Hearts Of Fire was the third movie to feature Bob Dylan in an acting role. The first was the well-known Sam Peckinpah western Pat Garrett And Billy The Kid and the second was a rarely seen four-hour film directed by Dylan called Renaldo And Clara which came out in 1978. Hearts Of Fire came out in 1987 and was not well liked by just about anyone. Critics hated it, audiences avoided it, and Bob Dylan was so upset with it that he didn’t act again until 2003’s Masked And Anonymous (it must have taken him that long to find another movie that would be as hated as Hearts Of Fire). Some people claim that the movie was so bad that it killed the director Richard Marquad – who previously directed Return Of The Jedi and the thriller Jagged Edge. Still wondering how bad the movie is? It was written by Joe “Showgirls” Eszterhas, I think that says it all.

Anyways, in addition to old Bobby D the movie also stars a chick by the name of Fiona (not Apple) and Rupert Everett (yes…that Rupert Everett). I’ve never seen the flick so I can’t say that much about it, but from what I’ve read it’s your typical two guys-one girl story, with the two guys being Bob Dylan and Rupert Everett. With choices like that the girl is better off alone.

The soundtrack to Hearts Of Fire was just as panned as the movie, but in retrospect is worth mentioning because it features three exclusive tracks by Bob Dylan. It also features Rupert Everett “singing” but more on that later.

Fiona
Hearts Of Fire
I’m In It For Love
Hair Of The Dog (That Bit You)
The Nights We Spent On Earth
Let The Good Times Roll
So the producers of Hearts Of Fire somehow con one of the greatest signer/songwriters of all-time to star in their film and when the time came to release the soundtrack they throw him to the side and give this unknown babe center stage. Don’t get me wrong, Fiona has an alright voice and all, but she’s not Dylan. Of course, considering how bad Dylan was throughout most of the 80s that might not be true after all. These are good 80s pop-rock songs, completely harmless and disposable.

Bob Dylan
The Usual
Night After Night
Had A Dream About You, Baby
These are the real gems of the album, not in terms of quality mind you, but in terms of rarity. While an alternate version of “Had A Dream About You, Baby” appeared on Dylan’s 1988 suckstorm of a record Down In The Groove. “The Usual” is a John Hiatt cover and “Night After Night” is a Dylan original that’s never seen the light of day since its inclusion on this soundtrack. Because of these rare Dylan songs this soundtrack goes for quite a bit online, but anyone paying over 20 bucks for these so-so Dylan tracks is crazier than he ever was.

Rupert Everett
Tainted Love
In My Heart
However, sixty bucks is a small price to pay to hear Rupert “Everyone’s favorite gay best friend” Everett try to sing 80s pop songs. “In My Heart” is forgettable crap, what’s really worth listening here is his insanely-awful cover of “Tainted Love.” Everett can’t sing at all. Seriously, it’s really really bad. It would probably be the worst cover of “Tainted Love” if it wasn’t for the fact that everyone from Marylin Manson to The Pussycat Dolls have taken turns butchering it. I’d love to see the context in which this song is presented in the movie. I’m sure it involves Everett trying to woo Fiona away from Dylan in some dark smokey dive bar outside of London or some shit like that.

Anyways, um enjoy? These tracks aren’t the best in the world, but they are interesting so check them out.

I’ll have more rare soundtracks (including one with more rare Dylan – and some that are actually good!!) later this week.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 14th, 2008 at 4:58 am and is filed under Complete Albums, soundtrack. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.