There has been a trend in Hollywood, one that hit it’s peak in the ’70s but continues today, of basing movies on hit songs. Sometimes the movies are directly referencing the song and the story in the song, sometimes they are more loosely based on the song. Looking down the list, it’s clear that it’s rarely a great idea, as most of these movies didn’t really work. These 32 songs might be excellent, but the movies based on them usually aren’t.
Born In East LA (1987)
In 1985 the legendary Cheech & Chong recorded a parody of Bruce Springsteen’s “Born In The USA” called “Born In East LA.” The funny song was from the perspective of a Latino man and was turned into a movie starring Cheech Marin (without Tommy Chong) that is decidedly not funny. Cheech (both with and without Chong) had a pretty hit-or-miss run in the ’80s and Born In East LA was a miss.
Chattanooga Choo Choo (1984)
The 1941 song “Chattanooga Choo Choo” has been an American standard for generations. The movie, released in the ’80s, is a mostly forgotten relic that really doesn’t deserve much more. It starred Barbara Eden and George Kennedy, along with a few surprise cameos and Joe Namath of all people. It was a regular on cable TV in the mid-’80s so you probably saw it, and have forgotten it, if you grew up in that era.
Love Potion No. 9 (1992)
One of Sandra Bullock’s earliest roles was in a since-forgotten movie called Love Potion No. 9. Not only is the movie just not very funny at all, but the entire plot is pretty darn problematic. Basically, as in the song from the 1960s, it’s about getting someone to drink a “potion” that will have them fall in love with you. Yeah, not something we celebrate these days, for good reason.
Jailhouse Rock (1957)
Lovers of Elvis Presley will often defend his movies from the ’50s and ’60s and that’s fair, the music is surely great in them. The movies are simply not that good. They were made on the cheap and in a rush to capitalize on The King’s popularity and it shows. Jailhouse Rock is probably not the worst offender of all his movies, but that doesn’t mean it’s worth watching these days.
Monster Mash (1995)
Basing a movie on a great song is usually a bad idea. Basing one on a 30-year-old novelty hit is even worse. Still, in 1995, someone greenlit Monster Mash based on the popular novelty hit from 1962, starring the song’s writer and performer Bobby Pickett. The plot has a couple staying the night in a creepy castle with classic horror movie characters including Frankenstein, Dracula, Igor, and… a re-animated Elvis Presley. Yeah. You can imagine how weird it is.
Earth Girls Are Easy (1988)
Comedian Julie Brown is probably best known for her song “The Homecoming Queen’s Got A Gun” but another one of her songs, “Earth Girls Are Easy” was made into a 1988 movie of the same name starring Brown alongside Geena Davis, Jeff Goldblum, Damon Wayans, and Jim Carrey. While this movie isn’t the worst offender on this list, it’s not equal to the sum to of his cast’s talents.
Across The Universe (2007)
Over and over people are tempted to loosely base movies on the music of The Beatles. Despite the band rarely allowing their original recordings to be used in movies, people keep trying to find ways around that. Across The Universe is one such attempt and while the musical rom-com does feature the songs, it has none of the charm the Beatles had in their music.
The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia (1981)
The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia is a weird entry here. It’s not that it’s good, it’s not really, but it asked the question, “Why did they even bother to name it after the song.” Rather than use the actual song, sung by Vicki Lawrence in the early ’70s, they took the song and rewrote it to fit the plot of the movie and, re-recorded it (this time by Tonya Tucker). It’s mind-boggling.
Convoy (1978)
Take a legendary director like Sam Peckinpah, team him up with a stellar cast that includes Kris Kristofferson, Ali MacGraw, and Burt Young, and base it on a hit song about long haul trucking in America and you might expect a hit. And Convoy was a minor hit, but it’s still not very good and boy oh boy is it dated.
Alice’s Restaurant (1969)
If you’re like me, you listen to the 20-minute Arlo Guthrie story song “Alice’s Restaurant” every Thanksgiving. I love it. What I don’t love is the hippie-dippy movie they made from it in 1969 starring Guthrie himself. Not only is it super dated now, but it wasn’t that great to begin with.
Copacabana (1985)
Barry Manilow has earned his place as one of America’s greatest songwriters. Screenplay writer and director are a different story, as the made-for-TV movie Copacabana shows. Sure, it’s filled with some of his best songs, but the storytelling leaves a lot to be desired.
Purple People Eater (1988)
In 1988 Baby Boomer nostalgia was a fever pitch. Hollywood was rolling out reboots of classic ’60s TV shows, The Traveling Wilburys were at the top of the charts, and someone decided to base a movie on a novelty song from the 1950s, “The Purple People Eater” by Shep Wooley. Even a cast that includes Neil Patrick Harris, Ned Beatty, and Shelly Winters can’t save this family flick about an alien befriending a kid.
Kenny Rogers As The Gambler (1980)
Kenny Rogers’ country classic “The Gambler” is one of the greatest songs ever put on wax. It’s so great that it led to a film, multiple film actually, based on the character Rogers wrote in the song. They also star Rogers himself in that role. If they had stopped at that first made-for-TV movie, it might not have made this list. But they decided to keep going and make four sequels, each worse than the last.
Eye of the Tiger (1986)
In a pretty cheap move, it turns out the movie Eye of the Tiger has nothing to do with the hit song by the band Survivor that people still love today, made famous in Rocky III. They used the song to market the movie, but it was based on an original script and starred Gary Busey in an action role. Just not good all around.
