If Marty McFly went back in time thirty years ago today, what song does he play at the dance to blow everyone's mind?

He'd have to start out with some mid-80s-ish shit before moving onto Skrillex: "King of Rock"? "Fight for Your Right"? "Music Is the Key"?

Someone in Hollywood is going to realize this is a good idea and remake the movie with just this premise.

There was already some talk of a remake, but it's apparently been halted. Justin Bieber was the name floating around for the Marty role.

"Fight for Your Right"

came here to post that. marty plays what's about to break. in the backbround, there's some A&R dude on the telephone saying, "mr. rubin? i think i just found that new sound you've been looking for." then he goes all skrillix at the end and looses the band/audience.

I seriously would wanna write this reboot treatment with you guys.

Someone in Hollywood is going to realize this is a good idea and remake the movie with just this premise.

The "Let's Get It Started" bit in Hot Tub Time Machine comes to mind.

It's your cousin, MARVIN SKRILLEX.

What would play during the Mr. Sandman sequence? I can't think of anything that makes the era sound so sweet and innocent. They could play Power of Love, I guess.

Or that he's Donnie Darko from Planet Matrix.

― pplains, Sunday, July 1, 2012 1:44 AM Bookmark

hahahaha!

I really like the earnest tack '06 whiney took to this thread

what's changed?

'06 ILX generally held a nice balance of earnestness and zingy wit, IMO - though I know this is perhaps a challops to some!

oh guys no

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtzxhJFxC9M

thats p great

i'll admit i lol'd

What song blares out of Al Czervik's golf bag to irritate Judge Smalls in 2012?

My first answer was going to still be "Any Way You Want It", but hell, George W. Bush probably has that on his iPod these days.

"Gangam Style"

http://i.imgur.com/MY6SJ.jpg

xp skrilla would be what he plays via walkman (now a droid) when he tells george mcfly he's darth vader from planet vulcan

YES

It's your cousin, MARVIN PSY.

For some reason I can't see audiences in 1982 being blown away by a cover of "gangam style," that it could be processed as new wave.

Probably go with something like "Let's Go Crazy."

They did this in Hot Tub Time Machine, set in 1986, and the song was "Let's Get It Started".

I haven't read the whole thread so sorry if it's been written already.
great thread idea but I don't agree exactly with the initial description : in "Back to the future", he plays a song that's just about to be released and be a huge innovative hit that will influence many but not necessarily change everything (since Elvis had already released "Hound Dog", for instance).
So 30 years ago, in 82, it would be a song soon to be a huge innovative and influential hit.
I'd say "billie jean" !
(I could a guy calling MJ from McFly's gig saying : "Michael you gotta to come right now and listen to this" while McFly does the moonwalk for the first time !)

i think you have the principle right, but wouldn't it have to be some sorta hip hop like sugar hill gang

McFly does the moonwalk for the first time

on tony basil thread i learned talking heads vid for crosseyed and painless has extended moon walk at 3:34. nobody lost their mind until michael i guess. though.

yeah, a hip hop hit would be also a good answer but "rapper's delight" was like 1979 so it was already old news in 82... maybe RUN DMC's "walk this way" for the hiphop/rock mix. but it wasn't released until 85...
so, to stay with MJ and the funk/rock mix, maybe "beat it" ?

about the moonwalk, yeah, I guess it existed before MJ's motown thing...

ha both of the ppl who saw crosseyed and painless vid in 1980 or 81 thought it was pretty rad im sure, i think one was michael.

Or Grandmaster flash's "the message" in 82.

Wikipedia say the dance routine later named "Moonwalk" is decades old, and it was already called Moonwalk in a 1969 children's show.

did toni basil choreograph that too

yeah, it existed prior to MJ's motown performance, of course, but really, who knew or cared before that !

Jeffrey thingybob of Shalamar did it on TOTP a couple of years previous to MJ's Motown thing.

It was a tap dance routine, and tap dancing was pretty popular, so I'm sure people cared. By the time MJ revived it it probably wasn't used much by dancers anymore, though.

(x-post)

baseball players been wearing one glove since like end of 19th century, but michael does it and BOOM

And golfers, golfers too.

um james brown was doing the moonwalk from the beginning of his career,very nearly.

Jackson took most of his dance inspiration from Brown.

Whereas Jackson Browne was never a dancer...

ahah. yeah, MJ "stole" many dance moves from all over the place, of course (Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, street dance, etc) but the fact that if you show someone doing the moonwalk to 100 persons and ask them who invented it, I'm pretty sure you'll be close to 100% answers for MJ ! (except if you ask 100 dance experts !)

anyway, back to the thread, if McFly covered "Beat it" or "Billie Jean" and made the moonwalk, I guess it would blow 82s people's mind !

Basically, he needs to do "Beat It," having them (ironically) totally on board through the Eddie Van Halen guitar theatrics... then lose everybody by trying to take it into a chopped-and-screwed Skrillex treatment of same. "Your kids are gonna love it."

So, there was a remake project of the film and it was scrapped ?
in the current state of the hollywood film industry it just seems insane that this movie hasn't been remade yet !

Hopefully some properties are too iconic even for Hollywood execs to tamper with... I mean it would only be step or two down from remaking Star Wars.

By the way, I think Blue Monday is the best answer on this thread so far.

I suppose there are a lot of kids out there who have never seen this film. Maybe instead of a remake they should remaster it. in 3D !

One of my housemate's twelve year-old students recommended BTTF to him the other day.

this thread makes me want to watch this again !

more mj dancing inspiration

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUlEBhGgEe0

Not sure how we missed doing this one last year, but, whatever: it's 1986, a full decade after this thread first went back in time and found Marty easing the audience in with some good-time hip-hop, then losing them completely with an aggressive turn into crunk stylings. What now?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCUPc9zVfyo
(Phuture - Acid Trax)

Made only a year later, but would totally blow the minds of 1986 suburban teenagers.

And then he would alienate them by seguing into this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MoFEomFmLU
(Squarepusher - Acid Tape Track)