Few eighties action movies are as iconic as the original Robocop. Not only was it a dystopian science fiction blockbuster, but it was also a satirical look at consumer culture and post-war America. While numerous reboots have attempted to capture this ‘lightning in a bottle’ zeitgeist once more, an overlooked video game soundtrack to accompany the movie has spawned a life of its own.
Robocop’s Rogue Soundtrack
Robocop was hard to avoid in 1987. One of the surprise hits of the year, it soon seeped into every facet of popular culture, one section of which was video games. Jonathan Dunn was a composer for Ocean, a software development company based in the UK. They had worked on licenses for other 18 rated eighties movies, such as Platoon, and were handed the task of transferring Robocop’s arcade title to the far weaker hardware in the Game Boy.
The original score for the movie was composed by Basil Poledouris. Ocean did not have the rights to use this, so they set about creating their own original music. All they used was a short snippet from the original title theme, which started one of the new compositions for the Nintendo. Yet it was the brand new title theme on his device that took on a life of its own.
The Appeal of Eighties Movie Synth Soundtracks
These synth-driven soundtracks are now hugely popular. The epitome of this is the soundtrack to 1982’s Blade Runner, written by Greek musician Vangelis. Others include Brad Fiedel’s ominous soundtrack for the Terminator.
Robocop’s soundtrack is even a key defining element when used in its slot machines online. Robocop Cash Collect is a perfect example that has all the characters, iconography and mood of the original game. Part of this is set by the brooding soundtrack, which, while not the tune in question, leans heavily on it with pulsing bass notes, sombre harmony and threatening synths.
The Move to Adverts and Hip Hop
The game was released and like many other Game Boy titles, was a moderate success. Yet oddly, the original title music cropped up not much later in an advert for a white goods manufacturer on British TV. Named Ariston, rumours swirled that the owner of the company who created the advertising had heard it at home and knew it would be perfect.
Later, it appeared once again in a viral internet video. A DIY animation featuring the character Dilbert used it in a comedic murder scene, fresh out of the imagination of internet artist and creator Chef Boyardee.
Rapper Lil B then used this version as a sample in the track ‘In Down Bad’. This is, however, missing from Spotify, possibly due to licensing concerns.
Finally, screenwriter Charlie Brooker, responsible for the sci-fi series Black Mirror, selected it as one of his favourite tracks of all time. On the UK radio show Desert Island Discs, he chose it as one of the pieces of music that would accompany him should he be marooned. First broadcast in 1942, it was the first piece of video game music ever to feature on the show.
