In cinema and television language, the needle drop (literally translated as “fall of the needle”, with the needle being what we call the diamond tip of the turntable) is a moment in a film or TV series in which the soundtrack, and in particular a song, defines a scene and almost speaks in place of the protagonists. To give two examples, the torture scene in Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs with Stuck in the middle with you and Marissa’s death in The OC with Ryan carrying her body in his arms to the tune of Hallelujah come to mind.
In Stranger Things the needle drops, or more generally the musical moments, in which some song makes the scene memorable, are numerous, as anyone who has seen – and heard – the Netflix series knows.
To narrow down the field a bit in drawing up this ranking of the most beautiful, memorable and significant songs from Stranger Things, we therefore decided to exclude all the songs that were not released in the reference decade of the TV series created by brothers Matt and Ross Duffer, i.e. the 80s: no California Dreamin or American Pie, so to speak.
And since the Duffer Bros have already made it clear that the upcoming fifth and final season will reserve several epic musical moments (from the trailer it seems to understand that one will have Who wants to live forever by Queen as the background, but let’s wait to see the whole season), for the moment we limit ourselves to the best eight Eighties songs from Stranger Things. Two per season, with a commentary for each.
Obviously the ranking will be updated after the series finale.
Google’s online game for Stranger Things fans
8) Africa – Toto (1982) – Season 1
It is the song that plays in the background in the scene in the first episode in which Steve secretly goes to the Wheeler house to help Nancy study, proposing a sort of strip test that Nancy refuses. Steve and Nancy soon start kissing, and the Totos turn up the volume, but Mike’s sister stops the boy shortly after…
7) Material Girl – Madonna (1984) – Season 3
Material Girl is the soundtrack to one of the lightest and most carefree moments of Stranger Things 3 and of the entire series, when Max and 11 go shopping and having fun without their boyfriends at the Starcourt mall. For a moment it’s nice to see our girls just thinking about relaxing and not saving the world.
6) Time after time – Cyndi Lauper (1983) – Season 2
For the second season we chose two songs that arrive practically one after the other at the end of the last episode, regrettably sacrificing Rock you like a hurricane to introduce Billy, but we certainly couldn’t exclude Time After Time. Because in that moment in which the wonderful Nancy understands Dustin’s discomfort and consoles him, even more so she makes him happy by taking him with her to the track amid general amazement, we were all moved. Especially us who felt like Dustin, and who didn’t have a Nancy to make us smile.
5) Every breath you take – The Police (1983) – Season 2
Of course, there were those who were decidedly more successful and lucky at 13 years old. There were those who had their first kiss at the school dance, as happens shortly after with Lucas and Max and Mike and 11 (Sadie Sink, Max’s actress, confessed that that was her first kiss ever and that it was an embarrassing moment, but also funny when you think about it). But the tenderness does not last long, because on the distorted notes of Sting and his Police the last scene shows a disturbing truth: the Upside Down looms ever more threatening.
4) Master of Puppets – Metallica (1986) – Season 4
Eddie Munson’s mega guitar blast to attract the Demobats and facilitate the destruction of Vecna is one of the most electrifying, exhilarating and memorable moments in all of Stranger Things. Thanks to the very talented Joseph Quinn, who practiced for months to learn how to play that Metallica piece on the guitar in a believable way. And never mind if technically the album of the same name was released on March 3, 1986, a few days before that scene (the single was released in July of that year): Eddie was a fantastic rock metal musician, he and his Corroded Coffin could very well have already played it enough to smash the whole Upside Down. Goodbye Eddie…
3) The NeverEnding Story – Limahl (1984) – Season 3
The duet between Suzie and Dustin who sing the symbolic song of the legendary film The Neverending Story is perhaps the funniest scene of the entire series. Dustin asks Suzie for the Planck constant to discover the combination of the Soviet laser beam (because Alexei was dead and Murray didn’t know it), she accepts but in exchange for the performance of that piece: and so everyone finds themselves listening not only to the proof of Suzie’s existence, but above all to the angelic voice of the two lovebirds. Of course, in the meantime there are those who run away from monsters and those who have to close interdimensional gaps, but how beautiful is it to watch the scene joining the chorus of Dusty-Bun and Suzie-Pooh?
2) Running Up That Hill – Kate Bush (1985) – Season 4
It’s difficult to oust the symbolic song of the fourth season from the podium. A combination so strong that it brought Kate Bush’s song to the top of the charts for the first time in history, 27 years after its release. Evidently Running Up That Hill inspires peace and serenity in many people, not just Max who clings to it with his nails, teeth, ears and heart so as not to be dragged away by Vecna. At least until that chalk Jason smashes his Walkman in the heat of stopping Lucas and the alleged Satanists of the Hellfire Club.
1) Should I stay or should I go? – The Clash (1982) – Seasons 1 and 5
And obviously, it’s impossible not to mention the first needle drop of this TV series. A song that not only defines the scene in which Jonathan protects his little brother from the screams of his father Lonnie who is arguing with Joyce, but which is the lifeline that Will clings to so as not to die in the Upside Down into which he has just been dragged. It will take another three seasons to understand how important it was for Will to hum that song to keep Vecna away, and it will perhaps take the fifth season to definitively clarify the fundamental importance of the famous Clash piece for the entire history of Hawkins and the world of Stranger Things.
