My 10 most memorable (not Jan Hammer) music pieces in Miami Vice


apocalypse

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Besides Jan Hammer what are your favorites? Here's my top ten.


Yello: Desire
This scene and song made me a Yello fan. Absolutely captivating music and their other piece "Si Senor The Hairy Grill" was used twice (I think) in the S4 and S5. Perfectly fitting. They released Stella and Flag in the eighties and those are SUPERB albums. Masterpieces.

 

The Alan Parsons Project: Closer to heaven
Another memorable piece. People died for nothing (MacIntyre for lousy money and Bobby because no one bothered to tell him about the plot lol). "Is this the real world or fool's paradise?" How can the lyrics fit more perfectly? That pier was the perfect fool's paradise.


Dire Straits: Brothers in Arms
When they're driving with the Daytona to Tony Arcaro's final resting place. This scene must be one of the best in the whole TV history.


Meat Loaf: Standing on the Outside
Piece from my all time favorite episode. When the woman goes to kill Gus Albierro. This whole episode had a magical, dark atmosphere. Perfection. Also Peter Gabriel's "We're do what we're told" was well used. Again just perfect fit. Crockett is doing what he's told to do. Dark, dark vibes in "Forgive Us Our Debts" which is an absolute masterpiece from start to finish.


Terry Kath: Tell Me
Never been a fan of Freefall as a finale. Decent episode but it left all important loose ends untied (Stan, Gina, Trudy) but of course I remember watching the flashbacks with sadness when this was originally aired. Very memorable and end of an important era to me.


Jackson Browne: Lives in the balance
Just a great song with great lyrics. Well placed again.

 

Hooters: Satellite
Same. Amen, Send Money is not the greatest episode but it was decent and it was almost like this piece was written for it.

 

Mike and the Mechanics: Par Avion

What a beautiful song this is. First comes Jan Hammer's amazing "Last Call" and it switches to this and Crockett heads to the airport. After all this beauty and calmness... of course the sh*t starts flying. Hey... it's Miami Vice... of course Sonny's girl is involved with drugs. :D

 

The Damned: Tightrope walk
Viking Bikers is entertaining but absolute crap episode. But the ending, this song and the fight scene was amazing.


Glenn Frey: You belong to the city
This is the eighties summed in one song. Miami Vice in its prime. Don Johnson in his coolest.

 

I know I know... why not "In the Air Tonight". Despite being a Genesis fan, I never liked Phil Collins' solo stuff very much... although I admit it's a good scene and a decent song.

 

What are yours?

 

Edited by apocalypse
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  • apocalypse changed the title to My 10 most memorable (not Jan Hammer) music pieces in Miami Vice
vor 59 Minuten schrieb apocalypse:

Besides Jan Hammer what are your favorites? Here's my top ten.


Yello: Desire
This scene and song made me a Yello fan. Absolutely captivating music and their other piece "Si Senor The Hairy Grill" was used twice (I think) in the S4 and S5. Perfectly fitting. They released Stella and Flag in the eighties and those are SUPERB albums. Masterpieces.

 

The Alan Parsons Project: Closer to heaven
Another memorable piece. People died for nothing (MacIntyre for lousy money and Bobby because no one bothered to tell him about the plot lol). "Is this the real world or fool's paradise?" How can the lyrics fit more perfectly? That pier was the perfect fool's paradise.


Dire Straits: Brothers in Arms
When they're driving with the Daytona to Tony Arcaro's final resting place. This scene must be one of the best in the whole TV history.


Meat Loaf: Standing on the Outside
Piece from my all time favorite episode. When the woman goes to kill Gus Albierro. This whole episode had a magical, dark atmosphere. Perfection. Also Peter Gabriel's "We're do what we're told" was well used. Again just perfect fit. Crockett is doing what he's told to do. Dark, dark vibes in "Forgive Us Our Debts" which is an absolute masterpiece from start to finish.


Terry Kath: Tell Me
Never been a fan of Freefall as a finale. Decent episode but it left all important loose ends untied (Stan, Gina, Trudy) but of course I remember watching the flashbacks with sadness when this was originally aired. Very memorable and end of an important era to me.


Jackson Browne: Lives in the balance
Just a great song with great lyrics. Well placed again.

 

Hooters: Satellite
Same. Amen, Send Money is not the greatest episode but it was decent and it was almost like this piece was written for it.

 

Mike and the Mechanics: Par Avion

What a beautiful song this is. First comes Jan Hammer's amazing "Last Call" and it switches to this and Crockett heads to the airport. After all this beauty and calmness... of course the sh*t starts flying. Hey... it's Miami Vice... of course Sonny's girl is involved with drugs. :D

 

The Damned: Tightrope walk
Viking Bikers is entertaining but absolute crap episode. But the ending, this song and the fight scene was amazing.


