Valley Girl: Music From The Soundtrack
Martha Coolidge's 1983 directorial debut--based loosely on the Frank (and Moon) Zappa (who weren't involved with the film) novelty hit of the previous year--carried a budget so low that it didn't even generate a soundtrack album when it was released. Loosely based on the same themes asRomeo and Juliet,(with a young Nicolas Cage as a Hollywood homeboy Montague)Valley Girl's producers were also savvy enough to tap into LA radio outlet KROQ's pioneering "Rock of the 80s" format. Rhino's unofficial soundtrack release captures much of the spunky essence of KROQ's playlist--three tracks by LA's great Plimsouls (including their biggest hit "A Million Miles Away"), some novelty hits (Josie Cotton's "Johnny Are You Queer, "Jukebox" by the flirts, Felony's "The Fanatic")--and fondly recalls an era when rock's fun quotient hadn't yet been tattooed and pierced into oblivion.--Jerry McCulley