Stranger Things hits again with Metallica
I recently read a Billboard magazine article that says that 72 percent of last year’s music sales were from recordings from 10 or more years ago. That means catalogue hits. And that means that music lovers bought more old songs than new releases. There is truly nothing like the old songs.
Well, this is maybe because the oldies were really good and they do bring back a lot of memories. Admit it, there have been times in your lives when memories were all you had to live for. How does that saying go? Listening to an old song is like visiting an old friend. That is something that even the most cynical among us will certainly agree to.
Helping this happen is the Netflix series Stranger Things. The past four seasons have seen the use of quite a number of old songs in the show’s soundtrack. And I mean, old, sometimes really old. The story is set in 1986 and the use of recordings from that time has created a field day for hits of the period. Think Every Breath You Take by the Police, Runaway by Bon Jovi, Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper or Sunglasses at Night by Corey Hart.
Now, given the fact that Netflix has global reach and Stranger Things has been seen and is still being seen by millions of viewers, hits were bound to emerge out of the well-chosen tunes in the soundtrack.
This is just what happened with Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) by Kate Bush from Season 4. Released in 1985 as part of the album Hounds of Love, the song was then Bush’s biggest-selling single. It has become bigger than ever. Both the song and the album have reached No. 1 in various charts and in various countries.
Stranger Things role as a music promoter’s dream come true does not stop there. A few days ago, we got news that another oldie from the soundtrack has made a surprising return to the hit charts.
Master of Puppets by the legendary heavy rock band Metallica. Considered a thrash metal masterpiece, the single is from the acclaimed album of the same title. It was released in 1986 and has since become a concert favorite. But getting into the Stranger Things soundtrack has now made it a bigger hit.
Note to artists and music producers: If you can find a way to get your song into the soundtrack of a picture to be shown in a streaming platform like Netflix or HBO, Apple, etc., do it. It pays. I wonder how much those songs in Stranger Things are now earning in performance royalties from Netflix. I cannot also help but think of which other oldies will be revived as big sellers by the show.
Also in the Season 4 soundtrack are: Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) by Journey; California Dreamin’ by the Beach Boys; Psycho Killer by Talking Heads; You Spin Me Around (Like A Record) by Dead or Alive; Chica Mejecanita by Mae Arnette; Play with Me by Extreme; Detroit Rock City by Kiss; I was a Teen-age Werewolf by The Cramps; Pass The Dutchie by Musical Youth.
Wipeout by the Surfaris; Object of My Desire by Starpoint; Rock Me Amadeus by Falco; Travelin’ Man by Ricky Nelson; Tarzan Boy by the Baltimora; Dream a Little Dream of Me by Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald; Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo by Rick Derringer; Fire and Rain by James Taylor and Spellbound by Siouxie and the Banshees.
The likes of Fire and Rain and Dream a Little Dream of Me are already well taken care of. Those recordings will sell whether Stranger Things exists or not. So, for the next hits out of this soundtrack I nominate the novelty tunes Pass the Dutchie and Rock Me Amadeus. Why not? They are such fun to listen to. You can even dance to them and will surely work well in TikTok. Besides, they are also such a relief from all those hip-hop sounds and mousy R&B we get these days.
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