Today’s post features music from the forgotten 1986 film, Modern Girls. My wife, who tends to be more in tune with the times than I am, has no recollection of seeing or hearing of this film when it was released. It has been heavily repeated on the lesser cable movie channels, which is where we first encountered it. Modern Girls is not a great film by any stretch of the imagination, but we’ve adopted into our “if there’s nothing else on, we’ll watch it” category of movies.
The film covers the night in the lives of three clubhopping roommates: the tough-yet-goodhearted Margo (Daphne Zuniga), impulsive sprite Cece (Cynthia Gibb, who has no upper lip, according to my wife), and the judgement-impaired Kelly (Virginia Madsen). The women are reluctantly accompanied by male viewer identification figure Clifford (Clayton Rohner, who also plays the part of Bruno X, a pouty Billy Idol-inspired rock star), a poor schmoe who Kelly has been stringing along.
The tone of the movie is what you’d expect -- insubstantial romantic comedy with some big 80’s art direction and costuming to match-- but it occasionally veers off in weird directions. There’s one scene where Kelly, off on her own and tripping out on ecstacy, passes out on a pool table in a dive bar. A crowd of skuzzy looking male patrons closes in around her, making the viewer wonder if the film’s editor hadn’t accidentally switched reels with The Accused.
That’s only one of the two times that Kelly faces sexual assault in the film. She also nearly gets raped and murdered by a clean-cut stalker dude who resembles an off-brand Billy Baldwin. This provides the agon for which the other characters must put aside their differences and reaffirm their loyalties to each other. (That’s my pretentious way of saying that things work out in the end, with all the requisite melodrama and lame comedic bits we’ve been conditioned to expect.)
One thing that struck me about Modern Girls, and thus inspired this post, is the sense of historical dislocation it radiates. The overall feel is unquestionably 80’s, but in an abstract sense. The fashions, the music, and the forced manufactured slang (“Lounge out!” should have entered common usage.) don’t mesh, and it’s impossible to fix a specific moment in time to what’s shown on the screen like one could with, say, Fast Times at Ridgemont High or any given John Hughes film. It’s a fairly common occurrence in modern films that look back on a given era, but unusual to see happen in an actual period movie.
The soundtrack for the film reinforces this sense of dissonance. The club scene, circa 1986, would seem to suggest material by Madonna, Janet Jackson, and the many and varied HiNRG acts that dominated the dance charts at the time. Instead, the film’s soundtrack is a sampler of Sire Records’ then-current roster of college rock/alternative bands. Sire’s influence (see the “But Not Tonight” blurb below) aside, my wife suspects this might be due to a lag time between when the screenplay was written and when it was filmed, leading to an early 80’s script getting a cursory mid 80’s facelift.
Depeche Mode – But Not Tonight (from Black Celebration, 1986) – This song was specifically commissioned by DM’s label, Sire, for use in Modern Girls. The result, coming on the heels of their very dark Black Celebration recording sessions, is one of the most devastating songs about being happy I’ve ever heard. The song was appended to the US release of Black Celebration, and Sire went so far as to re-label the “Stripped” single to make the track the a-side, even though the band didn't care much for the song and considered it a throwaway effort. The promo video features footage from the movie, which makes me wonder who in the chain of command had that much faith in Modern Girls' success….
The Jesus and Mary Chain – Some Candy Talking (from Psychocandy, 1985) – I’ve listened to Psychocandy several times. I can unerringly ID the band’s material when it plays on the digital music channel. Yet every song of theirs sounds like college rock muzak to my ears.
The Belle Stars – Iko Iko (from The Belle Stars, 1982) – This cover of an old Dixie Cups classic started off as a single that was later included on the Belle Stars’ first and only LP. It was used in Modern Girls for a limbo dancing scene at a Coconut Grove-style night club (minus the horrible fiery death), and ended up cracking the US pop charts in 1989 after being used on the Rain Man soundtrack. Ah, the life of a catchy pop song.
Kommunity FK – Something Inside Me Has Died (from Close One Sad Eye, 1985) – This is what people who have never listened to gothic music think that it sounds like -- gloomy, theatrical, and so over the top, it parodies itself. The song title doesn't help by laying it on a bit too thick, but, hey, that’s what the target audience expects.
The story is titled "DEATHBOX" and comes from DC's The Witching Hour #30 (April 1973), apparently by way of some high schooler's creative writing project...
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