Roadrunner Records - Slipknot's hard-hitting, aggressive metal anthems are getting…
Martin Scorsese Films: 10 Best Music Moments From His Movies
- Posted by Tim Lowery
Francois Durand, Getty Images
10
'Be My Baby,' the Ronettes
'Mean Streets'
'Mean Streets' wasn't his first film ('Boxcar Bertha' and 'Who's That Knocking at My Door' came out before it), but in retrospect it certainly feels like Scorsese's arrival as a filmmaker, in that his style, talent and enthusiasm seem totally confident. And as an arrival, we're hard-pressed to think of a better entrance than this opener, as Harvey Keitel lays his head on his bed to the opening shotgun drumbeat of the Ronettes' 'Be My Baby' (produced by Phil Spector in 1963) accompanying the home video footage of Keitel in Scorsese's native Little Italy in Manhattan.
09
'Like a Rolling Stone (Live),' Bob Dylan and the Band
'Life Lessons,' from 'New York Stories' (1989)
Scorsese's contribution to 'New York Stories' (which compiles shorts by himself, Woody Allen and Francis Ford Coppola) stands out in a number of ways, not least of which being how its short run time is packed to the brim with tunes, including Procol Harum's 'A Whiter Shade of Pale,' Cream's 'Politician' and Ray Charles' 'Night Time Is the Right Time.' We're partial to Dylan and the Band's energetic live 1974 take of 'Like a Rolling Stone' as Nick Nolte's gravel-voiced SoHo painter spitefully creates his latest work.
08
'Sevillanas,' Manitas de Plata
'After Hours' (1985)
'After Hours,' penned by then-26-year-old Columbia University student Joseph Minion, has pencil pusher Griffin Dunne following a crush, Rosanna Arquette, whom he met in a coffeeshop. As Dunne heads down to her neighborhood, one of his many misadventures is propelled by this flamenco number. And if you've ever used taken an insane cab ride in NYC, it's re-created rather well here.
07
'Rubber Biscuit,' the Chips
'Mean Streets' (1973)
Yes, the trick used here where it looks as if the camera is strapped to Harvey Keitel's body was utilized in John Frankenheimer's 'Seconds' six years earlier. But this scene, set to the goofy 1956 doo-wop novelty song by New York teens the Chips, feels much more vibrant and loose, as Harvey Keitel stumbles drunkenly through a party and eventually passes out.
06
'Then He Kissed Me,' the Crystals
'Goodfellas' (1990)
The mother of all tracking shots, Scorsese's three-minutes-plus single take brings us through the backrooms of Rat Pack haunt the Copacabana -- and past doormen, a couple making out and the bustling kitchen -- as Henry and Karen (Ray Liotta and Lorraine Bracco) embark on their first proper date in 'Goodfellas.' Expertly orchestrated by any means, to be sure, but when set to this Phil Spector-produced 1963 hit from the Crystals, this film scene reaches an intoxicating high, equal party romance and cool.
05
'Nobody but Me,' the Human Beinz
'The Departed' (2006)
Biopics and period dramas are all well and good, but apparently we weren't alone in craving another gritty crime flick from Scorsese ('The Departed' nabbed the Oscar for Best Picture as well as Best Director, Scorsese's first). With another crop of classic rockers (and a new setting in Boston), we get to sit back and watch the Stones, the Beach Boys and Badfinger set to violent yet undeniably cool scenes like this one featuring this 1968 one-hit wonder, where Leonardo DiCaprio goes off on a pair of thugs. That, frankly, will never get old.
04
'Cavalleria Rusticana: Intermezzo,' Orchestra of Bologna Municop Thetra
'Raging Bull' (1980)
It's the only classical selection on this list, but it's one that's so beautiful we had to include it. Another impressive tracking shot, as the music swells while De Niro heads through the roaring crowd and into the ring, Scorsese makes a nice contrast between the gorgeous song and the unbridled anger of De Niro's Jake LaMotta.
03
'Jump Into the Fire,' Harry Nilsson
'Goodfellas'
It's a day filled with snorting coke, dropping off guns, eying a possible Fed helicopter and, of course, making an Italian family dinner. Ray Liotta's gangster Henry Hill is losing it, and Nilsson's out-of-left-field 1971 druggy rock stomper provides a perfect backdrop. Bonus points for how the sequence teases the Who's 'Magic Bus' and then ends with the midsection of the Rolling Stones' 'Monkey Man.'
02
'Janie Jones,' the Clash
'Bringing Out the Dead' (1999)
Scorsese reunites with 'Taxi Driver' scribe Paul Schrader for 'Bringing Out the Dead,' another film tale of a loner cruising around Manhattan at night. A huge fan of the Clash (the band makes an appearance in Scorsese's 'The King of Comedy'), the director's choice of 1977's 'Janie Jones' adds an unhinged, out-on-the-town feel to ambulance driver Nicolas Cage's paranoia.
01
'Jumpin' Jack Flash,' the Rolling Stones
'Mean Streets'
This is the scene that inspired too many youngsters to count to pick up their cameras and enroll in film school. The slo-motion, the camera zooming in on Keitel along the bar, the drenched-in-red lighting, the Stones' cocky, urban 1968 number ... Imitated? Countless times. Duplicated? Only by Scorsese himself.
