Customer Reviews

FM (1978 Film)

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Since buying this on vinyl in 1979, I have yet to hear better rock compilation soundtrack.

THERE ARE SOME THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW: "Night Moves" is edited, and "Fly Like An Eagle" does not contain the keyboard intro/outro sound effects. Ironically, it DOES contain the full 8:00+ version of Joe Walsh's "Life's Been Good". The two Linda Ronstadt songs are live (but still good), and I'd assume probably unavailable except on this album. I'm also not sure if you can buy Steely Dan's "FM (Reprise)" elsewhere.

I am sure the poster that came with the album is probably too much to ask for in a CD however. :)

TRACK LISTING:

01. Fm - Steely Dan Becker/Fagen 4:52 Real Audio....

Even though the film wasn't really noticeable for too much else beyond being the supposed inspiration for the TV series "WKRP In Cincinnati", the soundtrack to F.M. remains one of the high points of 70s music. In essence, this can be seen as classic rock's response to SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER; and while the F.M. soundtrack didn't even come close in terms of sales to FEVER, it still sold a truckload, and with good reason.

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!

This is the ultimate 70's soundtrack! A bit disappointing that "Night Moves" and "Fly Like An Eagle" are the single versions and that "We Are The Champions" was not included (even though it doesn't appear in the film it's still a necessary companion to "We Will Rock You."

Linda Ronstadt's career of covers is represented by 2 sizzling tracks, though I have to wonder why her version of "Love Me Tender" was left off.

Why, oh why did they put the studio version of "Livingston Saturday Night" instead of the live version from the film?

Then again, I knew all of this because I owned the vinyl long before the CD came out.

I saw the movie late one night on Encore in the early 90's, when I was in college radio, and loved the whole atmosphere of the film. I can understand why anyone who hasn't been in radio would be bored by it though.

Anyway, these discs are a great history lesson not to mention the outstanding contributions by Walt & Don, a.k.a. Steely Dan.

Rock on.

Yeah, I know the term "classic" is overused when it comes to rock music; however, the songs here are still truly beloved, even 20 years after their release. A true "classic rock" radio station would definitely have this album in its library.

Check out the jazz-flavored "FM" from Steely Dan . . . a departure from the guitar-driven rock they were typically producing in the late 70s. This cut is a precursor of Fagen's stunning "Nightfly" which would follow a few years after this release.

SD goes back, Jack, and does it again; and, they also serve up a really cool reprise of "FM" to close out this great collection of tunes.

Long before you get to the reprise, though, you are treated to a Who's Who of top-shelf rock artists of the 70s--Steve Miller, Foreigner, Petty, Eagles (including solo Walsh), Doobies, JT, Boston, and the incomparable Boz Scaggs.

A tremendous soundtrack, which delivers a time capsule of great 70s memories.

This 2 CD collection is the soundtrack from the 1978 ill-fated movie. Pushing the visuals aside, the collection includes a majority of the top selling classic rock artists performing their classic hit singles that dominated the airwaves in the 1970's.

Walter Brecker and Donald Fagen/Steely Dan are represented with their newly recorded title track that opens the collection and reprise that closes out the second disc. Their first major chart success, the relentless "Do It Again," is also included.

The Eagles are represented as a group on "Life In The Fast Lane," from the "Hotel California" album, while there are 2 solo members with individual tracks: Joe Walsh does a parody of fortune and fame on the tongue and cheek track, "Life's Been Good." Randy Meisner performs on "Bad Man."

One of the most popular female vocalists of the 1970's was Linda Ronstadt. She has 2 live performances on the album, which she also performed in the film, "Tumbling Dice," (a Rolling Stones track) and "Poor Poor Pitiful Me."

Boston's feel good debut single, "More Than A Feeling" is on the soundtrack, which was extracted from their multiplatinum eponyomous debut that sold more copies that any debut album during its inception. Queen rocks with their stadium anthum, "We Will Rock You." Steve Miller soars on "Fly Like An Eagle." Tom Petty and the Heartbreaker's trademark sound is heard on "Breakdown." Lou Gramm's high pitched vocals are evident on the track "Cold As Ice." The Doobie Brothers "It Keeps You Runnin'" is also included in this important rock and roll collection.

The soundtrack also sports Jimmy Buffet's electric performance on "Livingston Saturday Night." Folker and adult contemporary stylist, Dan Fogelberg delivers one of his most emotionally wrenching ballads with "There's A Place In The World For A Gambler," while New York's own, Billy Joel sings his trademark ballad and grammy award winning song of the year, "Just The Way You Are." James Taylor is represented with the mid-tempo love song,"Your Smiling Face" and jazz musician Boz Scaggs performs his up tempo signature track "Lido Shuffle," that originaly appeared on his "Silk Degrees" album.

