Which movie soundtrack has the most top 10 singles?
The official movie single, let alone a whole soundtrack, feels like an antiquated feature of film’s yesteryear.
Aside from the obligatory Bond theme, it’s hard to think of a bona fide massive movie theme since Chad Kroeger’s Hero ballad for Spider-Man when Hollywood was chasing music’s biggest names as part of their hefty marketing campaigns. Other attempts were made, Linkin Park penning four whole themes for Michael Bay’s first four Transformers movies, and Will Smith giving his best go with ‘Nod Ya Head’, Men in Black II’s theme that just failed to grasp it wasn’t the 1990s anymore.
Yet, this year, a whole movie soundtrack came back with commercial success unseen since nearly 30 years ago. Boasting three Hot 100 top tens, Netflix’s K-Pop Demon Hunters has struck Billboard gold with singles from both the fictitious Huntrix girl-group and their rival demon boyband Saja Boys, the latter’s ‘Your Idol’ and ‘Soda Pop’ storming the charts, and Huntrix’s ‘Golden’ scoring a shiny number one.
This hadn’t been achieved since the ultimate Caped Crusader turkey Batman & Robin had catapulted Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Jewel, and R Kelly to Billboard’s lofty heights in 1997. It’s a relief to filmmakers. For too long, many a director was pressured by the studios to shoehorn a big single into their vision for the simple fact that the likes of Aerosmith or Bryan Adams may have been offered a hefty, oversized cheque to lend their croon to the blockbuster or romantic epic of the day.
The movie soundtrack could shift serious numbers. To this day, the third biggest-selling album of all time, beaten only by Michael Jackson and AC/DC, is the 1992 album for Whitney Houston’s The Bodyguard, largely pushed by her operatic cover of Dolly Parton’s ‘I Will Always Love You’, a feat that seems impossible to likely ever be achieved again for a Hollywood picture.
Technically, Prince’s Purple Rain soundtrack stands as a Hot 100 hogger, yet this feels somewhat cheating, as it’s an album serving a movie that feels overwhelmingly like a theatrical extension of his LP effort. Nonetheless, four massive singles would drop from his sixth LP, including the canonical title track and ‘When Doves Cry’.
So, which movie soundtrack has the most top ten singles?
John Travolta was the man of the moment in 1978.
Early on in the year, the Saturday Night Fever compilation, scoring his immortal turn as eager dancefloor hopeful Tony Manero, peaked at number one on the Billboard 200 charts for an astonishing 24 consecutive weeks. Serving as the Bee Gees’ defining hour, ‘Night Fever’, ‘Stayin’ Alive’, and ‘How Deep Is Your Love’ all stormed the charts, as well as Yvonne Elliman scoring a number one with ‘If I Can’t Have You’.
Then that summer, his Grease musical topped the album charts for a respectable 12 weeks, boasting another four movie Hot 100 winners, his and co-star Olivia Newton-John’s ‘Summer Nights’ and ‘You’re the One That I Want’, her solo ‘Hopelessly Devoted to You’, and Frankie Valli’s title track all coasting to the top ten with ease.
Yet, the movie soundtrack with the most top tens comes from a movie less remembered in Hollywood’s memory. Released in 1995 and marking the directorial debut of Forest Whitaker, romantic comedy-drama Waiting to Exhale enjoyed a gobsmacking five top tens courtesy of Whitney Houston’s ‘Exhale (Shoop Shoop)’ and Toni Braxton’s ‘Let It Flow’, both spending a week each at number one, followed up with Mary J Blige’s ‘Not Gon’ Cry’, Brandy’s ‘Sittin’ Up in My Room’, and Houston back again duetting with CeCe Winans for ‘Count on Me’, all riding high up the Billboard Hot 100 well into the summer months of 1996.
