Classic songs: ‘To Live And Die In L.A.’ by Wang Chung.

I’ve been feeling quite nostalgic this week and decided to revisit some of my favourite ‘80s films. Often I like to sit through some of those lost or underrated masterpieces that others just don’t give a second thought to anymore. That said, To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), which was more recently on my mind because of my interest in actor Willem Dafoe, seemed like the perfect vehicle.

In short, To Live and Die in L.A. is a sophisticated cop crime thriller that will leave you gobsmacked by the end. Underpinning the whole film is an amazing original music score soundtrack produced by Wang Chung. I wont get into the entire backstory how it came about, except to say that director William Friedkin of The French Connection and The Exorcist fame was a big fan of Wang Chung and gave Jack Hues and Nick Feldman pretty much a free hand to come up with something amazing.

The resulting soundtrack didn’t disappoint and in fact when Hues and Feldman sat through a rough take of the complete film they were blown away how the film and score supported each other. As a result, the lads felt compelled to record one more song for the film, which would become the title song. Interestingly, Friedkin who was already pleased with what was already recorded was initially against the idea of a title song. But surprisingly he changed his mind upon hearing it and the rest they say is history.