Hits of the ’80s in Walking on Sunshine

The film Walking on Sunshine is still set to open on Sept. 3 in local theaters. Although already touted as the feel-good movie of the year, I honestly do not know yet if it will be worth-watching. But it has something good going in its favor, something that will surely attract a certain generation of moviegoers. This is the music in its soundtrack, which is made up of some of the hottest hits of the ’80s.

Walking On Sunshine is about this girl Maddie who had just ended a long relationship and is now set to marry the gorgeous Raf after a whirlwind romance. So, she invites her sister Taylor to attend the wedding in Italy. What she doesn’t know is that one summer in the past, there was something between Taylor and Raf. Her fiancé is the love of Taylor’s life. Just another love triangle, you might say but it is a summer movie set in Italy with the sounds of the ’80s. It should be fun to watch.

Besides, one look at the song line-up sent me playing the CD right away. Who cares if there are still weeks to go before the picture gets to the theaters? The soundtrack is great and already here. Featured are the film’s stars Annabel Scholey, Hannah Arterton and Giulio Berruti, with Katy Brand, Danny Kirrane and Leona Lewis. Yes. You read right. Leona of Burning Love fame is trying out the movies and this is her first film appearance. She also sings in the soundtrack. 

And now, get a load of this hit parade of ’80s songs: Holiday originally by Madonna; Venus by Bananarama; How Will I Know? by Whitney Houston; The Power of Love by Huey Lewis & the News; Don’t You Want Me by the Human League; Walking On Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves; Eternal Flame by The Bangles; Girls Just Wanna Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper; Wild Boys by Duran Duran;  It Must Have Been Love by Roxette; Faith by George Michael; White Wedding by Billy Idol; If I Could Turn Back Time by Cher; and Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go by Wham.

The arrangements are simple and the singing is nothing extraordinary. And I missed Into The Groove. But there is a light breezy feel to the music that conjures up images of balmy Italian summers. Everybody will love this. It does feel like walking on sunshine.

Now, we go to the video release Magic of The Musicals performed by Andre Rieu and the Johann Strauss Orchestra. We get a lot of these music videos where a famous conductor leads an orchestra as they perform beautiful music. There is usually not much going on in the screen that you can play the video just like a radio. That means just listen. You will not miss anything. But this one is different. In fact, I see this as a great way to introduce the kiddies to the wonderful world of musicals.

The concert was held at the Radio City Music Hall in New York and featured an international line-up of excellent performers. Rieu is a funny, genial host who obviously loves what he does. The orchestra, chorus and several soloists do songs from the most famous musicals like The Sound of Music, Phantom of the Opera, My Fair Lady, The Wizard of Oz and many others. They do not merely sing. They do huge production numbers.

The Sound of Music is sung with a backdrop of the Austrian Alps. A pretty Mary Poppins sings Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious while flying around the hall with her umbrella. What about having guests of assorted fairytale characters to dance to the Cinderella Waltz? Or even bigger, the Empress Sisy arriving by a gilded coach pulled by white horses and with liveried footmen to sing I Belong To Me from Elisabeth. This one is a keeper. Great to listen to. Great to watch.

And when talks turn to soundtracks nowadays, it is inevitable that there would be mention of Frozen. The unstoppable soundtrack to the Disney animated feature has already sold over two million copies and is now acknowledged as the highest-grossing soundtrack of all time. It also keeps on giving more as witnessed by the recent release of three albums fueled by Frozen.

First is Volume No. 7 of The Hottest Hits Ever! compilation featuring all original artists led, of course, by Idina Menzel singing Let It Go from Frozen. Also included are She Looks So Perfect by 5 Seconds of Summer; Hey Brother by Avicii feat. Aloe Blacc; Money On My Mind by Sam Smith; Right There by Ariana Grande; Fancy by Iggy Azalea featuring Charli XCX; Team by Lorde and others.

The second Frozen offshoot is the Frozen Sing-Along CD with the Frozen Karaoke Digital album. This means that the kiddies or even the grown-ups can now sing the songs from Frozen with the real instrumental tracks. Ready now. Begin the Frozen concert with Let It Go, Love Is An Open Door, Do You Want To Build A Snowman, For The First Time In Forever and that cute tune by Olaf, In Summer.

Now comes the Frozen Asia Deluxe Edition containing the complete soundtrack of songs from the movie written by Kristen Anderson Lopez and Robert Lopez, the score by Christophe Beck and the Demi Lovato version of Let It Go. Plus, and this is a very big plus, versions of Let It Go in Thai, Korean, Mandarin, Cantonese and Bahasa. Very nice but now I am wondering: Why is there no Tagalog version of Let It Go?