Soundtracks & Cinema

ELO released Twilight in October 1981 and it stalled at No. 30 in the UK. Two years later Osaka fan animators used it, unlicensed, for Daicon IV.

Huey Lewis would not write a song called ‘Back to the Future’ in 1985. He wrote ‘The Power of Love’ instead, and it became his first US No. 1 hit that August.

Kavinsky released ‘Nightcall’ in 2010. Drive put it over its 2011 opening credits, the Paris 2024 Olympics revived it, and the track just turned 16.

a-ha’s Take On Me sold 300 copies in 1984 and flopped again in 1985. Then Steve Barron’s rotoscoped video, 3,000 drawings in 16 weeks, sent it to No. 1.

Jan Hammer’s Miami Vice Theme hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 in November 1985 and won two Grammys. He built it on a Fairlight CMI, in his own words.

Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill peaked at No. 3 in 1985. In June 2022, after a Stranger Things scene, it hit UK No. 1, 37 years after release.

Even years after its initial launch, CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 refuses to fade away. Thanks to 2026’s massive “Afterlife Edition” (Update 2.4), stunning new VR mods, unexpected anime crossovers, and growing hype for the sequel Project Orion, millions of players are reinstalling the game and heading back to Night City. There is no denying … Read more

In a year packed with massive media releases, independent sci-fi is delivering one of the most visually arresting and narratively dense cyberpunk experiences of the decade. Hitting North American theaters on August 21, 2026, Hot Spot is a brutal, neon-soaked neo-noir that demands the attention of every synthwave and cyberpunk aficionado. Directed by visionary Polish … Read more

Whether you are cruising down a neon-drenched digital highway or hacking a megacorporation’s mainframe, every retro-futurist needs a killer soundtrack. Since our inception in 2011, Future City Records has been at the bleeding edge of the synthwave, darksynth, and cyberpunk music scenes. We have curated, released, and championed some of the finest electronic artists from … Read more

Editorial Notice: This asset represents the official historical and technical restoration of the original soundtrack analysis published on Future City Records on September 25, 2013. As part of our 2026 cultural archive initiative led by Editor-in-Chief Sahil Chopra, this resource has been completely salvaged from our legacy database, purged of unverified asset endpoints, and expanded … Read more