Songs written just for Miami Vice


23bw

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Just curious if anyone ever thought about what songs featured on Miami Vice were written just for purpose of the show. Like a special request from the show's producers to a music artist to come up with a song. Obviously, this is excluding the show's music dedicated composers like Hammer and Truman. After listing to Smuggler's Blues many times this week, I think this gotta be one song that was written just for the show. I can't imagine Glenn Fry just coming up with this song on his own without a request from someone. The lyrics of Smuggler's Blues isn't something you often write a song about. Then there are songs like "In the Air Tonight" and "You Belong to the City" which worked really well in the show and will forever be associated with Miami Vice. I'd guess these were songs already out there and just happen to fit well in the show, not necessarily written just for it.Or where all these great songs just taken off the charts and just put in the show?

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"You Belong to the City " was like almost written for Miami Vice - then lyrics seem to relate to Crockett completely. "When the Wind Blows " from the end of Bought and Paid For was specially written for that episode.:)

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"Smuggler's Blues" by Glenn Frey *"You Belong To The City" by Glenn Frey *"Cold Wind Blows" by Karla Bonoff **"Love Is For Sale" by Cleavant Derricks **"The Last Unbroken Heart" by Patti LaBelle & Bill Champlin *"Valhalla" by Rick Conrad **"Someone To Watch Over Me" & "Stormy Weather by Saundra Santiago **"Wrapped Up, Tied Up, Tangled Up" & "Together As One" by Anita Morris **"I Got You Babe" by Sheena Easton **"No Way Out" by Don Johnson & Tim Truman ***Recorded for the show and available on Miami Vice soundtrack albums.**Recorded for the show but never released.The rest were chosen from various albums.

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"Smuggler's Blues" by Glenn Frey *"You Belong To The City" by Glenn Frey *"Cold Wind Blows" by Karla Bonoff "Love Is For Sale" by Cleavant Derricks"The Last Unbroken Heart" by Patti LaBelle & Bill Champlin *"Valhalla" by Rick Conrad"Someone To Watch Over Me" & "Stormy Weather by Saundra Santiago"Wrapped Up' date=' Tied Up, Tangled Up" & "Together As One" by Anita Morris"I Got You Babe" by Sheena Easton"No Way Out" by Don Johnson & Tim Truman*Recorded for the show and available on Miami Vice soundtrack albums. The rest were recorded for the show but never released.[/quote']And lets not forget ..."Life is a Rat Race" by Phil CollinsPhil was asked to write a song just for the show, but unfortunately, it couldn't be fit into his schedule, so he used one of his songs on the "B" side of a 45 record (that didn't make it on one of his albums) called, "THE MAN WITH THE HORN". He dropped the vocals from that song, and sang new lyrics just for "LIFE IS A RAT RACE.It was never recorded as a full song, so therefore it has never been released, and unless it is re recorded as a full song, it won't be released either.Also..."Own The Night" by Chaka Khan*-COOP
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What about Today's A Beginning' date='from Give A Little, Take A Little?:confused:[/quote']I know it was also never released so it's a good possibility. I'm not sure though.Another maybe (and unreleased) is "The Water's Too Deep" by Jim Gilstrap from "The Fix"
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I'm pretty sure Smuggler's Blues (the electric version anyway) existed before Vice. I think it has a 1983 copyright date.

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So "You Belong to the City " was written specifically for the "Prodigal Son" Season 2-opener - I heard it was and Michael Mann asked Glenn Frey to do it specially , but then I thought that it was on Frey's 1984 album release , so as Prodigal Son was filmed in the Summer of 85 , it couldnt have been on his 84 album release.

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You Belong to the City indeed made its debut on Vice. It appears on no Frey Album (not counting greatest hits collections, of course -- sredd's a stickler for that one!).

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"Smuggler's Blues" is off of Frey's album The Allnighter, released on June 19, 1984, a few months before MV even debuted, and was recorded throughout 1983-1984. Couldn't have been written for MV."You Belong To The City" was definitely written for MV. VCM's right, it doesn't appear on any Frey solo album, only on compilations and the MV soundtrack.

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@Joe: Everything´s inside of me was NOT written for MV. It was a demo that Tim Truman recorded for a different occasion and that was finally included in the series as they couldn´t get clearance for a John Cougar Mellencamp song they had intended to use.

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Ah...thank for all the informative replies. Great to hear that the producers did reach out to artists to come up with original songs for the show. Reason I ask is because I've been collecting songs (CDs) featured on MV lately throught my local craigslist. Between work and family, there's always not enough time to sit down to watch vice. The music allows me to enjoy it every day in the car during my commute to/from work. I really want to find the original MV soundstrack. I may just bite the bullet soon and just buy it off Ebay. This is what I've got so far:Peter Gabriel "Don't give up"Dire Straits "Brother in Arms"Glenn Fry "Smuggler's Blues"Glenn Fry "You belong to the City"Tina Turner "What's Love Got to Do with It"Jan Hammer "MV Theme"Phil Collin "In the Air Tonight"

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Those are some good ones you've got. I too listen to the tunes featured in MIAMI VICE to relive the scenes in my car. Many of us do.Keep collecting!

