanics; Ack-Ack (Curtis Armstrong), a marine’s son who just can’t please his father; and Cassandra (Demi Moore), a cornrow-sporting musician trying to save her grandfather’s house from a family of greedy land developers. As Hoops spends more time with this group, he begins to figure out more about himself and how to create his perfect love story.

As with many of my favorite ’80s films, the soundtrack doesn’t seem to be available for purchase, which is a shame. There are so many songs featured in One Crazy Summer that I associate with the film and many of its characters no matter when or where I hear them (“Down on the Corner” is a prime example). I managed to track down almost everything, though none of Demi Moore’s songs could be located, I’m sad to say. As always, if you have something that I couldn’t get my hands on, share it! Now, I’m off to watch a John Cusack movie marathon.

David Lee Roth – Easy Street
Twisted Sister – Be Chrool to Your Scuel
ZZ Top – Dirty Dog
The Beach Boys – Do It Again
Herb Alpert – Fandango
Peter Allen – I Go to Rio
Billy Preston – Outa-Space
The Beach Boys – Fun, Fun, Fun
Eurythmics – Would I Lie to You?
Steppenwolf – Born to Be Wild
The Beach Boys – Wouldn’t It Be Nice
Creedence Clearwater Revival – Down on the Corner
The Surfaris – Wipe Out
The Beach Boys – In My Room
Martha Reeves & the Vandellas – Dancing in the Street
Honeymoon Suite – What Does It Take?

Film, Soundtrack Saturday

About the Author

Kelly Stitzel

After shutting down her own blog, Looking at Them, in mid-2008, Kelly migrated over to Popdose, bringing with her Soundtrack Saturday, the most popular column from her old site. Kelly makes a living as a fashion and marketing copywriter, which takes up a lot of her time. However, when she is able to write about things that have nothing to do with her day job, she contributes reviews and musings on music, film and a variety of other topics. In addition to Soundtrack Saturday, columns she's written include Filminism and Pulling Rank.

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