Glenn Frey: You belong to the city
This is the eighties summed in one song. Miami Vice in its prime. Don Johnson in his coolest.

 

I know I know... why not "In the Air Tonight". Despite being a Genesis fan, I never liked Phil Collins' solo stuff very much... although I admit it's a good scene and a decent song.

 

What are yours?

 

Perfect choice and assessments are spot-on!

A few more memorable ones are:

 

Madness of it all (Ward Brothers)

feel, lyrics is exceptional 

 

The leader, the Vision, what about me (Chris DeBurgh)

how the scenes fit to the three music parts with different moods is unbelievable

 

Climb (Peter Himmelman)

like written for this scene 

 

30.000 feet (Broken Homes)

perfect lyrics and song with a fitting „long way doown“ in between but the real magic was music editing of Jerry Cohen to loop the instrumental bridge in the middle to time the song parts exactly to the scenes on screen

Picture Book (simply red)

i still get goose bumps on this one.

 

 

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On 9/22/2022 at 11:07 AM, apocalypse said:

Besides Jan Hammer what are your favorites? Here's my top ten.


Yello: Desire
This scene and song made me a Yello fan. Absolutely captivating music and their other piece "Si Senor The Hairy Grill" was used twice (I think) in the S4 and S5. Perfectly fitting. They released Stella and Flag in the eighties and those are SUPERB albums. Masterpieces.

 

The Alan Parsons Project: Closer to heaven
Another memorable piece. People died for nothing (MacIntyre for lousy money and Bobby because no one bothered to tell him about the plot lol). "Is this the real world or fool's paradise?" How can the lyrics fit more perfectly? That pier was the perfect fool's paradise.


Dire Straits: Brothers in Arms
When they're driving with the Daytona to Tony Arcaro's final resting place. This scene must be one of the best in the whole TV history.


Meat Loaf: Standing on the Outside
Piece from my all time favorite episode. When the woman goes to kill Gus Albierro. This whole episode had a magical, dark atmosphere. Perfection. Also Peter Gabriel's "We're do what we're told" was well used. Again just perfect fit. Crockett is doing what he's told to do. Dark, dark vibes in "Forgive Us Our Debts" which is an absolute masterpiece from start to finish.


Terry Kath: Tell Me
Never been a fan of Freefall as a finale. Decent episode but it left all important loose ends untied (Stan, Gina, Trudy) but of course I remember watching the flashbacks with sadness when this was originally aired. Very memorable and end of an important era to me.


Jackson Browne: Lives in the balance
Just a great song with great lyrics. Well placed again.

 

Hooters: Satellite
Same. Amen, Send Money is not the greatest episode but it was decent and it was almost like this piece was written for it.

 

Mike and the Mechanics: Par Avion

What a beautiful song this is. First comes Jan Hammer's amazing "Last Call" and it switches to this and Crockett heads to the airport. After all this beauty and calmness... of course the sh*t starts flying. Hey... it's Miami Vice... of course Sonny's girl is involved with drugs. :D

 

The Damned: Tightrope walk
Viking Bikers is entertaining but absolute crap episode. But the ending, this song and the fight scene was amazing.


Glenn Frey: You belong to the city
This is the eighties summed in one song. Miami Vice in its prime. Don Johnson in his coolest.

 

I know I know... why not "In the Air Tonight". Despite being a Genesis fan, I never liked Phil Collins' solo stuff very much... although I admit it's a good scene and a decent song.

 

What are yours?

 

Some really good choices here I love the Alan Parsons Project song and Meatloaf one.

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The Rhythm of the Heat - Peter Gabriel

Biko - Peter Gabriel

Lunatic Fringe - Red Rider

Ride Across the River - Dire Straits

Brothers in Arms - Dire Straits

Rubbermiro - Liquid Liquid

Voices - Russ Ballard

Climb - Peter Himmelmann

I Don't Care Anymore - Phil Collins

Mercy - Steve Jones

Honorable mention: Watermusic II - Fast Forward

((This list will probably change in a couple of days.))

 

 

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Brothers in Arms beyond question. I think it's actually one of the best musical moments in the entire series...especially since they let the song run through the entire sequence, not just the drive. It's like the visuals are intended to accompany the music and not the other way around.

I do like how Ratt's "Dance" works in Down for the Count Part 1, but I can't think of anything that comes close to Brothers in Arms aside from In the Air Tonight.

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Frankie say: Relax the opening of s1 little prince. 