This collection brings the listener back to a more innocent time in rock and roll (if that was possible), when the emphasis was primarily on the music itself and the live performances. It is essential listening for avid fans of the rock and roll medium. Skip the movie and go straight for the soundtrack!

When this film/soundtrack came out in 1978, I was 24 and working on air at a radio station in the midwest. All of us at the station got a huge kick out of seeing a movie about what we did for a living. However, in all honesty, the soundtrack has aged MUCH better than the movie. As the other reviewers have noted, this album is a great time capsule of what was on the radio in the late '70s. And like several of the other reviewers, I, too, enjoy a great set of memories from listening to it. The fact that this album/CD is still selling almost 30 years after its release is a pretty good indicator that there's some great music on this one. A great addition to anyone's collection!

For those who are critics of the movie with the same name, I must say something in defense as part of my review. The movie is only a vehicle for this album, which in my opinion is the best rock music soundtrack album ever (Note: I did not say "movie soundtrack", because this film is about the music, not the movie.) I knew of this album long before I ever saw the movie, which was about ten years after I had spent endless hours listening to this album.

For years, the only way of getting this wonderful album was on cassette tape. To get the great songs that were on this album on compact disc, I had to purchase many different albums to get songs that I had first heard on "FM". I only owned about half of the songs that were on the soundtrack album, but in purchasing the albums of various artists, I discovered even more about these wonderful groups that appeared on the soundtrack -- The Eagles album "Hotel California", Joe Walsh's album "But Seriously, Folks", Steely Dan's "A Decade of Steely Dan", Billy Joel's "The Stranger" and "Queen's Greatest Hits" album.

When I had heard that this album was finally on compact disc, I bought it as soon as I could. There are real gems that appear only on the album like Linda Ronstadt's live performances of "Tumbling Dice" and "Poor, Poor Pitiful Me". There are albums that are really good to listen to when going on a long car trip, and this one is certainly one those kind of albums.

I'm glad that I knew of this album, because it introduced me to a lot of music that I had never heard before. The album is true 70's rock music, with no disco, and it still sounds great!

But now I can finally get rid of it. This is a nicely remastered collection of some great seventies music featured in the film FM. Read though the track list, and if you own fewer than half of these songs already, buy this. And if your a Steely Dan nut, know that this only place you'll find the title track's reprise. It's not even on the boxed set from a few years ago. So, that's a nice bonus for the initiated.

THIS IS THE MOST AMAZING SOUNDTRACK TO A MOVIE I HAVE EVER SEEN.
IT IS ALMOST 30 YEARS OLD AND THE SONG'S ON THIS CD~SET ARE PLAYED ON THE {FM RADIO} STATION'S AS MUCH NOW AS THEY WERE BACK THEN.EVERY PERSON ON THIS SET IS A LEGEND:BOB SEGER,FOREIGNER,
TOM PETTY,STEVE MILLER,EAGLES,JAMES TAYLOR,QUEEN & BOSTON
JUST TO NAME A FEW.
ALL THE SONG'S BY THE PEOPLE ARE HIT'S THERE ARE NO FLOPS'S.
IF I COULD GO BACK IN TIME TO THE 70'S AND THERE WAS ONLY ONE ALBUM I COULD BUY THIS WOULD BE IT!.
THESE ARE THE SONG'S THAT WILL BE PLAYED UNTIL THE END OF TIME.
I DON'T THINK HERE IN 2006 THEY COULD GET ALL THESE PEOPLE BACK TOGETHER FOR A FM PART 2.IF THEY COULD OF THEY WOULD HAVE DID IT IN THE 80'S OR 90'S.
THE WORLD IS NOW FULL OF MOVIE SOUDTRACK'S AND HIT COMPILATION'S.
BUT THIS TO ME SEEMS TO BE THE FIRST AND STILL THE BEST.
PEOPLE SAY THAT THE GREASE AND SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER SOUNDTRACK'S WERE THE BEST OF THE 70'S;BUT THIS IS THE MOST WELL~ROUNDED ONE OF ALL.SO PICK THIS UP AND ENJOY IT,PLAY IT & BLAST IT!.
{A FAN OF GREAT MUSIC OF THE 70'S,80'S & 90'S}/[ROME,NEW YORK]

Listened to the cassette every day over and over again on a Naval ship in the seventies. It brings back some great memories. Only disappointment was they left off cassette only bonus Magnet and Steel by Walter Egan.