FM - Original Soundtrack

It is very seldom that a soundtrack album is better than the film. It is even rarer that the soundtrack is a real classic for music. This is just such a gem.

FM radio stations were the bastions of US soft rock in the late 70's and the film producers managed to assemble a soundtrack that reflected some of the greats in the genre. They even persuaded Steely Dan to write the theme - the classic track "FM". They also got Linda Ronstadt to blast out "live" versions of the Rolling Stones classic "Tumblin' Dice" and "Poor, poor pitiful me" in the film that are (perhaps uniquely) captured here.

There are almost too many outstanding tracks on the album to list - "Night Moves" by Bob Seger, "Cold as Ice" by Foreigner, etc. Whilst these are available elsewhere, the logic of the compliation flows well. Imagine an expert on the era burning a CD for you with the highlights and you are not far off.

We get a lot of great stuff here from such acts as Boston ("More Than A Feeling"), Foreigner ("Cold As Ice"), the Eagles ("Life In The Fast Lane"), Steely Dan ("F.M.", "Do It Again"), Jimmy Buffett ("Livingston Saturday Night") any many others. My personal two favorite cuts on the soundtrack, because I happen to be a big fan of hers, are the live versions of "Tumbling Dice" and "Poor, Poor, Pitiful Me" by Linda Ronstadt. She doesn't show any traces of her stage fright in the concert footage in the movie; and her searing rendition of "Poor, Poor, Pitiful Me" will make everyone wonder why in the world Terri Clark ever bothered to remake this song in 1996.

Any self-respecting classic rock fan should have the F.M. soundtrack in their collection. It's a winner!


1. FM - Steely Dan
2. Night Moves - Bob Seger
3. Fly Like an Eagle - Steve Miller, Steve Miller Band
4. Cold as Ice - Foreigner
5. Breakdown - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
6. Bad Man - Randy Meisner
7. Life in the Fast Lane - Eagles
8. Do It Again - Steely Dan
9. Lido Shuffle - Boz Scaggs
10. More Than a Feeling - Boston
11. Tumbling Dice - Linda Ronstadt
12. Poor, Poor Pitiful Me - Linda Ronstadt
13. Livingston Saturday Night - Jimmy Buffett
14. There's a Place in the World for a Gambler - Dan Fogelberg
15. Just the Way You Are - Billy Joel
16. It Keeps You Runnin' - The Doobie Brothers
17. Your Smiling Face - James Taylor
18. Life's Been Good - Joe Walsh
19. We Will Rock You - Queen
20. FM (Reprise) - Steely Dan true


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