Kyle's 17 Favorite Musical Moments (In Non-Musicals)

I’ll admit it, I like musicals. The singing, the dancing, the Hugh Jackman...I think music and movies go together like peas and carrots. As much as I love a good musical, it's even more enjoyable when a regular film is able to surprise you with a terrific musical moment. In fact, these moments are so great that I thought I'd come up with a list of them.

We need to set some ground rules on what I’m talking about so I don’t get a ton of angry comments. First off, and this should be pretty obvious from the title, I’m throwing musicals out of the running. I know that you think the music store scene in Once was amazing and that Anne Hathaway snotting through “I Dreamed I Dream” changed your life, but they’re both parts of musicals, so they’re out. Second, and this is where it gets a little tricky, nothing on this list can be just the score of the film or solely used as background music. The characters have to interact with the music in some way, either by singing it, dancing to it, or generally acknowledge that someone other than just the audience can hear what’s playing. “Where is my Mind” is a rad choice at the end of Fight Club, but I’m pretty sure Marla didn’t lug a boom box up to the top floor of that building, so you won’t find it anywhere on this list.

That being said, enjoy and let me know everything that I've left off (there are a ton) in the comments below.

17. "Afternoon Delight" - Anchorman

I’m not sure if this is the exact moment when Anchorman kicked into the absurd, but I do know that it’s when it instantly became one of my favorite comedies. When Ron is asked by his friends what it’s like to be in love, the gang spontaneously breaks into an acappella sing-a-long of “Afternoon Delight”. I am absolutely sure that there’s nothing better than Steve Carell taking the high harmony.

16. "Let's Get it On" - High Fidelity

Before I knew Tenacious D, and before I really knew Jack Black, I knew Barry the music snob at Championship Vinyl. Barry spent the entire movie bitching about music and his band, Sonic Death Monkey, but it wasn’t until the end that we found out Barry could deliver the goods. It’s one part goofy, one part spot-on, and completely amazing as Jack Black shows us just how good his range is as he works his way through the Marvin Gaye classic.

15. "Dracula's Lament" - Forgetting Sarah Marshall

The Muppets may be the singular greatest creation of the last 50 years (sorry PCs) and because of that, I’m a little biased. The inclusion of a puppet-based musical version of Bram Stoker’s Dracula makes me think that the writers were solely focused on getting me into the theater to see this movie. The final realization of Peter’s musical at the end is just short of brilliant, but it’s not my favorite moment in this breezy comedy from star Jason Segal. For my money, the lead character being coerced into performing a song from his passion project in a Hawaiian bar still makes me laugh out loud. From the pleas to not have to sing, to the final moving song performed in the hammiest Dracula voice this side of Lelsie Nielson--this is gold. It doesn’t hurt that it convinced Disney to hand over the reins of the Muppet franchise to Segal, which it turned out, was a wonderful idea.

14. The Drug Deal - Boogie Nights

Things haven’t been going so great for porn star Dirk Diggler. After letting his over-sized ego get the best of him, Eddie/Dirk finds himself hopelessly broke and addicted to drugs. Trying to score some quick cash Eddie and his crew attempt to pass baking soda off as cocaine and sell it to a well-known dealer for $5,000. Let’s just say that things get out of hand as the dealer sings along with “Sister Christian” and “Jesse’s Girl”, all the while getting higher and higher. A combination of fireworks, Russian roulette, and not sticking with the plan make this the most intense scene in the movie.

13. "Bohemian Rhapsody" - Wayne's World

 It’s the movie that introduced Queen’s classic anthem to a new generation. During a nighttime ride in the mirth-mobile the guys gleefully sing along with this amazing song. It’s a moment that was run as a music video on VH1 for years afterward and inspired many similar car rides for me and my friends.

12. "Day-O/The Banana Boat Song" - Beetlejuice

Here’s a scene I would fast forward to as a child, unable to take the anticipation of waiting for it to arrive. When the Deetz’s throw their first dinner party out in the sticks, it becomes clear that their daughter has been telling the truth about the ghosts living upstairs. Before they can start their shrimp cocktail, the entire group of adults is possessed and belts out Harry Belafonte’s classic while performing a choreographed dance. It’s this kind of ridiculous humor that made Beetlejuice a constant fixture in my VHS player.  Also, there’s some fabulous “possessed napkin” work by the cast.

11. First Contact - Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Skip to 5:00 mark for the good part.

Music can be used in a lot of different ways in movies--look no further than the climactic alien encounter in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. When the aliens show up in the final reel they don't beam Richard Dreyfuss aboard or start blowing up monuments. Instead, these aliens communicate with us in the universal language--music. It's a rousing scene with a theme I still get stuck in my head. Remember: bum bum bum BUUM BUUUUUUUUUUM.

10. "Tiny Dancer" - Almost Famous

This really is the seminal movie about loving music. Based on Cameron Crowe’s own teenage adventure touring the country with The Allman Brothers Band, we follow a fifteen year old as he discovers what music really means to a generation and how dysfunctional bands truly are. It’s after a particularly rough night that the band, Stillwater, find themselves riding on a tour bus, bleary eyed and morose until someone begins singing along with Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer”.  By the time the song picks up steam the entire bus is belting it out in a moment of pure joy. It’s at that moment teenage reporter, William confesses, “I have to go home,” only to be told by the object of his affection “you are home.”

