Jeff Meyerson mentioned The Commitments in one of his comments yesterday and I decided to watch this wonderful 1991 movie again. Alan Paker directs this story of Irish musicans in the Eighties who are looking for their break to play soul music. The plot revolves around their plan to meet Wilson Pickett who is touring Ireland. One of the great parts of The Commitments is the great music from that era. Just check out the songs on The Commitments soundtrack:
TRACK LIST:
Mustang Sally 4:02
Take Me To The River 3:36
Chain Of Fools 2:58
The Dark End Of The Street 2:34
Destination Anywhere 3:08
I Can’t Stand The Rain 3:12
Try A Little Tenderness 4:31
Treat Her Right 3:35
Do Right Woman Do Right Man 3:15
Mr. Pitiful 2:07
I Never Loved A Man 3:09
In The Midnight Hour 2:21
Bye Bye Baby 3:21
Slip Away 4:27
Saw this at the cinema when it came out an loved it and then of course went and got the soundtrack. Once had the great pleasure of siting next to the there female stars , Angeline Ball, Maria Doyle and Branagh Gallagher, on an underground train for several stops – not forgetting that in a hurry 🙂
Sergio, wow! I wish I could have seen Angelin Ball, Maria Doyle, and Branagh Callagher up-close like you did! Great memory!
I never saw this but I did see Wilson Pickett live!
Bob, all the local garage bands around here would always start their sets with “In the Midnight Hour.”
Sergio–I hope the ladies on the train were singing “Destination Anywhere”!
It’s a great movie and an equally great soundtrack. I do have one minor quibble with your review, George: although most of the music is classic sixties soul, the movie itself is actually set in the 1980s.
Deb, oops! My mistake. My only defense is that I just finished correcting and grading 100 research papers and my mind has turned to tapioca.
Love the movie, love the soundtrack. Still play it.
Patti, I play THE COMMITMENTS soundtrack from time to time, too. When Jeff Meyerson mentioned it, I was seized with an impulse to watch the movie again. Great stuff!
Who performs the songs? Original performers, cover artists, or…?
Rick, the “actors” in THE COMMITMENTS perform the songs.
George – Thanks for the post and the reminder. For me, THE COMMITMENTS is the second best film of the 1990s (with GOODFELLAS just edging it out of first place). The Roddy Doyle book is terrific as well.
Elgin, I really enjoyed watching THE COMMITMENTS again. And GOODFELLAS might just get a re-viewing soon, too!
Sorry not to comment yesterday, but I took a sick day (involuntarily).
Anyway, we love THE COMMITMENTS. Jackie even got the second CD of music from the movie, though the best stuff is on the one you listed. After I mentioned it the other day, we listened to the two CDs.
Now I need to watch the movie again. So many great things in it, even if on occasion the accents are impenetrable.
“Do you not get it, lads? The Irish are the blacks of Europe. And Dubliners are the blacks of Ireland. And the Northside Dubliners are the blacks of Dublin. So say it once, say it loud: I’m black and I’m proud.”
I’ve heard it said that the Irish are the only nationality in the world who could understand and relate to the experiences of both white and black southerners after the Civil War.
And of course, Maria Doyle plays the tough Siobhan on ORPHAN BLACK.
Jeff, I haven’t started watching the new season of ORPHAN BLACK. Once the dust settles on this semester I’ll catch up ON DEMAND.
We’re still a year behind.