New Author-Curated Playlist

From 1972 to 1976, Hollywood made an unprecedented number of films targeted at black audiences, defining an era in cinema history known as blaxploitation. Author Keith Corson looks at the films made after this period and before Spike Lee's directorial debut in 1986 in his new book Trying to Get Over: African American Directors after Blaxploitation, 1977–1986. Although these films and their directors are the primary subject of the book, the music and larger pop cultural impact of this period has proven equally groundbreaking. Prince, Michael Jackson, James Brown, Run-DMC, Chaka Khan, and more appear on film soundtracks in this overlooked era, so we asked Professor Corson (who used to work at a record store) to make a Spotify playlist and hip us to this period in pop music history. You can listen to the Spotify playlist here.

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Trying to Get Over: The Soundtrack
By Keith Corson

Books take on a life of their own between concept and realization. I started writing Trying to Get Over thinking that it was about cinema, but early on the boundaries of the project began to expand. The directors at the center of this study – Michael Schultz, Sidney Poitier, Fred Williamson, Jamaa Fanaka, Gilbert Moses, Stan Lathan, Richard Pryor, and Prince – all worked in various media outside of film, so I ended up thinking quite a bit about theater, television, literature, sports, and music as well. Popular music, and its intersections with the film work of these directors had the most resonance for me, and it became clear that in dealing with African American cinema in the years 1977–1986 I would also have to take on the changing musical landscape. Having spent years behind the counter of a record store, this wasn’t particularly bad news; I finally had a reason beyond workday banter to dig into pop music history. So, it only seems fitting that I compile a playlist for my book. The tracks below, as well as a few reflections and details that didn't make it into the final pages, provide a parallel narrative to Trying to Get Over. Enjoy!

The Soundtrack

Curtis Mayfield—“Superfly” This song was the inspiration for the title of my book. Mayfield’s soundtrack for Super Fly transformed the movie from mere Blaxploitation into something thoughtful and informed. It is the gold standard in writing songs for the cinema. 

G. C. Cameron—“It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye” Boyz II Men’s version is what comes to mind for most people, but the song originally appeared sixteen years earlier in Michael Schultz’s Cooley High. This was one of the only songs written for the film; most of the music used in Cooley High came from the Motown catalog through a bargain licensing deal that would be unheard of today. Cameron’s vocal and the gospel arrangement give the song a sense of despair and personal loss wholly absent in the melismatic excess of the Boyz II Men version. However, the kids from Philly paid their respects by naming their debut album Cooleyhighharmony. 

Rose Royce—“I Wanna Get Next to You” The title track to Car Wash is great, as is every track Norman Whitfield composed for the film, but it is so omnipresent that I decided to choose something else for the playlist. “I Wanna Get Next to You” is at the center of one of the best scenes in the film and is the kind of song that makes you actually feel the longing expressed in the lyrics. 

The Beatles—“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” The biggest downside to writing about the 1978 film Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is that, in my head, I hear a broad swath of Beatles songs as they are performed in the movie. In the spirit of good will, I’m commemorating Michael Schultz’s film by choosing the actual Fab Four for this playlist, not Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees. And don’t get me started on the ragtag chorus that sings the song at the end of the film. Ever wonder what Leif Garrett, Carol Channing, Wolfman Jack, Hank Williams Jr., Helen Reddy, and the members of Sha Na Na would sound like singing together? Me neither. 

Dwight David—“The Last Dragon” DeBarge’s “Rhythm of the Night” was the big single from The Last Dragon, but I’ve always been partial to soundtrack songs that explicitly reference a film’s plot (often against my better judgment, e.g. Patti LaBelle’s “Just the Facts” from Dragnet). This song plays during the climactic showdown between Leroy and Sho-Nuff. A whole generation of kids had this song playing in their heads as they rushed outside after the movie and practiced their kung fu kicks in hopes that they could attain “The Glow.”