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I, Tonya (soundtrack)

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I, Tonya (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Soundtrack album by
various artists
Released
  • December 8, 2017 (2017-12-08)
Genre
Length67:07
LabelMilan
ProducerSusan Jacobs

I, Tonya (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the compilation soundtrack to the 2017 biographical black comedy film I, Tonya, directed by Craig Gillespie. Based on the life of figure skater Tonya Harding and her connection to the 1994 attack on her rival Nancy Kerrigan, the film starred Margot Robbie in the title role. The album featured several popular non-original compositions, and few cues from the incidental underscore composed by Peter Nashel.[1] It was released on December 8, 2017, by Milan Records, the same day coinciding with the film's theatrical release.[2]

Background

[edit]

Susan Jacobs, the music supervisor of the film, was hired by Gillespie, for the licensing of several tracks from the album, when the film was in post-production. She compared the film as a cross-over between "the scale of The Big Lebowski (1998), the soundtrack of American Hustle (2013) or any Scorsese film soundtrack", but the film had the heart of Silver Linings Playbook (2012).[a][3] The film featured over 25 songs, but only 13 tracks are included in the album.[3][4]

"Spirit in the Sky" by Norman Greenbaum, a track that was featured in the soundtrack of Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), is also used for this film, it plays when Harding's father leaves the family, leaving her disappointed and from there, the scene transitions from a teenage Harding meets Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan).[3] She earlier licensed the track for Sunshine Cleaning (2008) in the main credits, but later decided to use it again, after watching the film. The song worked as "it gave this energy to the first time we see her as an adult" and comes in there "with a lot of punch and power".[3] "Romeo And Juliet" from Dire Straits which highlighted the burgeoning relationship of Harding and Gillooly, was an integral part of the story, as Craig's wife had given him the song, before the film's shooting began and for her "the lyrics felt like the film's story".[3] However, Dire Straits' founder Mark Knopfler was not willing to license the song for use. Jacobs said to Knopfler about the premise and also let him watch the film, after which Knopler agreed to use the song. Some of the songs of the soundtrack were used in Harding's real routines, such as ZZ Top's "Sleeping Bag".[3]

The track "Dream a Little Dream of Me" performed by Doris Day was not Jacobs' original choice to use in the film. She initially planned to use "Over the Rainbow". However, the decision was made around the time of the Manchester Arena bombing; Ariana Grande performed "Over the Rainbow" at the One Love Manchester benefit concert, and Jacobs felt that the song "took a different meaning" and wanted "to give respect to that [after it became synonymous with healing in the attack's aftermath]". Hence, she replaced it with "Dream a Little Dream of Me" as "the healing song" for the film, which she felt added "a really good contrast to the rest of the soundtrack".[3] Tracks from 1970s such as Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain" or Supertramp's "Goodbye Stranger" came from an era when music was "powerful and full" and "warm." Jacobs felt the "classic rock songs filled the picture without getting in the way of the story."[3]

According to critic Emily Manning of Vice Media's i-D magazine, she wrote that En Vogue's "Free Your Mind" and Heart's "Barracuda", created "an interesting parallel between Tonya's tenacity and ambition."[5] For the ending track – Siouxsie and the Banshees' cover of "The Passenger",[3] Jacobs said that the original version of was "something obviously female and the lyrics [resonated]".[3] Sufijan Stevens' song "Tonya Harding" was rejected by Jacobs and Gillespie for using in the film.[6][7]

Recording and composition

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Peter Nashel, composed the incidental music for the film, after being recommended by Jacobs.[8] This was Nashel's first feature film as he previously scored for documentaries and television shows, and took over three weeks to write the film score.[9] The film score and the incorporated songs did not occupy the entire film, but only two-thirds of the underscore is featured in the film, that "ends up being kind of a melodramatic character that heightens the actions surrounding the incident".[8] The scoring sessions took within a quick pace, as much of the score being written and composed by summer (June–August), before the premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2017.[8]

Nashel focused on a sound initially and it took much time to get the tone right, as the film served as a mockumentary. He created the score with percussion instruments and trashcans, that creates a "slightly more jangled, de-tuned sounds" and do not have a "clean precision of what is expected in contemporary scores". The piano was used as a key instrument in the film, and the score is accompanied by 10-piece string orchestra and a small woodwinds section. The score, at regular intervals, produces odd overtures and sounds.[9]

