Today is Bill Murray's birthday. The man, the legend - the person with whom Mark Malkoff wants to have dinner more than anyone else. He's one of the funniest people ever to walk the earth and his resume proves it: SNL, Caddyshack, Ghostbusters, Lost In Translation...the list goes on and on.
In honor of his birthday, I've compiled a Spotify playlist of songs from Bill Murray movies. Luckily, Bill has worked with some directors who really know their music, like Wes Anderson, Jim Jarmusch, and Sofia Coppola, just to name a few. So sit back and crank the tunes in celebration of one of our greatest national treasures, Bill Murray.
Here are the tunes broken down by film, chronologically:
1) "I'm Alright (Theme from Caddyshack)" - Kenny Loggins - from Caddyshack - The only movie theme a gopher dances to. Carl Spackler is one of Murray's most iconic characters.
2) "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" - Manfred Mann - from Stripes - This all-time classic scene features an oldie from Manfredd Mann, a pop powerhouse of the 1960s. A feel good tune!
3) "Ghostbusters" - Ray Parker, Jr. - from Ghostbusters - It doesn't matter that Huey Lewis & the News sued Parker because the song was too similar in structure to one of their songs. I mean, who you gonna call? Huey? No. Ghostbusters.
4) "I Got You Babe" - Sonny & Cher - from Groundhog Day - The song Murray wakes up to everyday-- the same day-- for an eternity. But if you ask me, waking up to this song every day would be heaven: "I Got You Babe" is one of the greatest pop songs ever written. It spent three weeks at #1 on the Billboard charts in 1965, selling more than a million copies. That was when singles actually meant something.
5) "Showdown" - Electric Light Orchestra - from Kingpin - Two words: "comb over."
6) "Here Comes My Baby" - Cat Stevens/"Oh Yoko" - John Lennon - from Rushmore - Wes Anderson's breakthrough film garnered much buzz for Murray's performance as the rich Herman Blume. "Oh Yoko" plays during a great bonding montage between Murray and Jason Schwarzman's character, Max Fischer.
7) "Police & Thieves" - The Clash/"Judy Is Punk" - The Ramones - from The Royal Tenenbaums - In Wes Anderson's New York city, punk is still king-- though "Police & Thieves" is a cover of a classic reggae anthem by Junior Marvin.
8) "(What's So Funny About) Peace, Love, & Understanding?" - Elvis Costello & the Attractions/"Just Like Honey" - Jesus & Mary Chain - from Lost In Translation - Bill Murray was nominated from a Best Actor Oscar based exclusively on his exuberant karaoke performance of the Nick Lowe penned "Peace, Love, & Understanding" in Sofia Coppola's minimalist masterpiece.
9) "Gut Feeling" - Devo/"Queen Bitch" - David Bowie - from The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou - Murray stars as Zissou in my favorite Wes Anderson movie. And Seu Jorge does these awesome Bowie covers, too. In Portugese, even!
10) "Not If You Were The Last Dandy On Earth" - The Brian Jonestown Massacre - from Broken Flowers - Psychedelic.
11) "Where Do You (Go To My Lovely)" - Peter Sarstedt/"Les Champs-Elysees" - Joe Dassin - from The Darjeeling Limited - I can't help feeling amazing during "Les Champs-Elysees" -- even though I can't understand a word of it.
I hope you enjoyed this playlist. It's guaranteed to be a hit at any party! But don't thank me, thank Bill Murray and the great taste of his amazing directors. Now, watch this.
