Grindhouse: Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof (Soundtrack from the Motion Picture)
Quentin Tarantino is as much of a music geek as a film geek. He cares about songs so much that in Death Proof—his 2007 homage to grindhouse-style exploitation films of the '60s and '70s—a character explains the importance of “Hold Tight” by the '60s one-hit-wonder band Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich (featured here). Jack Nitzsche's “The Last Race” sets the mood perfectly, especially since it’s built on a foundation of sinister-sounding surf guitars—the kind that showed up in both Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. The rest of the soundtrack emphasizes the film’s homage to b-movie sleaze with sultry selections, including Smith’s reworking of the Burt Bacharach gem “Baby It’s You” and The Coasters’ “Down in Mexico”—which accompanies a memorable lapdance scene by the voluptuous Vanessa Ferlito. Anyone who's ever favored drum solos over guitar solos should skip straight to “Riot in Thunder Alley.”