"She's Having a Baby" on Debut Episode of Cine/Spin

Join us for the premiere episode of Cine/Spin right here on Vinyl Voyage Radio.  Every month, we will highlight a movie soundtrack album on vinyl.  The show will feature the album played in its entirety, plus information about the music and the movie.

This month the featured album is the soundtrack for She's Having a Baby, a John Hughes romantic comedy from 1988.

John Hughes almost single-highhandedly created the "various artists" soundtrack album in the early 80s, especially with his teen-oriented films such as Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club.  In fact, Hughes founded a company, in conjunction with IRS records, called "Hughes Music" in order to distribute the soundtrack albums for his films.

She's Having a Baby tells the story of Jake and Kristy Briggs, played by Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth McGovern. The film follows the couple from their wedding to the birth of their first child.  Narrated by Jake, the film focuses on the trials and tribulations of suburban life and was a departure for John Hughes, who at the time was beginning to branch off into more adult-oriented subject matter.



The album features 10 songs and, as was typical from John Hughes, contains a very 80s "synthpop" collection of tunes:

1A. "She's Having a Baby" – Dave Wakeling
2A. "Haunted When the Minutes Drag" – Love and Rockets
3A. "Desire (Come and Get It)" – Gene Loves Jezebel
4A. "Happy Families" – XTC
5A. "Crazy Love" – Bryan Ferry
1B. "You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby" – Kirsty MacColl
2B. "Apron Strings" – Everything but the Girl
3B. "This Woman's Work" – Kate Bush
4B. "It's All in the Game" – Carmel
5B. "Full of Love" – Dr. Calculus

 Two of the songs were produced specifically for the film:  the title track by Dave Wakeling and the emotional "This Woman's Work," by Kate Bush.  "This Woman's Work" comes at the climax of the film when Jake is escorted out of the delivery room due to complications with the birth. We are then treated to a montage of flashbacks set to this song as Jake waits anxiously in one of the most gloomiest waiting rooms I have ever seen.



Kate Bush was given the completely cut scene, without music.  She then wrote the song so that the lyrics matched the images and, as a result, created the most memorable scene from the film.  Roger Ebert said this about the scene:

The last sequence in the movie, where Bacon waits and worries while his wife undergoes a difficult labor, is the most effective. It is honest and strong and has genuine emotional strength.

Although it wasn't one of Hughes' best reviewed films, She's Having a Baby has some wonderful moments.  It is one of my favorite films, actually. (And Kevin Smith's, as well).

You can hear the entire soundtrack of She's Having a Baby on this month's episode of Cine/Spin. 

The premiere episode is tonight at 7 pm.  Here is the schedule (all times central):

Saturday, 7 pm
Sunday, 1 pm
Monday, 10 pm
Wednesday, 10 am
Friday, 8 pm