9. "Red, White, and Blaine" - Waiting for Guffman

Christopher Guest has accounted for many amazing musical moments in film, from the folk melodies of A Mighty Wind to the must-see master class in comedy, This is Spinal Tap. One of the most rewarding reveals in film, to me, is the final half hour of Waiting for Guffman, when the audience finally gets to experience the musical about Blaine, Missouri that Corky St. Claire has put together. Picking a favorite song is damn near impossible (A Penny for Your Thoughts), so just sit back and experience the entire event.

8. "Putting on the Ritz" - Young Frankenstein

If this scene doesn’t make you laugh, I don’t know what else to say. I could go on about how on top of his game Mel Brooks was in the 70s, or how he had a knack for musical comedy, starting with “Springtime for Hitler” in The Producers. I might even bring up how Gene Wilder is a personal hero of mine or what humor Peter Boyle brings to the monster. I won’t go to the trouble of any of that nonsense, though, because in this scene Victor Frankenstein and his monster suit up and perform “Putting on the Ritz.” That. Is. Comedy.

7. "Johnny B. Goode" - Back to the Future

It wouldn't be a Spoiler Alert list without one reference to either Die Hard or Back to the Future, and you can't do much better than Marty McFly tearing through Chuck Berry's classic at the Enchantment Under the Sea dance. Even though the guitar and vocals were dubbed (guitar by no less than Eddie Van Halen) Michael J. Fox took the extra effort to learn the exact fingerings to go along with the soundtrack. That's commitment that guitar players everywhere can appreciate, especially after years of watching actors do everything short of holding guitars upside down when "playing" them.

6. "Scotty Doesn't Know" - Euro Trip

There’s a good chance you’ve never seen the modern comedic classic Euro Trip, and that’s a shame. Here’s a gem that wasn’t helped one bit by its titular connection to the frat-comedy Road Trip. This genuinely hilarious movie about a pre-college summer trip to Europe boasts one of the greatest cameos of all time. The day our hero, Scotty, graduates from high school he’s dumped by his girlfriend who, it turns out, wasn’t the most loyal of companions. Enter Matt Damon, lead singer of the band playing a post-graduation party, who belts out a song about his hidden romance with Scotty’s less than virginal ex. It’s a witty, catchy song that becomes a wonderful running gag as it pops up again and again in different remixes throughout clubs and ringtones around Europe.

5. "My Little Buttercup" - Three Amigos

The clueless Amigos have walked into a rowdy Mexican bar having no idea that the patrons think them vicious kills instead of the hapless actors they really are. Thinking the barflies are starstruck to be in the presence of the Three Amigos, the guys decide to give everyone a little treat and what follows is amazing. The earnest, goofy dancing of the Amigos matched with the confused, terrified looks on the crowd makes this one of my favorite movie scenes ever.

4. "Dueling Banjos" - Deliverance 

Not many people my age have actually seen Deliverance. When most people think of it, they forget that it’s actually a well-made thriller about a middle-age rafting trip gone horribly wrong as the men are terrorized by backwoods psychos. What sticks in everyone’s mind are two things, Ned Betty squealing like a pig and “Dueling Banjos”. The song arrives early in the movie as the four men stop at a service station before getting to the river and realizing that the locals may not be the kind you want to get mixed up with. While waiting outside picking on his guitar, Ronnie Cox is joined in by young boy sitting on the porch playing banjo. What follows is one of the most out of context scenes in movie history. If you think this is what the rest of the movie will be like, just watch the icy exchange at the end.

3. "Show Me the Way To Go Home" - Jaws

Jaws scared the crap out of me the first time I saw it. To this day, the thought of being caught in open water is terrifying, and while I don’t mind boats, the deep blue sea gives me the willies. After a tense day out on the boat and their first real encounter with the shark, the crew of the Orca have dinner and a few too many. After a horrifying retelling of the USS Indianapolis, the men lighten the mood by singing an old sea shanty. This provides exactly one minute of relief before the shark again begins attacking the ship, but for that one minute the three relax and forget their current situation. So much for levity.

2. "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" - Top Gun

You’re probably seeing a trend of movies from when I was younger, and I’ll admit, I’m pulling from a lot of my childhood here. Maybe movies don’t have great scenes like this anymore—one that Brandon and I have recreated in more than a few bars, with slightly less success. Watching Maverick and Goose warble through a trick they've obviously tried before is one thing, but it really kicks into gear when the entire bar joins in to woo Kelly McGillis. I guess it pays off being the only female on a military base, even if you look like Kelly McGillis.

1. "Heart and Soul/Chopsticks" - Big

The sheer joy that this scene elicits is absurd. You can thank Big for making every idiot who sits down at a piano think he can play, by giving us all a lesson on the two easiest songs in the world. As a child I would wait in anticipation for this scene to come, and then would be happy to turn the movie off when it ended. I know its cliche, but if I were in FAO Schwartz tomorrow, I wouldn't be able to resist reliving the moment from Big on the giant keyboard, with or without Robert Loggia (preferably with).