The musical era Quentin Tarantino hated with a passion: “I openly rejected that culture”
The best Quentin Tarantino movie soundtracks often feel like shuffling through your weird uncle’s old mixtape. Even though he has made some of the most visceral films of the modern age, his taste for the vintage sounds of rock and soul from yesteryear always brings a certain level of cool into every movie he’s made. Tarantino may just be reminding us why that period is timeless, but when things started to shift during the 1970s, he began to check out.
Then again, Tarantino probably had other things on his mind when he entered the 1970s. He had already started to fall in love with movies, but once films like Jaws started to become mainstream sellers at the box office, it felt like the film industry could actually be larger than life when it wanted to.
When you look at the soundtracks that were made during Tarantino’s prime, there wasn’t that sweeping orchestral score all the time. It was about finding songs that fit the moment, like the iconic scene of a man losing his ear in Reservoir Dogs to the tune of ‘Stuck in the Middle With You’.
There is a certain holding pattern to Tarantino’s soundtracks, though. Considering that some of the best moments in Pulp Fiction are soundtracked by rock and roll icons like Chuck Berry, where are the likes of Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith as well? Well, as far as the famed director, that may as well be a different genre altogether.
Whereas the 1980s represented the age of excess for business, the 1970s was the real excessive decade for rock stars. Discounting the millions of artists who preferred to shove lines up their noses every time they decided to make a record, things began to stray away from the kind of straight-ahead rock and roll of the early days.
It may have been artsy and new in some respects, but Tarantino absolutely hated what he heard, recalling in the book Cinema Speculation, “I was all ears about this firsthand rock ‘n’ roll history because I wasn’t into ’70s white-boy rock. I didn’t give a f*** about Kiss, I didn’t give a f*** about Aerosmith, I didn’t give a f*** about Alice Cooper or Black Sabbath or Jethro Tull. I didn’t own Frampton Comes Alive! I openly rejected that entire culture”.
While it might not be the best idea to throw out an entire decade of rock history, it’s easy to see what Tarantino is talking about with his choices. Whereas Martin Scorsese has trademarked most of The Rolling Stones’ 1970s material for his own personal use, Kiss and Aerosmith have not always stood the test of time, and if Armageddon has taught us anything, letting Aerosmith be the soundtrack for an entire film may be more than a little bit uncomfortable.
That’s not to say there aren’t some uncomfortable moments on a Tarantino soundtrack. They’re just a lot more tastefully done, as if he listened through hours of playlists before finally landing on that one obscure song that worked best for the moment. Tarantino may have openly shunned the 1970s hard rock scene, but considering he’s still finding unearthed gems in his later material, it’s safe to say that he doesn’t need to mess with his own formula.
Never Miss A Take
The Far Out Quentin Tarantino Newsletter
All the latest Quentin Tarantino content from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.