Nostalgia returns to rock music

As the global box office collections for the latest of the Marvel movies, Thor: Ragnarok, crosses the $820 million mark – making way for an interstellar orbit into the “billion dollar” zone – the success also reflects on music’s past as the soundtrack features one of the most well-known songs ever recorded, Immigrant Song, by legendary band Led Zeppelin. The song begins with a distinctive, almost a battle cry from singer Robert Plant and a repeat, staccato riff by guitarist Jimmy Page, both of whom I had the pleasure of meeting in Mumbai, in the ’90s, during the Channel [V] Music Awards.

It is true that often the inclusion of a classic song in a soundtrack is a lazy manner for the director/producer to “cover” the instrumental/musical gaps of the movie but, fortunately, there are exceptions to the rule. Thor: Ragnarok is certainly one of them, prominently featuring Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song — not once, but twice — as it becomes the ideal musical companion to two of the most satisfying battles witnessed on screen. As it turns out, film director Taika Waititi initially utilised the track while showcasing the pitch reel to executives of the film production company where many, present for the meeting, were not familiar with the track.

As Waititi explained that it was one of the most popular songs of all time, he eventually obtained consent for its usage in the movie soundtrack, but the next challenge for Waititi was obtaining approval from the band itself who, usually, shy away from exploitation of their songs for commercial purposes.

Waititi indeed received approval from Led Zeppelin’s management, and it all added to one of the finest depictions in superhero film history as Thor, with his magical hammer destroyed by his sister, Hela – the Goddess of Death, who invades the Asgardian home, while Thor is marooned on a distant planet. The song is first seen as Thor and his allies battle Hela and her army, and repeated in another fighting scene, at the film’s conclusion, where Thor moves the entire Asgard population to another world, befitting the lyrics of the Immigrant Song: “Hammer of the Gods will drive our ships to new lands.” Reference to this classic song also appears in a recently issued publication, also largely based on nostalgia, called The Great Rock Music Quiz Book, compiled by Mumbai-based writer Verus Ferreira. Verus has a dedicated chapter on Led Zeppelin, specifically referencing the genesis of the “Immigrant Song”.

Meanwhile, while talking about classic rock’s appearance in superhero movies of the recent past, look no further than at Guardians Of The Galaxy, released in 2014, and its more recent sequel, released in April 2017 which, for me, was certainly a superior soundtrack. It featured songs like Mr Blue Sky by Electric Light Orchestra, My Sweet Lord by George Harrison, and two of my all-time favourites, The Chain by Fleetwood Mac, and Father And Son by Cat Stevens, the latter artiste who I saw perform and met in Dubai in the mid-2000s.

In continuing with the theme of nostalgia and closer home, Mumbai’s NCPA presents the stage musical, Million Dollar Quartet, from December 13 to 24, which dramatizes the recording of an impromptu jam session featuring legendary musicians Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash that occurred on December 4th, 1956, at the Sun Record Studios in Memphis, US The stage musical, which first premiered globally in Florida in 2007, contains over 20 now classic songs, including Blue Suede Shoes, Hound Dog, and Great Balls Of Fire, and was nominated for a Tony Award in 2010.

And no column or article appears to be complete without The Beatles, who had ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’s’ 2017 stereo mix released on December 15 this year as a limited, collectible picture disc vinyl album, along with The Beatles Christmas Records Box, a limited-edition collection of 7? singles, pressed on coloured vinyl, of the Fab Four’s annual holiday messages that were sent to their fan club members from 1963 to 1969.

Meanwhile, in returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it would be interesting to see what the soundtracks in 2018 hold for ‘Black Panther’, ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ – which also feature the guardians of the galaxy – and ‘Ant-Man And The Wasp’, but be assured that you will certainly see more than a bit of nostalgic songs in all of them!

The writer has been part of the media and entertainment business for over 23 years. He continues to pursue his hobby and earns an income out of it.