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From the Vault...
10/01/2000
#701 |
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info
Soundtrack
"Good Morning Vietnam"
© A&M Records
Year of Release: 1988
Rating:
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track listing
Adrian Cronauer
Nowhere To Run--
Martha Reeves &
The Vandellas
I Get Around--
Beach Boys
Game Of Love--
Wayne Fontana &
The Mindbenders
Adrian Cronauer
Sugar And Spice--
The Searchers
Adrian Cronauer
Liar Liar--
The Castaways
The Warmth Of
The Sun--
Beach Boys
Adrian Cronauer
I Got You (I Feel Good)--
James Brown
Adrian Cronauer
Baby Please Don't Go--
Them
Adrian Cronauer
Danger Heartbreak
Dead Ahead--
The Marvelettes
Five O'Clock World--
The Vogues
California Sun--
The Rivieras
Adrian Cronauer
What A
Wonderful World--
Louis Armstrong
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Soundtrack
"Good Morning Vietnam"
Radio Broadcasting is essential for me... So when it comes to movies
incorporating radio, or better yet, movies with disc-jockeys, these kinds of
movies always spark an interest. Talk Radio comes to mind, telling
the almost autobiography of controverial radio personality Allen Berg from
Denver, Colorado. This week's review is another movie, Good Morning
Vietnam, starring Robin Williams. An excellent soundtrack, it features
some classic songs from the 1960s, plus additional material from Robin
Williams as real-life radio personality Adrian Cronauer, as the movie is
set during the Vietnam war.
I first discovered this soundtrack from my oldest nephew, (I hadn't seen
the movie at the time, yet the role of DJ by Williams had interested me.) What
fascinated me about this soundtrack was the fact that it featured 1-2 minute
sound bites of Williams' zany dialog from the movie, such as numerous "characters"
and imitations of well-known celebrities. And we all know how zany they can be,
which is what Robin Williams is famous for. (FYI: all of these hilarious sound
bites were totally ad-libbed from the movie, according to sources...)
The album starts out with the famous Robin Williams line, "Good Morrrrrning
Vietnam!!!" Robin Williams is famous with imitating zany characters as he does
this, telling in a humourous way how terrible the Vietnam war is/was, as he
leads into the first song by Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, "Nowhere To Run,"
followed by the Beach Boys' "I Get Around," and Wayne Fontana & The
Mindbender's "Game Of Love."
Williams/Cronauer's next character is from an imaginary phone call, as
his character requests any song that is LOUD!!! "Sugar And Spice" by
The Searchers follows. Next set of WIlliams' characters deal with Gomer Pyle,
(as well as others) and a "traffic report" with the common sound effects of a
helicopter, where Williams taps his chest. "Liar Liar" by The Castaways
is played afterwards, and the Beach Boys' "The Warmth Of The Sun."
Williams' next character is a fashion designer, followed by James Brown's
"I Got You (I Feel Good). An imitation of bandleader Lawrence Welk
is next, followed by a band featuring a young Van Morrison -- Them's "Baby
Please Don't Go."
Breaking the sound barrier (his voice cracks) as we hear another "Good
Morrrrrning Vietnam!!!", then a comparison chat between Richard Nixon and Mr. Ed.
The next song may not be as remembered, yet its another good song from Motown:
The Marvelettes' "Danger Heartbreak Dead Ahead," followed by The Vogues'
"Five O'Clock World," and The Rivieras' "California Sun."
The last Williams/Cronouer segment features more imitations, such as
Walter Cronkite, and is followed by a song that became more famous, thanks
to this movie, as when it first came out in 1967: "What A Wonderful World,"
by Louis Armstrong. (What made an interesting scene in the movie was when we
watched the war, and how it was terrible in sight, and the background music
we heard was this song.)
Despite how graphical the Vietnam war was, and how it effected many
people's lives who were a part of it, Adrian Cronauer brought some humor to
the fact that the war was terrible; Williams' protrayal of Cronauer was to shed
light on the fact of the terrible outcomes of the war. In the movie, Cronauer
always stated the fact the war was terrible, and despite this irritable topic,
the movie was excellent. As for the soundtrack, it's the
zany imitations and sound bites from the movie that makes it so great, as well
as the classic songs.
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Review or any portion may not be reproduced
without written permission. Cover art is the
intellectual property of
A&M Records
and is used for reference purposes only.
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