The Music of 'Back to the Future'

We are now less than a week from October 21, 2015, the day that Doc Brown, Marty McFly, and the latter's girlfriend Jennifer Parker arrived at from the then present of 1985 in the beginning of Back to The Future Part II.  It's an exciting time to be a fan of one of the greatest movie trilogies ever.  Corporations have been trying their hardest to make our 2015 look like the fictional one, with a trailer for Jaws 19, something that miiight be a working hoverboard and a reunion of the series' stars Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd who talk about what the future looked like to them thirty years ago like they're out for coffee with Jerry Seinfeld.  However, the best part of the celebration is an excuse to watch the movies again, or perhaps in some rare cases a chance to watch them for the first time.  To experience the time travel hijinks and the flux capacitor and other serious shit.  To hear the music that made the movies what they are.

Music is an intrinsic part of Back to the Future, even more so than the typical movie.  It is present all through the fabric of the films including the plot.  Marty McFly longs to be rockstar and as the first movie opens he is playing guitar.  At the climax he finds himself on stage at his parents' high school dance.  One of the most iconic scenes of the franchise is Marty playing Chuck Berry's rock and roll anthem "Johnny B. Goode" years before it had ever been written.  Generations since are hardly aware of the song outside of the context of Marty's anachronistic performance.  While Marty is playing Berry gets a call from his cousin Marvin, the guitarist Marty replaced.  Marvin introduces Chuck to "that new sound [he's] been looking for" and it certainly is a new sound.  "Johnny B. Goode" was the perfect choice for the scene because even when it was actually created in 1958 it was far ahead of its time.  It was faster, more dense, and more exciting than anything before.  Yet at the same time it's thematically timeless.  It's the most prominent telling of the mythology of the rags-to-riches rock star which has roots in and before the 19th century work of Horatio Alger and continues to resonate in music to this day, especially in hip-hop.

Marty imbues "Johnny B. Goode" with performing styles popular in the 80's because that's what he's most familiar with.  McFly is a modern fellow and he listens to modern music.  Back to the Future is Huey Lewis and the News' greatest claim to fame.  Their first hit was "The Power of Love," created specially for the movie.  It plays during Marty's skateboard commute to school and he and his band play it in their tryout for the Battle of the Bands.  An audition that they fail because a character played by Huey Lewis himself tells them they are too loud.  Huey Lewis gets a bad rep and his songs certainly date the film, which actually makes them perfect for a time travel movie.  Nothing says 1980's like an original hit song by Huey Lewis and the News.  Then again, there's also a noticeable 50's influence in a lot of their music, specifically doo-wop.  Reputation aside, the band's sound is perfect for the lighthearted, energetic tone of BttF.

Hit singles are just the tip of the iceberg that is the music of Back to the Future.  Underneath is the fantastic original orchestral score composed by Alan Silvestri.  1985 was the beginning of Silvestri's long, illustrious career of scoring tremendous adventures, including movies as recent as the Night at the Museum trilogy, The Avengers, and The Walk.  It was also the second of many collaborations with director Robert Zemeckis, the first being Romancing the Stone, and later films including Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Forrest Gump, and the aforementioned Walk.  Silvestri's score for Back to the Future established him at the forefront of his field, it is so grand and thrilling.  The sense of flight and wonder is perhaps surpassed only by John Williams' scores for Indiana Jones, Star Wars, and especially Superman. 

Music is just one of many threads that make up the delicate but flawless tapestry of the Back to the Future trilogy.  If one string is pulled away the whole thing would fall apart.  Without Michael J. Fox's grounded but lively performance Marty McFly would just be what a young person looked like to adults in the 1980's, all guitars and skateboards and resentment for authority.  Cast, director, writer, Huey Lewis, the News.  Every piece is irreplaceable.  That's why it has so far resisted the call of the reboot.  Because it's bigger than any one person, place or thing.  Because it's an odyssey that transcends time and defies the greed in the hearts of men.  Because Huey Lewis really does have some pretty good stuff.