Reception

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Will Hodgkinson of The Times called it as a "broad, borderline cheesy, nostalgic soundtrack featuring big songs that scream of frosted hair and shopping malls".[10] British Film Institute magazine called the soundtrack as "evocative",[11] while Helen O'Hara of Empire called it as "pumping".[12] Connect Savannah's Jim Morekis wrote "A particularly brilliant decision in the film has to do with the soundtrack. Most of the many vintage tunes you hear in the movie aren’t from the late ‘80s and ‘90s at all – when most of the actual plot happens – but from the decade prior when Harding was growing up dirt-poor in Oregon (think Heart’s “Barracuda,” Foreigner’s “Feels Like the First Time,” etc.) Instead of the soundtrack of the era, we hear the soundtrack of Tonya Harding’s own life and girlhood, thus giving us more insight into what made her what she is."[13] Christy Lemire of RogerEbert.com wrote "Great songs, all, but the classic rock needle drops can be distractingly obvious."[14]

Track listing

[edit]
No.TitleArtistLength
1."Fair to Love Me"Mark Batson2:08
2."Devil Woman"Cliff Richard3:34
3."Shooting Star"Bad Company6:15
4."Romeo and Juliet"Dire Straits6:01
5."A Fair Shot"Peter Nashel1:52
6."Free Your Mind"En Vogue4:53
7."Goodbye Stranger"Supertramp5:48
8."How Can You Mend a Broken Heart"Chris Stills4:00
9."The Chain"Fleetwood Mac4:29
10."The Incident"Peter Nashel2:51
11."Barracuda"Heart4:22
12."Gloria"Laura Branigan4:49
13."Gone Daddy Gone"Violent Femmes3:06
14."Dream a Little Dream of Me"Doris Day3:43
15."The Passenger"Siouxsie and the Banshees4:09
16."Tonya Suite"Peter Nashel5:04

Film music not included in the album

[edit]

Note: Additional songs adapted from film credits

Charts

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Chart (2017–2018) Peak

position

UK Soundtrack Albums (OCC)[15] 43
US Billboard 200[16] 105
US Soundtrack Albums (Billboard)[17] 14

Release history

[edit]
Region Date Format(s) Label Version(s) Catalog Code Ref.
United States December 8, 2017 CD Milan Records Standard 399 975-2 [18]
March 30, 2018 Vinyl MLN1-36927 [19]
Autographed [20]
Limited Edition [21]
Europe December 22, 2017 CD
Standard 399 975-2 [22]
March 30, 2018 Vinyl 399 999-2

Notes

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  1. ^ Susan worked as music supervisor on American Hustle and Silver Linings Playbook.

References

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  1. ^ Camp, Alexa (December 14, 2017). "Exclusive: Go Behind the Scenes of the I, Tonya Soundtrack". Slant Magazine. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  2. ^ "I, Tonya (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)". iTunes. Apple. Retrieved January 31, 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rosen, Christopher (December 11, 2017). "Best of 2017 (Behind the Scenes): The stories behind the best songs on the I, Tonya soundtrack". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
  4. ^ "The five greatest sports movie soundtracks of all time". Contactmusic.com. July 7, 2021. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  5. ^ Manning, Emily (January 17, 2018). "'I, Tonya' sets figure skating to siouxsie & the banshees (and it works)". i-d.vice.com. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
  6. ^ Willman, Chris (December 9, 2017). "'I, Tonya' Filmmakers Rejected Indie Rock Darling Sufjan Stevens' 'Tonya Harding' Song". Variety. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  7. ^ Nordine, Michael (December 10, 2017). "Sufjan Stevens Says 'I, Tonya' Didn't Want His Tonya Harding Song, but You Can Listen to It Anyway". IndieWire. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  8. ^ a b c "High Stakes On Ice Skates - An Interview With "I, Tonya" Composer Peter Nashel". Score It Magazine. February 14, 2018. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  9. ^ a b Long, Kelle (March 1, 2018). "How the I, Tonya Composer Helped Recast an Infamous Villain as a Tragic Character". Motion Picture Association. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  10. ^ Hodgkinson, Will. "Pop review: Original Soundtrack: I, Tonya". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  11. ^ "I, Tonya review: a chilling story of thwarted ambition| Sight & Sound". British Film Institute. March 5, 2018. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  12. ^ "I, Tonya". Empire. February 19, 2018. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  13. ^ Morekis, Jim. "Review: I, Tonya". Connect Savannah. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  14. ^ Lemire, Christy. "I, Tonya movie review & film summary (2017) | Roger Ebert". www.rogerebert.com/. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  15. ^ "Official Soundtrack Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  16. ^ "Soundtrack Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
  17. ^ "Soundtrack Chart History (Soundtrack Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
  18. ^ "Peter Nashel: I, Tonya - Soundtrack". Milan Records. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  19. ^ "Soundtrack : I, Tonya - Record Shop X". www.recordshopx.com. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  20. ^ "AUCTION - Margot Robbie Signed "I, Tonya Soundtrack" Vinyl Record Album (PSA Hologram)". www.pristineauction.com. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  21. ^ "I, Tonya OST Limited Edition Pearlescent White Vinyl LP SEALED". eBay. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  22. ^ Various (2018), I, Tonya Soundtrack), Milan, retrieved July 11, 2022
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