For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.
I have no more albums by "V" artists, so today's CoronaVinyl category is "W." I went with British new wave band Wang Chung's soundtrack to the 1985 film To Live and Die in L.A.
Wang Chung is not someone's name, but rather, the name means "yellow bell" in Mandarin and is the first note on the Chinese classical music scale. They are best known for their #2 1986 hit "Everybody Have Fun Tonight," as well as their 1984 Top 20 hit "Dance Hall Days."
To Live and Die in L.A. director William Friedkin (of French Connection and The Exorcist directing fame) specifically chose Wang Chung to write and perform the music to the film because he liked "Dance Hall Days" and their song "Wait," both of which were on the band's 1983 album Points On the Curve. "Wait" also appears on the soundtrack.
The soundtrack is pretty much exactly what you'd expect from a mid '80s action thriller about two Secret Service agents trying to capture a counterfeiter in L.A. who killed one of the agent's former partners. Side 1 is all vocal tracks, and Side 2 is all instrumental score tracks.
The album went to #85 on the Billboard album chart, and the title track went to #41 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Favorite Song on Side 1: "Wake Up, Stop Dreaming"
This one is an uptempo, dark new wave song that I can absolutely picture being played during some stakeout montage.
Favorite Song on Side 2: "City of The Angels"
This one starts out slow, but then increases the intensity. It's all synth.
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