The Top 50 Music Movies of All Time

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The past week has seen the anniversary’s of several major music movie premieres – Stop Making Sense (11/6/84), Sid and Nancy (11/7/86), Jailhouse Rock (11/10/57), and 8 Mile (11/10/02). All four make the DMDB list of best music movies of all time; the first two rank in the top 10.

As such, it seemed the proper time to revisit that list. I haven’t changed the ranking from my original post on the DMDB Facebook page (3/31/10), but by reposting on the blog I can add video clips and, in one case, the ENTIRE movie.

The original post was prompted by a list of 50 Awesome Music Movies as determined by NME (New Musical Express) magazine. I was immediately struck by some glaring omissions, most notably A Hard Day’s Night and Purple Rain. The list also included movies that, while backed by great soundtracks (like Pretty in Pink) really had nothing to do with music. In scouring the Internet for more music movie lists, I tracked down more than 70 lists which I then averaged together to come up with the more definitive list below. It should be noted that the lists tended to fall into two categories: more traditional musicals and rock-oriented movies. The focus of this list is on the latter.

By the way, don’t forget to also check out my 2010 blog post “Music Goes to the Movies” in which I convey how the joys of being a music geek have been captured on film. It includes even more clips from movies not listed here. That blog entry is also part of my essay collection No One Needs 21 Versions of “Purple Haze”, available from Amazon or DavesMusicDatabase.com.

A Hard Day’s Night: The FULL movie!

1. A Hard Day’s Night (1964)
2. This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
3. Almost Famous (2000)
4. Gimme Shelter (1970)
5. The Last Waltz (1978)

famous scene from This Is Spinal Tap: “These go to 11.”

6. Stop Making Sense (1984)
7. Purple Rain (1984)
8. The Wall (1982)
9. Sid & Nancy (1986)
10. The Blues Brothers (1980)

“Tiny Dancer” tour bus scene from Almost Famous

11. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
12. Woodstock (1970)
13. High Fidelity (2000)
14. Don’t Look Back (1967)
15. Rock ‘N’ Roll High School (1979)

trailer for the Rolling Stones’ documentary Gimme Shelter

16. Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2000)
17. Ray! (2004)
18. The Doors (1992)
19. Saturday Night Fever (1977)
20. Quadrophenia (1979)

trailer for The Blues Brothers

21. 24 Hour Party People (2002)
22. Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)
23. Tommy (1975)
24. Walk the Line (2005)
25. Dreamgirls (2006)

“Time Warp” from Rocky Horror Picture Show

26. 8 Mile (2002)
27. The Commitments (1991)
28. School of Rock (2003)
29. La Bamba (1986)
30. Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980)

“Pick on the middle-aged square guy day" scene from High Fidelity

31. Jailhouse Rock (1957)
32. Metallica: Some Kind of Monster (2004)
33. Yellow Submarine (1968)
34. The Filth and the Fury (2000)
35. Amadeus (1984)

trailer for Ray!

36. Hair (1979)
37. Once (2007)
38. The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years (1988)
39. Standing in the Shadows of Motown (2002)
40. Across the Universe (2007)

trailer for Saturday Night Fever

41. Last Days (2005)
42. Bye Bye Birdie (1963)
43. Nashville (1942)
44. Control (2007)
45. Dig! (2004)

trailer for Tommy

46. Madonna: Truth or Dare (1990)
47. Monterey Pop (1968)
48. I’m Not There (2007)
49. Singles (1992)
50. Bird (1988)

Elvis performs the title song from Jailhouse Rock

Resources and Related Links:

• original Facebook post for “Top 50 Music Movies” (3/31/2010 Facebook post)
  
• Music Goes to the Movies” (7/16/2010 blog post)
  

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