Dirty Girl takes place in 1987 and follows the adventures of
Danielle (Juno Temple), the “dirty girl” of Norman High School in
Norman, Oklahoma. When her behavior gets her banished to a remedial class, she is
paired on a parenting project with a friendless homosexual named Clarke (Jeremy Dozier). The two soon discover that they have one thing in common - they want
to run away. Danielle wants to find the father she never met who supposedly
lives in
California. Clarke wants to get away from his homophobic father before
he sends him to
military school. The two set off on an adventure that
culminates in an unexpected friendship.
The soundtrack of Dirty Girl is filled with songs from the
top female artists of the 1980s like
Melissa Manchester,
Pat Benatar,
Teena Marie
and
Lisa & Wendy. Having grown up with this music, I couldn’t wait to
take a listen. It all starts with
Shadows of the Night, a rocking love
anthem by Pat Benatar. This is followed up by Melissa Manchester singing
You Should Hear How She Talks About You, a pop song about a surprise love. Next
is an oldie, but goody from
Tammy Tucker
about a lost love entitled
Delta Dawn. I had never heard this country song prior to the Dirty Girl
Soundtrack, but it’s catchy and now I can’t get the words out of my head.
The next song is the second by Melissa Manchester, who appears quite
often on this soundtrack. It’s a love ballad called
Midnight Blue. Then
we have the pop anthem,
I Want Candy, by
Bow Wow Wow. Then it’s time to slow
things down a bit with the
Rita Coolidge
love song,
Only You. Next up is
an acoustic version of
Your Love
by
Outfield. I have to say, I think I
like the acoustic version much better than the original that used to play over
the radio. Melissa Manchester follows with a ballad I hadn’t remembered until
now called
Still Myself.
Then comes one of my favorite songs from the 80’s:
Sheena Easton’s
Strut. I still have the 45 version of Strut carefully packed away
(for those who don’t remember, that would be a vinyl version of the single).
From that angry song, we move on to yet another Melissa Manchester ballad
entitled Rainbird. Then comes the dance song
Lovergirl
by Teena Marie. This is
followed by a beautiful ballad of self discovery by Lisa & Wendy (formerly of
Prince’s Revolution),
The Life. Many of you out there would remember
this song from the movie
Dangerous Minds.
The next track is my favorite Melissa Manchester song,
Don’t Cry Out Loud. This belted out tune about moving forward in the face of
adversity shows just how powerful a singer Melissa Manchester is. Finally, we
have
Whenever I Call You Friend
by
Fyfe Dangerfield
and
Inara George.
This is the only song on the album that disappointed me a little. I still
remember and love the original version of this song as performed by
Stevie Nicks
and
Kenny Loggins. No other version can compare, but this particular version is
somewhat flat.
All-in-all, the Dirty Girl Soundtrack was a whole lot of fun
for me and I believe any fan of the 80s will enjoy the music. The tunes
alternate between catchy and beautiful, but the entire album is a fun trip down
memory lane. The Dirty Girl Soundtrack is one of the better music
compilation albums of the year. I’ve already listened to it five times and am
itching to listen to it again as soon as I finish writing this review.
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