REVIEW: Wayne’s World – Music from the Motion Picture (1992)

MOVIE SOUNDTRACK WEEK

By a weird coincidence, I wrote up this review on the exact same night that Aaron wrote up his for the KMA. Weeeeeeird.

Scan_20160605WAYNE’S WORLD – Music from the Motion Picture (1992 Warner)

Today we’ll take an extreme close up look at Wayne Campbell, Garth Algar, and the movie soundtrack that returned Queen to the top of the charts.

Wayne’s World was a phenomenon.  Not only did it put Queen back on their throne, but it also kickstarted a whole wave of Saturday Night Live movie spinoffs, including the Coneheads and Pat.  The soundtrack was one that “everybody” had to have.   While I had started my Queen collection well before the movie came out, this soundtrack was the first place that I acquired “Bohemian Rhapsody”.  In many regards, you can almost regard “Bohemian” as a brand new song in 1992.  It charted as if it was brand new, and it became a cultural cornerstone only after the movie.  I know I can’t be the only one who head-banged to it in the car on weekend nights during the summer of ’92.  As one of the most campy yet brilliant tracks ever recorded in the history of rock, “Bohemian” deserved everything that came its way.

The soundtrack CD was made up of new and old material like “Bohemian”.  Also dusted off:  “Dream Weaver” by Gary Wright.  Though not to the same degree as Queen, Gary Wright experienced a bit of a renaissance thanks to the prominent usage of the song in the film.  The 1975 soft rock ballad is still cheesey fun today.  Then, Jimi Hendrix’s “Foxy Lady” was given a fresh release in one of the most memorable Garth scenes.  Admit it:  If you are over a certain age, you make the little “fox ears” on your head just like Garth Did when Jimi sings “Foxy”!  I know you do — don’t try to lie.  Although I can’t recall the song being in the movie at all, a mediocre Eric Clapton outtake from 1985 is included on the CD, in “Loving Your Lovin'”.  It’s about as memorable as you would expect a mid-80’s Clapton outtake to be; its just “OK”.  Of course, everyone knows that Alice Cooper’s “Feed My Frankenstein” was used during the Cooper cameo in the movie.  It introduced Alice to a whole new generation who still remember and love that song.

New tracks included the zippy Red Hot Chili Peppers funk blitzkrieg “Sikamikanico”.  Bass pulsing in time with the racing beats, this is the kind of Chili Peppers I love.   Meanwhile, Black Sabbath unveiled their first new material with Dio since 1981, on “Time Machine”.  This Wayne’s World version of the song is completely different from the one that was recorded for Dehumanizer, although both are included on the Sabbath remaster.  The Wayne’s World version feels faster and more frantic.  It was quite a thrill for fans to hear a brand new Black Sabbath song in a mainstream comedy movie.  (Cool scene too, with Robert Patrick of Terminator 2 fame.)  Although the soundtrack couldn’t resurrect their careers, both Cinderella and Bulletboys had new tunes on the CD.  Bulletboys tackled a cover of Montrose’s “Rock Candy”, perfect for their Van Halen worshipping vibe.  Cinderella had a new rocker to show off, a soul-infused vintage song called “Hot and Bothered”, which was a fine return to form but had no impact.  Finally, Rhino Bucket who were considered heirs to the throne of AC/DC included a new song called “Ride With Yourself” from their 1992 album Get Used to It.  It’s cleaner sounding than AC/DC but it’s in that ballpark.

Finally there are the throw away tracks.  At the time, Tia Carrere was being hyped up for a music career.  They hooked her up with Ted Templeman and recorded a cover of “Ballroom Blitz” (you know the scene in the movie) and a ballad called “Why You Wanna Break My Heart”.  Both are fine in the movie, but not really necessary for rock fans in general to own on CD.  Still, here they are!  (Tia’s version of Hendrix’s “Fire”, also in the movie, was included on the B-side of the “Ballroom Blitz” single.)  Then there is a throw-away version of the Wayne’s World theme song with Wayne and Garth singing.  I’ll take the Aerosmith version any day!

Not on the soundtrack CD, but prominently featured in the film, was Ugly Kid Joe’s hit “Everything About You”.  No big loss; you should be able to find their Ugly As They Wanna Be EP for under $5.  Party on!

3/5 stars

52 comments

  2. Nice. I watched the film again last year, after not seeing it since it came out and I was so disappointed by it! I hate it when that happens, I loved this film.