Ward Brothers' : Madness of it all I have the instrumental version of this track too which is lovely.

Loz Netto's: We touch is a great track and the scene it is used in plays the most like an MTV clip made exclusively for the song.

Honeymoon suite's: Bad Attitude worked surprisingly well for Sonny and Rico's cruise toward their final shootout. It got me amped watching them for the last time;(

God's Gift from Indian wars is just a great track. Not necessarily the best scene but I love the song and I never would've known it existed without MV.

Big Pig's Money GoD worked really well in the shocking Mirror Image alley scene.

...The more I think the more I realize a list like this could go on and on:)

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All excellent choices!  Way too many to list.  I think many of these songs are enhanced by the scene they're featured in. 

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In no real order.

"After the Fire" - Roger Daltrey (Actually this is my No 1 because it signifies the end of an era in Miami Vice, Michael Mann and co are going ;( Calls an end to the fun, heartbreak, authenticity and sunny vibe of the show)

"Par Avion" - Mike and the Mechanics

"Take Me Home" - Phil Collins

"Long Long Way to Go" - Phil Collins

"Rubbermiro" - Liquid Liquid

"In The Air Tonight" - Phil Collins

"Brothers in Arms" - Dire Straits

"In The Night" - Russ Ballard

"Voices" - Russ Ballard 

"Destination Unknown" by Sly and Robbie

 

 

Edited by RedDragon86
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Some great choices guys. There are so many to choose from. Not in order but a few of mine are:

”Blood And Roses” (The Smithereens - Duty And Honor)

“State of Emergency” (Cactus World News - El Viejo)

”Fly on the Windscreen” (Depeche Mode - El Viejo)

”Severance” (Dead Can Dance - Victims Of Circumstance)

”Misguided Angel” (Cowboy Junkies - Victims Of Circumstance)

”Tiny Demons” (Todd Rundgren - Little Prince)

“Walking Towards Paradise” (Robert Plant - Fruit Of The Poison Tree)

”Kiss Me When I Get Back” (Tom Tom Club - Leap Of Faith)

“I’m Life” (The Fixx - Over The Line)

“Hands On Me” (Sinead O’Connor - Borrasca)

All these tracks I could listen to over and over again. Great material and credit to Fred Lyle for his musical taste.

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16 hours ago, fakespyder said:

Frankie say: Relax the opening of s1 little prince. 

Ward Brothers' : Madness of it all I have the instrumental version of this track too which is lovely.

Loz Netto's: We touch is a great track and the scene it is used in plays the most like an MTV clip made exclusively for the song.

Honeymoon suite's: Bad Attitude worked surprisingly well for Sonny and Rico's cruise toward their final shootout. It got me amped watching them for the last time;(

God's Gift from Indian wars is just a great track. Not necessarily the best scene but I love the song and I never would've known it existed without MV.

Big Pig's Money GoD worked really well in the shocking Mirror Image alley scene.

...The more I think the more I realize a list like this could go on and on:)

Couldn't resist signing in to say Bad Attitude is one of my absolute favourites and I'd never even heard it until I watched Freefall !!! Excellent choice! Really must think about the other nine now...Oh, I know another right away "Don't Give Up" from Redemption in Blood. Has anyone noticed what a lot of English bands feature among these?

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2 hours ago, wolfie1996 said:

Couldn't resist signing in to say Bad Attitude is one of my absolute favourites and I'd never even heard it until I watched Freefall !!! Excellent choice! Really must think about the other nine now...Oh, I know another right away "Don't Give Up" from Redemption in Blood. Has anyone noticed what a lot of English bands feature among these?

I think that's partly because New Wave was often identified as being mostly British, and that was the esthetic they were going for.

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this:

"Dire Straits: Brothers in Arms
When they're driving with the Daytona to Tony Arcaro's final resting place. This scene must be one of the best in the whole TV history".

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On 9/24/2022 at 8:36 PM, wolfie1996 said:

Couldn't resist signing in to say Bad Attitude is one of my absolute favourites and I'd never even heard it until I watched Freefall !!! Excellent choice! Really must think about the other nine now...Oh, I know another right away "Don't Give Up" from Redemption in Blood. Has anyone noticed what a lot of English bands feature among these?

Bad Attitude is a great song for Vice. I only found out the other day that the song was actually released in 1985. I had assumed it was a late 80s track :thumbsup:

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7 minutes ago, Miami Beau said:

Bad Attitude is a great song for Vice. I only found out the other day that the song was actually released in 1985. I had assumed it was a late 80s track :thumbsup:

Yeah! It’s on the same album as “Feel It Again” (from season 2’s Free Verse). :thumbsup:

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