Album Essentials: "Reality Bites" Captures a Moment in Time
By Dave Swanson - Summit FM Contributor
Way back when, soundtracks to movies were usually a film score with the occasional vocal track for the title tune. Often created by one composer or artist, these soundtracks served as a sonic companion to the film. From the countless brilliant Henry Mancini soundtracks of the 1960s (and beyond) to the great jazz and classical scores, they captured the mood perfectly. At some point, the soundtrack became a thing unto itself. For the sake of argument, I’m going to cite the 1973 American Graffiti double album as one of the first to not only stand alone while still serving the movie but to become a significant release in its own right. The film, set in 1962, fit right in with the '50s revival happening at the time—Sha Na Na, The Lords of Flatbush, Ringo covering '50s pop hits, and eventually Happy Days. The hippie hangover had caused many to dive backward several years.
As the years went by, the soundtrack album became not only a significant companion to the film it represented but often a moneymaker in its own right, sometimes enjoying a longer life than the movie. Flash forward to the mid-1990s, and those kids wanted their own soundtrack. Call it what you want—slackers, Generation X—but they were primed for their moment in the spotlight. Two such soundtracks that come to mind are Singles and Reality Bites.
The film featured a cavalcade of hip actors of the era, such as Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke, Ben Stiller, and Janeane Garofalo, making it a box office hit. Plus, what could be more '90s than a cameo from Soul Asylum's Dave Pirner and druggy poster boy crooner Evan Dando to seal that MTV vibe?
The soundtrack covered similar ground, with one notable exception, leading to the Reality Bites album becoming one of the best-loved soundtracks of its time, if not one of the biggest sellers. Tracks from Juliana Hatfield, the Posies, Lenny Kravitz, Dinosaur Jr., Lisa Loeb, and U2 all resonated and helped push the album into the Billboard Top 20. Reggae band Big Mountain scored a bona fide hit with their cover of the Peter Frampton classic "Baby, I Love Your Way," and the 1981 Squeeze gem "Tempted" ensured the '80s were not forgotten.
However, it was a classic song from 1979 that perhaps defines what the soundtrack—and the film—is fondly remembered for. While grabbing snacks at the mini-mart, the radio starts playing "My Sharona" by the Knack, causing the girls to get excited and start dancing. It’s charmingly cute in all its rapid vapidness, and then it’s over! This brief scene caused, if only momentarily, classic rock radio to revisit the Knack song, giving it a nostalgic boost. Thankfully, Knack leader Doug Fieger was still alive to bask in that moment of glory. The band, who had reunited a few years prior, released two killer post-Reality Bites albums. Like any good product placement, it certainly didn’t hurt! I could easily continue rambling about the Knack, but if you’re interested in more about them, please check below.
As for the film being some sort of Gen X profile, one of the actors saw it differently. "They're going to try and market it as a Generation X story, which is the stupidest thing. It’s not," Garofalo told David Letterman upon the film's release. "It’s just that the cast happened to be in their twenties and the director is in his twenties. It's just a love triangle story; it’s not Generation X. It’s not whatever the studio is deciding they're going to hook into whatever buzzword to market it. It's just a normal small story."
Regardless, Reality Bites, the album, captured the mood of the film as well as that moment in time—the 1990s, before smartphones, talent shows, reality shows, auto-tuning, AI, alternate facts, and 9/11. Yeah, I guess it was a simpler time.