Can anyone ID a song with little to know useful information?

February 27, 2008 5:11 AM

I know, this is a long shot, but can anyone help me identify this song from Adventures in Babysitting with very few useful details?

I watched about 20 minutes of the movie Adventures in Babysitting when it was on cable the other night. I used to be familiar with the plot, etc., but let's just say it's been awhile. Maybe an hour or so into the cable version of the movie, a song plays while Elizabeth Shue and her charges are, I think, picking up a car from a mechanic? This was after they were running around/being chased off the el by some people it seems they owe money to. It seems like she has a crush on the guy, but I'm not sure.

Anyway, I am dying to know what the name of the song is - I heard it in another movie preview recently (which I also don't know the name of). From what I can tell, it's instrumental (although words may come in at some later point) and kind of electronic-y and in a minor key. I've searched every permutation of Adventures in Babysitting and instrumental song I can think of and have checked the official soundtrack to no avail. So, metafilter, I turn to you. Can anyone identify this song with almost nothing to go on?

posted by lxs to media & arts (9 comments total)

Could it be Oh Yeah by Yello? That was a popular soundtrack choice around that time - also featured in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Another possiblity is Art of Noise's Peter Gunn Theme.
posted by FreezBoy at 5:40 AM on February 27, 2008

Are you sure it isn't Iggy Pop Real Wild Child (Wild One)? It's the only song in the full soundtrack that has anything electronic-y. According to this, the song was featured in both Adventures in Babysitting and Problem Child 2 from 1991, and a cover featured in Pretty Woman.

(I'm irked that Netflix doesn't have it as a "Watch Now" movie, but I've added it to my queue because I'm now having flashbacks about Thot the mechanic (apparently played by a young Vincent D'Onofrio).

Incidentally, in my OCD-fueled searching, I found this.
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 7:41 AM on February 27, 2008

Okay - the only song I can find that fits your description is at 1:05, when she and the kids (and the crush) leave the frat party and are driving to Thor's. If this is it, it's Gimme Shelter by the Rolling Stones.
posted by goo at 8:30 AM on February 27, 2008

For the record, I can't believe I wrote "little to KNOW" in the subject heading - my only defense is the fact that I was running out the door to catch the train. Duh.

All good guesses but still not the one I'm thinking of. It sounds sort of like New Order or the Cure, with something that sounds like it might be an electronic guitar with electronic stuff going on in the background, FWIW. It's not on the official soundtrack. My timing in the movie might be off, too, due to the fact that I was watching the edited version. I wish I could provide a better idea of where in the narrative it was - from reading the wikipedia entry, it sounds like it is shortly after the gang fight on the train. I believe Elizabeth Shue was offering someone $5 in exchange for service on a car.
posted by lxs at 9:05 AM on February 27, 2008

Apparently, there are times where edited-for-TV versions of movies have been rescored (I assume it is due to usage rights expiring or some such nonsense). For example, I know Sixteen Candles by heart and watched a bit of it last year on regular TV, only to be dismayed by the fact that all the music had changed. My wife said I was crazy, so I popped in the DVD to confirm it. Maybe we're running into a similar situation here...
posted by daveleck at 9:43 AM on February 27, 2008

I think it must be. The only songs in the middle of the DVD that aren't blues are 'Gimme Shelter' and 'Real Wild Child', and all are listed on the soundtrack. If only I still had the taped-off-the-TV VHS I watched approx. 30 times age 12... sorry.
posted by goo at 2:42 AM on March 1, 2008

If you're still keeping an eye on this thread - I just watched it all the way through. The music you're talking about starts at 49:07, as they're running away from the car theft ring dudes past some rappers and into the el station, just before the gang fight. It's incidental music, not a song - really quite funky but it won't be on the soundtrack. The clip's not on youtube either. The music is electronic-y and in a minor key with an orchestra track. I'll see if I can upload the clip tomorrow.
posted by goo at 5:32 PM on March 15, 2008

I posted it, but youtube took it down straight away. Sorry.
posted by goo at 10:01 AM on March 19, 2008

Um, no, I'm just technologically challenged. Here it is.
posted by goo at 2:22 PM on March 19, 2008