After Hours (1985) is the greatest film ever made, according to me. It was Martin Scorsese's lone attempt at comedy and it was as dark as coal. If you have ever seen it, you know why this post is meaningful. If you have not, do read on...
A soundtrack album was never released for After Hours even though it had myriad songs by so many different artists in so many genres. The film included a treasure trove of oft-forgotten classics, such as Robert & Johnny's doo-wop classic "You're Mine", a hit for Hy Weiss's soul label Old Town Records in the late 1950's and "Chelsea Morning" by Joni Mitchell, off her Clouds LP. As a young boy of 13, I was introduced to Bad Brains' classic "Pay To Cum" during the infamous "mohawk this guy" scene. But, to my dismay when I was a mere youth, well into my high school years and during the early Napster days of illegal downloads, I could never find half the songs that were in this film. Slowly, but surely, I have compiled them and may post a "soundtrack" on my sister blog sometime soon. The songs were absolutely perfect in every sense of the word, especially during the end in which Peggy Lee's classic "Is That All There Is?" plays over a nightclub's PA system as the "last call" song.
Why was this movie soundtrack never released? Geffen, as in David Geffen, as in Geffen Records, released the picture through Warner Bros. studios. Geffen could have easily released the soundtrack on his own label, and Warners distributed Geffen Records at the time anyway. Scorsese was certainly big enough of a director to warrant a soundtrack release as well. Yet, here I am, twenty-four years later, still wondering why such a great collection of songs has yet to see the light of day, together, on black wax or shiny silver compact disc. A travesty. A crime indeed.
Think back to a simpler time 1985. Most soundtracks had music that was a) made for the film by well known artists "Fast Times" "Footloose" "or b) made by obscure artists almost never to be heard of again. I'm looking at you Josie Cotton! So while a soundtrack most easily could have been released, they probably thought it would not have sold much. A little short sided on their thinking there.
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