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Ah...thank for all the informative replies. Great to hear that the producers did reach out to artists to come up with original songs for the show. Reason I ask is because I've been collecting songs (CDs) featured on MV lately throught my local craigslist. Between work and family' date=' there's always not enough time to sit down to watch vice. The music allows me to enjoy it every day in the car during my commute to/from work. I really want to find the original MV soundstrack. I may just bite the bullet soon and just buy it off Ebay. This is what I've got so far:Peter Gabriel "Don't give up"Dire Straits "Brother in Arms"Glenn Fry "Smuggler's Blues"Glenn Fry "You belong to the City"Tina Turner "What's Love Got to Do with It"Jan Hammer "MV Theme"Phil Collin "In the Air Tonight"[/quote']The original MV soundtrack is always at my FYE; I'd try them before Ebay. That said, definitely pick up the two Tommy Shaw albums that had featured songs on MV: Girls With Guns (the title track was used in S1's "Glades") and Ambition ("Dangerous Game" was used in S4's "Blood & Roses). Those two albums were out-of-print for years, and I paid some high prices for CD copies; months later they were reissued! Despite remastering, I usually prefer original releases (as that was what was actually heard in the 80's), so I'm cool with it.If you can find a copy, try Meat Loaf's Blind Before I Stop ("Standing On The Outside" was used in the classic S3 ep "Forgive Us Our Debts"). That's another good one, albeit unlike most of Meat's other albums (save for Bad Attitude, apparently; I've yet to find a copy outside of Amazon).Also, The Alan Parsons' Project album Gaudi had two tunes fearured in S3's "Red Tape" ("Money Talks" & "Closer To Heaven"). Honestly, I didn't expect to like that album as much as I did, but it's excellent, IMO. I believe it's still in print, as well.
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I'm pretty sure Smuggler's Blues (the electric version anyway) existed before Vice. I think it has a 1983 copyright date.

Funny, I thought it was 1975...although that was when it was called "Just What The Doctor Ordered" by Ted Nugent! goozer :rauchen:
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You guys missed one.............In season one in Calderones Return, The scene with the Stinger going through the ocean towards the Bahamas was Russ Ballard's "Voices" this was dubbed especially for that boat scene and starts heavy with the bass and guitar solos. Watch the boat hit the waves exactly when the drums kick in, and in time! It is a bit different than the album version with a different beggining, but essentially the same song."VOICES"

The Russ Ballard Video of "Voices" is quite good too. Check it out on Youtube. This one has a different intro than the MV scene.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCqmpq2rE...re=relatedAnd yet a third one that uses Ballards first album version again, however the scenes are not in sync with the videos and there is a lot of fluff added that were not in the original episode. Not bad though as I suppose the author had five and haf minutes to fill?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UK1D4lQMgDo&feature=related
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The version of Voices off of the album Russ Ballard (1984) seems to be quite similar to the one in MV. That the album you're talking about?

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZV-pGFpA...re=relatedThe Russ Ballard Video of "Voices" is quite good too. Check it out on Youtube. This one has a different intro than the MV scene.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCqmpq2rE...re=relatedAnd yet a third one that uses Ballards first album version again, however the scenes are not in sync with the videos and there is a lot of fluff added that were not in the original episode. Not bad though as I suppose the author had five and haf minutes to fill?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UK1D4lQMgDo&feature=related

If memory serves me correct, I'm thinking the music, and film editors worked together by;Editing the song, and it's length to fit the way they wished (Some of the music appears when Mendez is shown for the last time sitting alone on the chair after C&T leave the room, and start it again when the scene with Tubbs saying, "You heard right."). The music was edited as was the scenes with the boat to make them match better on beats and such.
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I'm pretty sure Smuggler's Blues (the electric version anyway) existed before Vice. I think it has a 1983 copyright date.

Yes. I think there's a story about some big name from the series (Michael Mann himself? I really can't remember) watching a videoclip from that song on MTV and decided it should be in Miami Vice.
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Smuggler´s Blues was definetely not written for the show either. MM had heard the song on his car radio while driving around and asked Miguel Pinero (the actor who played Calderone and was a writer) to write an episode around it.

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Smuggler´s Blues was definetely not written for the show either. MM had heard the song on his car radio while driving around and asked Miguel Pinero (the actor who played Calderone and was a writer) to write an episode around it.

That's interesting never knew that. That would explain why it fitted into MV and that episode particularly well.
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