An appreciation of "That Thing You Do!"

I thought so, but watched it recently, but didn't think I saw the part.

 

I'm glad Hanks expended whatever capital he had to tell that story: a good chunk of 196os radio was one (or 1.5) hit wonders, or regional successes. Lot of them probably asked, like Lenny, in the moments before appearing on network tv, 'how did we get here'? Collectively, they created an incredible era in radio.

My only very minor reservation is that Jimmy's huge ego seems to suggest he's got all these great ideas, none of which we hear, except for the title tune. And that's not the kind of tune an inexperienced songwriter would come up with. Beyond that he's kind of a one-dimensional a-hole. He should have been either worse, or maybe more complex

But that's expecting perfection from an otherwise wonderful (or o-neederful) film.

 

We never got a commentary track, though.....

 

Has Hanks ever participated in a commentary?

I can't think of any Hanks commentaries off the top of my head!

 

If you watch the extended version, it's amusing to watch Howie Long playing against type. I never would have thought that an NFL jock of his age group would do that, but I'm happy to admit that he proved me wrong.

 

I liked it a lot. The only thing I remember bugging me was when the 'pro' bassist replacing the band's bassist showed off his chops...no one played like that in 1964.

 

Man is there any update on the vinyl soundtrack reissue?.

 

It's wonderful and joyous film. I can watch it any time.

And I consider the title track - composed by the brilliant Adam Schlesinger, rest his soul - to be one of the greatest feats of songwriting ever.

To write a song so appealing that you can hear it over and over for 90 minutes and not only not get tired of, but keep enjoying more and more is pure wizardry.

 

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THAT MOVIE!
This is my favorite song from the whole movie, a soulful rocking number DANCE WITH ME TONIGHT...

 

Agreed. And it was smart how nearly every time we heard it, there was something new to kind of distract you instead of "Oh, here is that song again." It was the backdrop to the euphoria of hearing themselves on the radio for the first time, to seeing that first crowd get into the song at the school thing when they played it too fast thanks to Guy, to seeing the cool factor of being on TV for the first time, etc.

 

Doesn't the original DVD have a 'commentary track'?

edit: Oh, I might be thinking of the live stream catchup where they watch
the film back and they all chime in with comments about the film.....

 

I love how The Bass Player goes from playing single root notes with a pick at the very beginning, to bouncing around the stage and playing complicated rhythm lines with his fingers after they've been on the road playing night after night for a few months.

 

I've often said that "Dance With Me Tonight" is the best song in the film, and better than "That Thing You Do"
which is also a terrific song. But "Dance" is a perfect mid-60's song, it would have gotten tons of
airplay back then (I was there..) and could have easily gone to number one. A perfect record.

 

This video is 3 months old, but there's some discussion about it at 25:30. If you don't have time to watch, they say by the end of this year, it'll be out.

 

oh cool..when they did the rewatch on youtube a few months ago, they were auctioning off a test pressing. So I figured it was coming at some point.

 

Is Zahn doing the vocals on that or someone else?

 

I always thought Diane Dane was a composite of Dionne Warwick ("Don't Make Me Over"), Cilla Black ("You're My World") and the slightly older than her MOR-pop peers Petula Clark. This sounds just like a Bacharach/David tune & production:

 

I couldn't find documentation, but I have to believe it's someone else - the vocals just don't sound like Zahn at all!

 

SIAP...Tom Hanks grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, and probably got the band name from these guys, who were ubiquitous for their charity Basketball games back in the day...they even had Rick Barry as a ringer!:
holliday oneders 1967 | Bay Area Radio Museum

 

I love that there is a thread on this movie that is over 6 years old (and 10 pages long and counting). I showed this movie to one of my kids when he was young to illustrate the joy of performing music for other people. The scene where Fay discovers that the Wonders' first song is getting radio airplay and starts running through the streets, eventually joined by the other band members both in transit to and at Guy's father's department store is one of the best illustrations of the pure joy of creating something (anything really) that successfully makes it out into the world at large that I can think of. Imho, one of the overriding messages of the movie is just how much fun it is for people to come together and play music.

Having fully perused the thread now, I see that oatsdad and Grant said similar things -- a testament to the universality of what Hanks accomplished with that scene!

 

I joined explicitly for this thread.

 

I enjoyed the movie a lot.
I also thought Rita Wilson was dead sexy.

 

You will love what you discover when you do a search then. There are more than a few threads on this film

 

"You are a great gal, you ARE!"

 

WONDERful!