Rhinestone (1984)
Glen Campbell’s 1975 hit Rhinestone Cowboy is one of the best country songs of the ’70s. The 1984 movie Rhinestone loosely based on the song is not one of the best movies of the ’80s. The lone bright is the music by co-star Dolly Parton.
Harper Valley PTA (1978)
Giving credit where credit is due, the song “Harper Valley PTA” does tell a story worth making a movie about. While the movie is a minor cult classic, it’s still not all that good, but at least they picked a decent song to try making a movie with.
Only The Lonely (1991)
One of the many examples of Boomer nostalgia going too far is naming this John Candy movie after the classic Roy Orbison song. Yeah, he plays a lonely guy, but it could have been named anything. It’s not one of Candy’s best movies, either, that’s for sure.
Valley Girl (1983)
Valley Girl starring Nicolas Cage and Deborah Foreman is actually a pretty decent movie, but it lands on this list because while it takes its name from the Frank Zappa song, it had nothing to do with the on-time Miami Vice guest star. The mercurial musician even sued unsuccessfully to stop the production. Why not name it something else?
Big Bad John (1990)
“Big Bad John” by Jimmy Dean is one of the great American songs, worthy of a Grammy in 1962. The movie, made in 1990 is based on the song, and stars Jimmy Dean (alongside Ned Beatty), is far from a classic. There’s a reason no one remembers it.
Take This Job and Shove It (1981)
The 1981 minor hit Take This Job and Shove It is famous for two things. It’s based on the popular song by Johnny Paycheck that people still sing today when they quit their jobs, and it was the first to feature a Monster Truck. That’s about all we have to say about it.
The Music Never Stopped (2011)
Stars J.K. Simmons and Lou Taylor Pucci are both great in The Music Never Stopped, whose name is taken from the title of a Grateful Dead song. It’s about a father and son reconnecting over music, especially that of The Dead, but it falls into such a trope-y mess that it’s hard to recommend.
The Christmas Shoes (2002)
It turns out that bad songs can also be made into bad movies. Christmas Shoes, a made-for-TV movie starring Rob Lowe was based on one of the weirdest Christmas songs of all time, of the same name. Patton Oswalt famously based one of his standup bits on the song, it’s so weird. The movie might actually be better than the song, but it’s a tough call.
Detroit Rock City (1999)
Detroit Rock City, directed by Adam Rifkin and starring Edward Furlong is a ridiculous movie named after a ridiculous KISS song of the same name. While it’s a great example of a bad movie with a great soundtrack, it’s still not worth watching.
Can’t Buy Me Love (1987)
This movie, which if you are a part of Gen X you probably love, is really only on this list because it seems like a cheap attempt to capitalize on a hit Beatles song. The Beatles apparently gave their blessing for the name and allowed their song to appear. So I guess it gets some credit.
Last Christmas (2019)
The 2019 rom-com Last Christmas fits right in with that genre of Christmas movies that are comfortable and fine, but ultimately unremarkable. Sure, it’ll give you that warm Yuletide feeling, but that’s about it. Using great George Michael and Wham! songs only adds a little to it.
Love Me Tender (1956)
In 1956 Elvis Presley was the biggest pop star in America. Naturally, that meant putting in a movie and naming it after one of his biggest hits. Hence a…western? Yeah, they made a western called Love Me Tender. Like most of Presley’s movies, it’s rushed and cheaply made, no more than a cash grab by the powers that be. Presley isn’t half bad, but he’s still just Elvis.
Material Girls (2006)
Produced by Madonna, and starring Hilary and Halie Duff, Material Girls is a hot mess. It’s very loosely based on Sense and Sensibility, but they decided to name it after the Madonna song so everyone was sure to know the Material One’s involvement. It was panned at the time and remains largely forgotten.
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus (2001)
It may star Dylan and Cole Sprouse (splitting the main role), but 2001’s I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, named and based on the chorus of the hit song of the same name from 1951 is, bluntly, terrible. There is a good reason it’s not in regular rotation in households during the holiday season, that’s for sure.
Ode to Billy Joe (1956)
The song “Ode to Billy Joe” by Bobby Gentry was a huge hit in the 1960s and one of the first of a subgenre called “Death Discs” or “Splatter Platters.” It tells the story of a teenage love story that ends in tragedy. The movie follows pretty much the same story but doesn’t carry the same weight as the song, somehow.
Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead (1995)
Andy Garcia stars in Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead, whose title was taken by a Warren Zevon song of the same name. Like other songs that have done this, you have to wonder why the filmmakers needed to name it after a song at all. The movie bombed, and it’s not hard to see why. It’s certainly not as cool as the song.
Sweet Home Alabama (2002)
The Lynyrd Skynyrd song “Sweet Home Alabama” was written as a defense of the South and has basically nothing in common with the mediocre film of the same name. The name of the movie makes sense, but it’s still a title that will be forever attached to the song.
Jumpin’ Jack Flash (1986)
There is one thing positive we can say about 1986’s Jumpin’ Jack Flash: it basically introduced how funny Whoopi Goldberg is to the world. Goldberg had starred in The Color Purple a year earlier, but it was in this movie that we all saw how funny she is. She’s sadly the only highlight in the movie. The Rolling Stones song from which the title comes does play into the plot, but it’s pretty forced and really they could have chosen any song with a proper name in it.
