Recently Ryan and I started re-watching The O.C. from the very first episode of the very first season. Right from the first episode we started reminiscing how this teen drama revolving around privileged teens and their almost unimaginable drama had an amazing soundtrack. I distinctly remember googling song after song from this show, spending hours on LastFM to find similar bands and downloading a shit load of music (and viruses for that matter) onto my parents' computer using LimeWire or whatever the hot downloading tool was at that time.
This got me thinking about what other shows shaped my love for new bands (turns out a lot of them are from my high school days and I'm okay with that). Without further ado, my list of five shows that rocked my musical world. I would love to hear what shows did this for you in the comments so hit me up!
1. The O.C.
Let's start with the O.G. inspo for this blog: The O.C. Despite some fairly silly plot lines (that I love and stand by to be honest), the O.C.'s soundtrack kicked ass. This was in no short favour to Adam Brody who apparently had a lot to do with music selection. Early guest appearances brought bands like Rooney, The Killers and The Walkmen but more importantly to me were the songs playing at those pivitol moments. I'll never forget Imogen Heap's Hide and Seek playing when Marissa shot Trey or Seth and Anna's endless references to Death Cab for Cutie. I wept at Johnny's funeral when Surfjan Stevens' For the Windows in Paradise played and I laughed HARD as Luke rocked out to Rooney. Seriously, that shit rocked.
2. Laguna Beach (yeah, I said it)/ The Hills
Then there was the "real O.C."- Laguna Beach. This reality show followed Lauren Conrad, a real, over-privileged but lovable teen from Laguna Beach, California and the inevitable drama that followed her and her friends through out high school. Eventually a spin off (actually two or three) were born as the show The Hills followed Lauren as she chased down her fashion designer/writer dreams.
Okay the plot may not appeal to a lot of people but the music was everything to me. Around this time, as the show aired on MTV Canada, small captions would appear at the bottom of the screen when new songs came on. This was like crack to me because I didn't even have to do any work! The songs appeared and all I had to do was track them down online and get them onto my big old iPod Video. A few highlights from that show included Ghost of a Good Thing by Dashboard Confessional (who else remembers watching Stephen Colletti in the car during this one?), I Can't Help Myself by Vaughan Penn and yeah, Come Clean by Hilary Duff was the theme song and I have no qualms about loving that song to this day.
3. American Dreams
Surprisingly enough, this show is one almost nobody remembers when I bring it up. Set during the Vietnam War Era in America, this show starring Brittanyy Snow was big in my house. Episodes revolved around iconic pop culture like American Bandstand all set to the back drop of a divided America. This show which spurred an obsession with 1950s, 1960s and 1970s music for me is definitely one I'd recommend checking out. Martha Reeves & the Vandellas's Dancing in the Street, Blowin' in the Wind, Do You Love Me by the Contours...I mean this is quality stuff.
4. Vinyl
We should definitely address the fact that the show Vinyl was SO good. Like so so good. It had one short season and then it was cancelled. Sigh. For those who haven't seen it, I highly recommend you seek it out online. It follows lead character Richie Finestra as he does his best to promote his music label, American Century, during the 70s. It mixes all the goodness and grittiness of the era: free love, drugs, intense business deals and amazing music into a snowstorm of what I can only describe as amazing television. Old school meets new school as artists like Iggy Pop, Alison Mosshart (YESSSSS) and Jerry Lee Lewis are featured. Seriously, it's epic. Even cooler? Mick Jagger's son plays a beat up young punk star.
5. Love
Is it just me or does everything Judd Apatow touch have amazing music? This series is no different and I don't know if it's Judd himself or just somebody who works with him but I really love his taste in music. If you haven't checked out Love on Netflix, I highly recommend it. Right off the hop, the intro theme by Lyle Workman is great. Other highlights include Hymn by Diane Coffee, a very peppy Blister in the Sun played at a hilarious magic show and Save it for Later by Pete Townsend which honestly is perfection in a song. I could listen to that track over and over.
What songs shaped your love for music? Let me know in the comments!
Peace, love & history.
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