- Filed under: The Hit List
All the AOL Music info you want to know
Is This the Title of Mariah Carey's New…
The BoomboxWhen Mariah Carey isn't hanging with her kids and hubby Nick Cannon or beefing…
P.O.D. Challenge Viewer Perspective in…
NoisecreepDavid Livingston, Getty Images P.O.D.'s thoroughly contemplative video for…
News Roundup - Hunter Hayes to Appear…
The BootErika Goldring, Getty Images Still hungry for even more country music news? Here…
Add a Comment
Shelley White
Come on, people, Gimme Shelter by the Rolling Stones is used so masterfully in Goodfellas (when Liotta is just going down the rabbit hole of coke use). Shoulda been number one.
October 18 2010 at 11:17 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
Chris
I think U2's 'The Hands That Built America' in the final scene of 'Gangs of New York' deserves mention.
October 07 2010 at 8:22 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
lynn
I will never be able to hear "Layla" and not think of that scene
October 07 2010 at 6:39 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
dan
Layla from Goodfellas should definitely be on this list.
October 07 2010 at 11:49 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
Rick
How about the whole movie, Last Waltz. Hello
October 07 2010 at 10:59 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
Jorge
Great Director He is - that cannot be disputed But some of his most recent comments about the Country that Feeds him have been downright Weird and Ojectionable
October 07 2010 at 10:27 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
camper van winkle
1 reply to camper van winkle's comment
the 'mean streets' references are all spot-on. i'd also add (1) jackson browne's 'late for the sky' in 'taxi driver' (the only pop/rock tune in that soundtrack), (2) mott the hoople doing 'all the way from memphis' in 'alice doesn't live here anymore', (3) van morrison's 'wonderful remark' used as the end credits background music from 'king of comedy' and (4) morrison's incendiary rendition of 'caravan' from 'the last waltz.'
September 23 2010 at 2:54 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
hawk
I just got chills, Jackson Browne, Taxi Driver and the TV falls over, brrr. Also Emmy Lou in "Waltz"
September 23 2010 at 6:44 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
kachina321
IT'S TO BAD THAT THIS WACK JOB PHIL SPECTOR IS SUCH A WASTE OF TALENT. I REMEMBER MARTIN USES ONE OF HIS HITS IN A MOVIE. BE MY BABY BY THE RONETTES. WHAT DO YOU THINK? DO YOU THINK HE IS IN MAIN OR P.C WITH ALL
THE BUBBAS SINGING EVERY NIGHT. BE MY BABY.... I THINK HE IS IN CORCREN. IF HE IS IN GP. HE IS HANDING OUT MONEY FOR INMATES TO GUARD HIM. I JUST THOUGHT OF PHIL
AND O.J IN THE SAME CELL FOR ABOUT 40 YEARS OR SO. IF O.J IS NOT CRAZY NOW, BY THE TIME HE LEAVES HE WILL BE
HEARING PHILS VOICE THE REST OF HIS LIFE. I HAVE TO SAY GOD DOES WORK MIRACALS IN HIS OWN WAY.
kachina321
ALL HIS MOVIES WERE SCORED TO THE HIGHEST HIGHS. I DON'T KNOW IF ANY OF YOU ARE OLD ENOUGH TO REMEMBER MEAN STREETS. IF YOU SAW THE MOVIE AND A BUNCH OF WANNA BE MADE MEN FROM LITTLE ITALY. THE GUY LOANS BOBBY SOME MONEY. WORDS GO BACK AND FORTH. THEN THE BOOKIE GOES TO GRAB HIM FROM OFF THE BAR. WELL THERE IS A FRIEND OF MINE IN THAT MOVIE,LENNY SCARPETTA IS HIS NAME IN REAL LIFE.BOBBY CALLS THE BOOKIE A MOOK. EVRYONE TURNS TO EACH OTHER WITH THAT QUESTION ON THEIR FACE. THE NEXT LINE BEFORE THE FIGHT IS HE CALLS HIM A MOOK. THEN ONE GUY ASKS WHATS A MOOK? WELL IOF YOU WERE FROM LITTLE ITALY OR NEW YORK IN THE EARLY 60's YOU KNEW WHAT A MOOK WAS. IT'S LIKE NOT BEING ABLE TO FIND YOUR PECKER. A MOOK IS BUGGERS COMING OUT OF A KIDS NOSE. FOR SOME REASON SOME MOTHERS JUST LET IT BE. WE USED TO CALL THOSE GIRLS WITH UNSHAVEN ARMPITS AND HAIRY LEGS CHOOCHES. YOU DIDN'T WANT TO SEE THEM AT CONEY. THEY HAD MORE HAIR COMING OUT OF THEIR BATHING SUITS. THEN I HAD ALL AROUND MY PECKER.
RENT MEAN STREETS AND WATCH IT. YOU WILL FEEL THE SOUL OF THE CITY HOW IT USED TO BE.
Slic
I liked Tell Me by the Stones in Mean Streets too
September 23 2010 at 6:47 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply
16 Comments