Starsky & Hutch Soundtrack

When Todd Phillips set out to re-make the disco generation's classic TV show, Starsky and Hutch, he rightly kept one thing in mind: if you're going to make a movie about symbols of the '70s, you'd better have the sounds to match.

And match he did. The Starsky and Hutch soundtrack is an album-long echo of all the different sounds of the '70s. No genre is left wanting; the soundtrack, an egalitarian assortment of artists representing every style you can imagine, from Chicago's nostalgia-inducing mix of falsetto and brassy horns to the saccharine kitsch of Starland Vocal Band's "Afternoon Delight."

It's exactly what you'd expect to be blasting out of the speakers of Starsky and Hutch's '74 Ford Torino; blisteringly funky jams like Brick's rink anthem, "Dazz," the source of one of the most oft-sampled beats in West Coast hip-hop. As it was back in the day, "Dazz" continues to be a brilliant fusion of rock, jazzy funk and one wicked flute solo.

After "Dazz" the album takes a drastic yet delightful segue (a swerve that's customary given the soundtrack's mishmash of musical modes) into the dark, country rock of Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues." The Man in Black's remarkable hymn uses a blend of charming honky-tonk and macabre lyrics to paint the perfect backdrop for the comedic underworld of Starsky and Hutch's Bay City.

Equally as random and compelling is The Band's jug-band ballad, "The Weight," which follows the Jackson Five's "Dancing Machine." It's utterly dissimilar from anything else on the album but fits the whole '70s mixtape theme.

Any album that means to articulate the soul of the duo, Starsky in particular, is going to need to pay special attention to the music of the bedroom. And for that, the production team turned to the smoky soul-drenched blues of Bill Withers' "Use Me." It's one of the eternal blues classics, Withers' ardent vocals bespeaking his utter helplessness at being ensared by a woman's erotic assets.

The Starsky and Hutch soundtrack does everything it was meant to do. It's a brilliant representation of all the sounds produced by the mid to late-'70s, all-inclusive and aurally invigorating. It's a grab bag of classics, and everything you get is a prize that can be enjoyed for years to come.

By Isaac Clemens