Hawaiian Leis, swimsuits and Teen Beach Movie

A few weeks ago I was invited to review the music for Teen Beach Movie, which premiered on the Disney Channel last night. It’s everything you’d expect from a Disney Movie. If you are fan of Eminem or Radio 6 then it’s unlikely to be your thing. But we are fans of High School Musical, Now That’s What I Call Music and One Direction so this was right up our street. The music is perky, it’s upbeat, it’s catchy. It’s redolent of the Cliff Richard Music of the 60’s. I’ve been humming Surf Crazy all week “Surf, sun, sand: it’s a bikini wonderland”.

So Friday came and we got busy with the business of counting down to the Disney Channel Premier of Teen Beach Movie. We had the towels ready, the swimsuits, and the movie ready to record on Sky+  but we needed something to make the evening really ‘pop’. Enter the Hawaiian Lei craft, as inspired by Kids Matter. All you need are some pipecleaners, straws and bright coloured paper. Cut the straws into short pieces, and the paper into flower shapes. Thread the pipecleaners with straws and flowers alternately, adding more pipe-cleaners if you want a longer necklace. When you are finished, tie up and wear for your Hawaiian Beach Theme event.

Now, back to the movie- influenced heavily by Grease as far as I could see. The two main characters get towed under by waves and emerge in the middle of a sixties musical called Wet Side Story. There are lots of perky uplifting songs and a light storyline that seems to bear little resemblance to the Sondheim musical masterpiece, and it does seem to poke fun at the whole Beach Movie genre as well as itself. Silly and shallow characters that talk about their ‘low voice’, look into the middle distance with determination and there’s an evil guy with a British accent who is building a mega-machine and against whom the biker and surfer factions unite to save their beach. It has everything a movie could want and all in glorious technicolour. Plus, there’s a message every parent wants their child to absorb: be who you want to be.

Some of my favourite quotes from the movie:

“They sing for no reason”- they do. It’s a musical. I sometimes want to burst into song on sunny days or at key points in my life. I get it.

“It’s always summer and everyone just sings and surfs.” – as with Disney Movies, so with life. Without the singing or surfing.

“We’ve died and ended up in a musical.” And I hope that’s how I go out.

“Why should a boy influence what you wear, or anything you do?” There’s a message. All wrapped up in a neat 1960’s package. Gotta love Disney.

“Never let anyone tell you what you can and can’t do in life.” Precisely.

Surf Crazy– an insanely perky number featuring dancing with towels and making pictures out of surfboards.

Meant To Be was a big hit with LBG, the message about finding your heart very important to her. Plus I was quite quick to learn the tune for her: a key requisite in our home so that she can reproduce her favourite songs at any point.

Cruisin’ for a Bruisin’– my dad used to use that phrase, but never in song.

I Know What Girls Like was the classic argument between the 60’s approach to life and relationships, when men had all the power and women ‘had to ask without actually asking’.

 Make It Stop– the comedy track singing about not singing.

Summer Paradise– big finale number with a strong sixties beat that we started clapping and dancing to.

The music stands alone, and the soundtrack is available to buy from all reputable music outlets, but the songs mean more as a result of seeing the film and the context in which they appear- Make It Stop being a specific example. And we will be watching it, over and over again. LBG was glued to the screen from beginning to end.

 *disclosure: we were sent a download of the music ahead of the film for the purposes of telling you our thoughts on the music. We got so excited about the Movie Premier we got a bit carried away with our themed viewing.*