Guardians of the Galaxy has awesome retro soundtrack

Just in case you have been wondering what makes Guardians of the Galaxy bigger or should I say, more entertaining than all of these summer’s big-budgeted action/adventure releases, I can now tell you to wonder no more. With star power, special effects, memorable characters and quotable dialogue being more or less equal to X-Men, Lucy or Expendables 3, what gives Guardians the edge that accounts for its over $500M worldwide gross, is its super-duper tape deck soundtrack.

The songs in the soundtrack of the action/adventure about a new batch of Marvel superheroes keeping the galaxy safe, do not only enhance the mood or farther the action. It is a vital part of the story. Hero Starford Quill carries a Walkman around while going about his business. For younger readers, the Walkman, one of Sony’s most successful and most revolutionary products, was a handy audio cassette player that one can carry around.

The Walkman led to the fad for jogging or working out with sounds from your earphones attached to your Walkman. It was later superseded by the Discman, also from Sony. Then, Apple came along and they changed a lot of things people usually did then. So, we do not have the Walkman or Discman or any of those machines anymore and we play music on the iPod or the iPad or other machines.

Of course, with nothing to play them in, we also do not have audio tapes anymore. Makes me wonder if the current interest in vinyl long-play albums will also spark a return to the audio tape. The sound of music on tape has a charm of its own and I must say that this was closely duplicated in the Guardians soundtrack. Maybe the success of the Guardians will ignite interest in tapes and tape players again. Note that the CD of the soundtrack has a cover with a picture of an audio-cassette tape.

The movie shows not only the Walkman in action but also a tape deck in Quill’s spaceship. And to play in those machines, he has this Awesome Mix Vol.1 compilation cassette tape from childhood. For those who remember also back in the ’70s, there were shops which would make tapes of chosen selections for a fee. A cheap alternative for those who do not want to buy the whole albums or just want to listen to the songs they like. This was before the music industry woke up to the idea that that was actually a form of piracy and outlawed the practice.

But back to the Guardians. The compilation tape of her favorite songs was made by Quill’s mother for him before she died and he was abducted by aliens. The songs are all from the ’70s and Quill has learned to love them, too. And so does everybody who have seen the movie, which is the reason why this Awesome Mix tape is now the biggest-selling soundtrack of the year.

From Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol.1 by various original artists, here are the songs that became the heart of the film. Some were big hits like Escape (The Pina Colada Song) by Rupert Holmes. Others were largely unheard of like Spirit In The Sky by Norman Greenbaum But I assure you that from the first note of the infectious Hooked On A FeeIing by Blue Swede down to the classic rendition of Ain’t No Mountain High Enough by Tammi Terrell, this tape is one great ride.

Also included are Go All The Way by The Raspberries; Moonage Daydream by David Bowie; Fooled Around And Fell In Love by Elvin Bishop; I’m Not In Love by 10cc; I Want You Back by The Jackson 5; Come And Get Your Love by Redbone; Cherry Bomb by The Runaways; and O-O-H Child by The Five Stairsteps;

Just thinking, the album says Volume 1. So, is there another Guardians movie that will have another Awesome Mix soundtrack? Or maybe, there will be a Volume 2 album of more hits from the ’70s. Whatever comes would be most welcome.

And now here are the other big-selling soundtrack albums of the moment as per the Billboard hit list. Coming in at No. 2 is the sales behemoth Frozen with the monster single Let It Go. This album has been in the charts for nearly a year and was only recently dislodged by Awesome Mix Vol. 1 from the No. 1 spot. Here goes the list:

Guardians of the Galaxy Awesome Mix Vol. 1 by Various Artists; Frozen, the original soundtrack by the cast; War Story: Aftermath — Music From And Inspired By The Film by Amy Lee featuring Dave Eggar; If I Stay by Various Artists; The Fault In Our Stars; Pitch Perfect; Jersey Boys; Begin Again, Purple Rain (Prince And The Revolution); Get On Up: The James Brown Story by James Brown; God’s Not Dead; Divergent; The Great Gatsby Music from the Baz Luhrmann film; The Bodyguard by Whitney Houston; and Chef.