“Sweep the leg.”
Thanks to the highly successful Cobrai Kai series that is currently being produced by Netflix (originally available on YouTube Red), interest in the classic The Karate Kid films has experienced a resurgence. Youngsters want to see the original film and its sequels in order to get a deeper look at the backstory involving Johnny Lawrence and Daniel LaRusso. Older folks such as myself that were around for the theatrical releases of these films are hopping on the nostalgia train and reliving their favorite moments about the films.
For me, the music was just as memorable as the original film and I decided to revisit the original film soundtrack. After listening to it I’ve learned that the music actually loses a bit of its luster without the visuals to go along with each song. For instance, the biggest track on the album is probably You’re The Best by Joe Esposito. Played during the epic battles at the tournament that lead up to Daniel and Johnny’s final fight, the song comes off a bit cheesy until it hits the chorus. Whereas most songs actually make a scene better, in the case of You’re The Best, the scene actually helps improve the song.
Survivor is probably the biggest name on the album (although an argument can be made for Jan & Dean) and they had a modest hit with The Moment Of Truth. The song is very similar to many of Survivor’s other early 80’s tunes that spent weeks and months on the charts. It’s nothing new to fans of the band but it holds up pretty well even today.
My favorite song on the album is Young Hearts by Commuter. It can be heard during the “Golf N’ Stuff” sequence in the original film and in a similar sequence at the same arcade in Cobra Kai. This song really hits me every time I hear it. The lyrics are a bit all over the place to be honest, but it’s just a cool sounding song.
Outside of Survivor, the only other band that most casual music fans will recognize is Jan & Dean. They perform (Bop Bop) On The Beach with the Flirts. If it sounds a lot like something that the Beach Boys would sing to you, you’re not entirely wrong. Jan & Dean are often compared to the Beach Boys because of their sound and Mike Love, one of the Beach Boys, actually wrote the track. It’s a good song and probably the most “alien” track on the album. It sounds like nothing else on the playlist and that’s refreshing in my opinion.
The rest of the album features a lot of bands that sort of sound like mainstream pop and new wave bands of the early 1980’s. It Takes Two To Tango by Paul Davis sounds a lot like something that Hall & Oates would have performed. No Shelter by Broken Edge sounds exactly like a Cars tune. Tough Love by Shandi could easily have been performed by someone like Olivia Newton-John. Feel The Night by Baxter Robinson could have landed on just about any early 80’s pop rock band’s playlist, especially artists like Night Ranger or Rick Springfield. Desire by Gang of Four and Rhythm Man by St. Regis sounded like tracks released by many new wave artists like Thomas Dolby.
As is sometimes the case, a few songs were left off of the album that appeared in the film. The biggest track left off of this particular album was Cruel Summer by Bananarama. It would go on to be one of the biggest hits the group ever released. If you want a copy of it for yourself, however, you won’t find it on this album.
Ultimately this album does a decent job of holding up despite being a product of its time. I still love listening to the songs even though some of them are a lot cheesier than I remember. Thanks for checking out my post and revisiting a classic album with me. I hope to do a few more posts like this in the near future.
Ken's Alternate Universe! 