Guardians of the Galaxy’s musical tradition continues in Vol. 3

The soundtrack album of the space adventure Guardians of the Galaxy was something of an oddity when it came out.

It was made up of previously released materials. Meaning old songs, which was common for films but unusual for a Marvel movie. Marvel Studio preferred to use original scores most of the time.

For another, it was 2014 and it had already been years since the music industry transitioned to CDs. So, it was strange that the Guardians soundtrack was released on audio cassettes and vinyl. Not on CDs.

Remember cassettes? Those were little rectangular plastic cases containing a very long tape which in turn housed the music and played it by spinning round and round.

Cassettes made OK sounds and were easy to carry around but the tapes melted when exposed to heat. Worse yet, we often had to splice together tapes broken from wear and tear.

So, what was the Guardians soundtrack doing in an audio cassette when the more convenient CD was already available?

It soon turned out that the cassette tape titled Awesome Mix: Guardians of the Galaxy plays an important role in the story.

Guardians of the Galaxy is centered on Peter Quill. As a boy, he was abducted from earth and taken to outer space by the Ravagers, a gang of thieves and smugglers. He had, since then grown up to become a thief and smuggler himself.

Peter’s dearest possession is a cassette tape he had with him when he was taken. The mix tape is made up of music from the ‘70s, the favorite songs of his late mother. The tape is the movie soundtrack and this explains why the album was released on cassettes.

Although, the movie came from Marvel not much was expected of Guardians at the box-office. The Guardians were no Avengers and Peter, though he would later become the hero Star Lord was no Iron Man or Spider Man. Besides, although Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Michael Rooker, and Karen Gillan were big names, it was the first major role for Chris Pratt, who plays Peter.

Despite those limitations, Guardians became a massive success. In fact, it was one of the biggest grossers of the year. Director James Gunn did an excellent job and the competent cast turned out to be natural as Marvel heroes including Pratt.

Then, it helped that the picture introduced movie-goers to two adorable intelligent characters, Rocket, an anthropomorphic raccoon and Groot, a tree monster. It also had one fantastic soundtrack.

The mix tape lived up to its title. It was awesome. It was No. 1 for 16 weeks and was one of the biggest hits of the year. Peter’s Mom had great taste and she taped some of the best songs of the ‘70s.

Among those included were Hooked on a Feeling by Blue Swede; Go All the Way by the Raspberries; Spirit in the Sky by Norman Greenbaum; Moonage Daydream by David Bowie; I’m Not in Love by 10CC; I Want You Back by the Jackson 5; Cherry Bomb by the Runaways; Escape (The Pina Collada Song) by Rupert Holmes; and Ain’t No Mountain High Enough by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrel.

The process was repeated in 2017 with Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2, which became a bigger success. It had the same cast and another awesome hit soundtrack. Again, the selections were released on cassette tapes.

Some of the cuts were Mr. Blue Sky by The Electric Light Orchestra; The Chain by Fleetwood; Bring It On Home to Me by Sam Cooke; Southern Nights by Glenn Campbell; My Sweet Lord by George Harrison; Come a Little Bit Closer by Jay and the Americans; Wham Bam S Shang-A-Lang by Silver; Surrender by Cheap Trick; Father and Son by Cat Stevens; Flash Light by Parliament; and an original track, Guardians Inferno by would you believe, David Hasselhoff, who also appeared in the movie.

Now, as you must have already heard, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is coming soon. It has the same cast and a soundtrack with a more varied line-up. Heard though that this one will not be released on cassettes. It will be on vinyl and in keeping with the times on digital platforms.

There are Creep by Radiohead; Crazy on You by Heart; Since You Been Gone by Rainbow; Reasons by Earth Wind and Fire; Do You Realize by the Flaming Lips; We Come a Lot by Faith No More; I’m Always Chasing Rainbows by Alice Cooper; Dog Days are Over by Florence & the Machine; Badlands by Bruce Springsteen; I Will Dare by The Replacements; Come and Get Your Love by Redbone and others.

I feel another big hit coming with both movie and album.