‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Brings Back the ’70s (Whether or Not That’s a Good Thing is Up for Debate)

Guardians of the Galaxy Soundtrack

“Hooked on a Feeling,” “Cherry Bomb,” and “Spirit in the Sky” are among the classic ’70s tunes that made it onto the soundtrack for Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Set for release on July 29, 2014 – just a few days before Guardians of the Galaxy opens in theaters – the deluxe soundtrack features a handful of ’70s songs as well as Tyler Bates’ score.

Director James Gunn said music is integral to the story. “One of the main story points in the movie is that Quill has this compilation tape [Awesome Mix #1] that he got from his mother before she died that she made for him. It was of songs that she loved, all songs from the 1970s, and that’s the only thing he has left of his mother and that’s the only thing he has left of his home on Earth. He uses that as a connection to his past and to the sadness that he feels of having left all that and lost all that.”

“I’ve worked very hard early on with Tyler Bates, our composer, whom I’ve done three other movies with, to write part of the score ahead of time so that I’m able to use it on set for big emotional sequences and big action sequences,” explained Gunn. “We can actually play the music on set and the actors can really understand where we’re going with it tonally. Our actors have a much better idea of what this film is because of the music that we use, both score and soundtrack.”

Awesome Mix Tape, Vol. 1 Track List

1. “Hooked on a Feeling” Performed by Blue Swede
2. “Go All the Way” Performed by Raspberries
3. “Spirit in the Sky”* Performed by Norman Greenbaum
4. “Moonage Daydream” Performed by David Bowie
5. “Fooled Around and Fell in Love” Performed by Elvin Bishop
6. “I’m Not in Love” Performed by 10cc
7. “I Want You Back” Performed by Jackson 5
8. “Come and Get Your Love” Performed by Redbone
9. “Cherry Bomb” Performed by The Runaways
10. “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)” Performed by Rupert Holmes
11. “O-O-H Child” Performed by The Five Stairsteps
12. “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” Performed by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell
*Not in film

The Guardians of the Galaxy Plot:

From Marvel, the studio that brought you the global blockbuster franchises of Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and The Avengers, comes a new team–the Guardians of the Galaxy. An action-packed, epic space adventure, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy expands the Marvel Cinematic Universe into the cosmos, where brash adventurer Peter Quill finds himself the object of an unrelenting bounty hunt after stealing a mysterious orb coveted by Ronan, a powerful villain with ambitions that threaten the entire universe.

To evade the ever-persistent Ronan, Quill is forced into an uneasy truce with a quartet of disparate misfits–Rocket, a gun-toting raccoon, Groot, a tree-like humanoid, the deadly and enigmatic Gamora and the revenge-driven Drax the Destroyer. But when Quill discovers the true power of the orb and the menace it poses to the cosmos, he must do his best to rally his ragtag rivals for a last, desperate stand–with the galaxy’s fate in the balance.