The Music of 80s Adult Cinema Vol. 1

As a 10 - 15-year-old kid, I used to love visiting Mom’s house on weekends because she had cable, whereas Dad had a fundamental problem with cable programming. He probably thought it would warp our young minds (he was also a bit of a cheapskate, but he was a great guy overall).

Anyway, my mind found other avenues to become “warped,” and one of them was staying up until around 10 p.m. to watch softcore dramas on Showtime on Saturday nights in the mid-to-late ’80s at Mom’s house. I still have a surprisingly good memory of the plots of some of those programs. One that sticks out was a semi-comedic story about a couple who couldn’t get pregnant, so they enlisted the help of a neighbor to impregnate the wife. It turned out, however, that the wife knew she couldn’t get pregnant by this guy either, yet they continued the arrangement anyway—not because they expected results, but because they enjoyed buggering each other. The husband is mad at first, but this is Showtime, baby, so he eventually comes around to the idea and gets involved himself.

Anyway, I don’t think any of this music actually came from that particular movie. As for the rest of the tracks on this mix, I have no idea when, where, or even if they ever appeared in a Showtime softcore drama or hardcore adult film, but they certainly sound like they should have.

Volume 1 of this ’80s adult film music series is the Miami album: cocaine and sex-fueled excess--the sun is setting on this golden age of ’80s adult entertainment. Everyone is indulging in a little too much of everything, and the party is beginning to teeter on the edge of an overdose.

Stay tuned for the companion piece, the Malibu album...

The Music of 70s Adult Cinema Vol. 2

The Music of 70s Adult Cinema Vol. 1

I'm not the type of porn-music beat head who scours hours and hours of classic porn trying to find this or that track to compile into a collection. But I do watch a fair bit of old-school gutter cinema from time to time, certainly more than the average Joe, and I especially listen to A LOT of library music, so occasionally the two paths meet.

One thing that surprises me is how often the music in classic adult films seems poorly chosen. Granted, I've come across a few films that are loaded with great tracks, but more often than not, it feels like a better job could've been done sourcing groovier, sexier tunes for a given scene. Am I the only one who has noticed that an awful lot of music used in classic porn does not even sound pornographic?

Perhaps this is the job I was destined to do, but it just never worked out for me. I also perhaps shouldn't be surprised, given how little effort was likely put into sourcing music in the vintage skin-flick business. I don't want to sound like I'm passing too much judgement here--I would reiterate that there is a lot of great music in porn, but it too often happens that I hear this or that Library track and wonder, 'Why isn't THIS TRACK better known, and why haven't I seen it in any of the many dozens of sleaze-fests I've happened across over the years?' Perhaps the easy answer is that it has been used, and that I simply do not watch enough porn, a proposition I would find less likely.

Anytime I listen to new library music and hear a track that SOUNDS LIKE it ought to be in a blue movie, I add it to the Sleaze list. Over the years, this list has grown and grown into a throbbing, massive load of excellent tunes, some of which have certainly appeared in classic porn, some that PROBABLY appeared somewhere in after-hours titles, and many that, if they didn't, absolutely SHOULD HAVE appeared in these films.

I'm unsure how many volumes will come from this, but at least two from the '70s and two from the '80s, so stay tuned. And I will provide the multi-track album if there are enough requests, so drop a line in the comments if you're aching like a date with Marilyn Chambers for a multi-upload.

--HPD

ePm 5 (Rebooty)