Dramarama – “Anything, Anything”
Guys, they play this song daily on KROQ here in L.A. Sometimes I’ll catch it twice on the radio. Trust me, this song is a permanent fixture you get used to when you move out here. But it was made popular first, to me at least, thanks to A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master in ’88. “Anything, Anything” made workout mixes. I mean, dude…it worked for Andras Jones’ Ricky in Nightmare 4, it had to work for me, right?
Lynyrd Skynyrd – “Free Bird”
Before this became the song to accompany the final ride of the Firefly family in The Devil’s Rejects (2005), this epic classic rock song was the thing my guitar-strumming buddies would try and learn growing up on the East Coast. Marrying this song to the scene Rob Zombie put together is arguably one of the best things he has done on the film scene. Apologies for the YouTube embed, it’s a lil’ funky, but you get the idea.
Icycle Works – “Whisper to a Scream (Birds Fly)”
Always associated to Wes Craven’s Scream (1996), even though the version used in the final credits of the film was actually a cover by SoHo. It carries us through the cast role call which utilizes still frames of the principal characters. Scream was a big deal for me when it was released so I hyperanalyzed all aspects of the film, including the music used in it. This was one of the standout selections.