    Queen never went away over here, but I think you’re right about it rebooting them in the US/CAN.

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    1. Yeah for sure. Queen really disappeared here. They stopped touring which didn’t help. I barely knew Queen growing up. My dad did get me to watch Metropolis but I was too young to appreciate the music. I wasn’t into rock music at that age. Here though, it was insane. It was so sudden, and the whole time it felt like next week it would be over and Queen would reside in obscurity. But that didn’t happen. Queen came back here and re-established the legend for good.

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    1. I think I prefer the Wayne’s World version just a tad. It all comes down to when Dio says “to exorcise your mind”. He sings that one line different on each version and prefer the soundtrack version.

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        3. I heard WW first — I think Dehumanizer was a few months coming still. But even so, I just like the vocal better. Dio changed some parts I liked on the original — “If you listen to fools!” I like that better than “Stay out of shadows now!” I can remember being disappointed by that when I first got Dehumanizer.

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        2. I own a gun rack, so I can never use that line on anyone :(

          GREAT scene though. Did you that was based on a real ex of Mike Myers? The gun rack gift was real. She wrote an article for a national magazine about it. They dated for a while, broke up, remained friends sort of, and as a gag gift she really did give him a gun rack. Of course Myers turned that into something hilarious!

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        2. I also love the story (I’m paraphrasing and I don’t know the source at all, so we’re trusting my memory here) about how his wife came home one day and Mike was in the tub, talking like Austin Powers, and she knew that a new character had been born.

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  8. The funny thing about this soundtrack was that I won it when HMV used to have a gumball machine and if you got the silver wrapped gumball you won a free CD. This was the CD I chose. I had just seen the movie so it was top of my mind. Fun CD with some good catchy songs.

    Bohemian Rhapsody had always been on my radar since my one of older Sisters was a huge Queen fan. (Actually the Flash Gordon theme from their 1981 Greatest Hits album was my favourite but I also liked Bohemian Rhapsody.)

    I’m not sure how I ended up with this but I have a VHS Video single of Bohemian Rhapsody that includes Wayne’s World footage. I think it came from the College I was attending and because I liked soundtracks I ended up getting it.

    Party On, Mike!!

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    1. Do you remember the drum sticks that came with Wayne’s World? We had a pair of those…warped beyond usage of course…they didn’t give away good quality sticks!

      I love that Flash soundtrack. Perhaps I should consider doing it for the next soundtrack week. I have the 2 CD edition and the one with the bonus remix track. Yes I have two copies!

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      1. Actually I don’t remember the drum sticks. That would have been something that I would have kept around and stored somewhere only to discover years later.

        Yeah…the Flash Gordon soundtrack is a wonder to behold. The last 20 minutes of the album is tiring as you feel like you’ve been through the battle after it’s over. The highlight for me is the wedding march played by Brian May.

        Interesting to note that while Queen did a fair amount of music for the film the producers did hire a composer. The original composer on the film left the project. The orchestra was left high and dry and they asked composer Howard Blake to come in and help pull everything together. He did, in 10 days. Writing, orchestrating and recording pretty much everything. After that he collapsed from exhaustion. I interviewed him a few years ago on the anniversary of another project of his “The Snowman” he openly talked about his work on Flash Gordon. I also have a promo of the score he wrote for the film. (One of the perks of having a soundtrack radio show)

        So yes, by all means yes Flash Gordon would be a great soundtrack to feature next time. That would be awesome.

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        1. Wow what a story. That information is, needless to say, excluded from the Flash Gordon soundtrack liner notes! Brian May is very good at soundtrack work too. I believe he did a soundtrack for a horror film called “Dr. Giggles” or something?

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  12. Wayne’s World was my introduction to Bohemian Rhapsody and Queen. I was aware of Queen, but not so much of their music. I ended up buying the greatest hits sets. Only revisited them over the last couple of years. But like, HMO, I was never the biggest fan of the movie, so didn’t ever bother with the soundtrack. Bill & Ted all the way!

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    1. Interesting! I like Bill & Ted, don’t get me wrong. Don’t make me pick a favourite. I think WW was a funnier movie…but B&T have both George Carlin AND Faith No More. So…fuck??! You can’t make me choose!

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  13. Mike I can’t tell you how nice it is to see Wayne & Garth appear in the Reader!
    I quite enjoyed the movie lines (extreme close up, etc) sprinkled throughout the review – and I like how you approached it objectively, contract or no, you did not bow to any commercial sponsor!

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