THE DREAM IS ALWAYS THE SAME.
Tangerine Dream’s music for Risky Business is still my favorite film score of all time.
Every few years it happens. A little time will go by from watching the movie and I end up forgetting how much I love everything about it. Then something jogs my memory and I’m thrust right back into being awestruck at this magic combination of music & film.
Risky Business would absolutely not be the same without Tangerine Dream. It’s also one of those big films of the decade that people shrug off and forget how brilliant it is. There’s a lot more going on than the cliché scene with Tom Cruise dancing around his living room in his underpants. A hell of a lot more.
We’ve covered so many peak moments of movie-music power on this site over the years, but I still swear nothing comes close to TD’s masterful work for this 1983 coming-of-age story. It flows so seamlessly and works better than anything I can think of, with the music in itself being a character of the film. Even with all this power, it doesn’t distract you from the scenes. The dreamy, hypnotizing tracks pull you in and entice the viewer, enhancing the overall experience greatly.
This week TNUC discovered an artist out of Southhampton, United Kingdom called State Azure who does a stunning cover of some of the soundtrack music while staying truthful to the original sound. Check out the live-in-the-studio performances below. *Hopefully you can listen to this at night or in the dark.*
After the 9,000th listen to ‘Love On A Real Train’ in my life, it’s still the most remarkable piece of electronic music I’ve had the pleasure of hearing. Subtle, seductive, emotional, nostalgic, evocative. It could be partly due to it being one of the first synthesizer instrumentals I remember even noticing as a teen, but it struck a nerve and still holds up tremendously.
These two tracks are from State Azure’s all Tangerine Dream covers album called “Dreams” that he released last year. Get that here.
I can’t leave this article without posting my other favorite piece from the soundtrack…..
“Are you ready for me, Ralph?”
uncletnuc.com 
Just found your site last week and have been binging the articles in chronological order every day. Wish I had discovered this place a lot sooner. I too, was a teen when I first saw this movie and both the film and the score have been a favorite of mine ever since.
Thank you for finding TNUC. My apologies if many of the older articles have broken links or missing items due to age. Enjoy and WELCOME!
No apologies needed. While I’ve discovered a lot of obscure/underrated gems here on your site, thankfully I’ve known about a lot of the pop culture you’ve given such accolades for. This site practically feels like home to me.
Wow. Those State Azure covers rip! Put your headphones on, turn the lights off, put Love On A Real Train on repeat, close your eyes and drift away to better times.