Cocktail Backdrop

Cocktail (1988) Soundtrack

29 Jul 1988 (13 Songs)

Soundtracks

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cocktail tom cruise songs list

The Beach Boys - 80's the Collection

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cocktail tom cruise songs list

Don't Worry, Be Happy

Bobby McFerrin - Now That's What I Call the 80s

cocktail tom cruise songs list

Starship - Cocktail (Original Soundtrack)

Powerful Stuff

The Fabulous Thunderbirds - Cocktail (Original Soundtrack)

Robbie Nevil - Cocktail (Original Soundtrack)

Hippy Hippy Shake

The Georgia Satellites - Cocktail (Original Soundtrack)

John Cougar Mellencamp - Cocktail (Original Soundtrack)

All Shook Up

Ry Cooder - Cocktail (Original Soundtrack)

Oh, I Love You So

Preston Smith - Cocktail (Original Soundtrack)

Tutti Frutti

Little Richard - The Georgia Peach

Addicted to Love

Robert Palmer - 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Robert Palmer

Liebe auf den ersten Blick

Münchener Freiheit - Definitive Collection: Münchener Freiheit

When Will I Be Loved

The Everly Brothers - The Songs of the Everly Brothers

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Tom Cruise in Cocktail (1988)

A talented New York City bartender takes a job at a bar in Jamaica and falls in love. A talented New York City bartender takes a job at a bar in Jamaica and falls in love. A talented New York City bartender takes a job at a bar in Jamaica and falls in love.

  • Roger Donaldson
  • Heywood Gould
  • Bryan Brown
  • Elisabeth Shue
  • 158 User reviews
  • 63 Critic reviews
  • 12 Metascore
  • 5 wins & 6 nominations

Trailer

  • Brian Flanagan

Bryan Brown

  • Doug Coughlin

Elisabeth Shue

  • Jordan Mooney

Lisa Banes

  • Kerry Coughlin

Gina Gershon

  • (as Andrea Morse)

Chris Owens

  • (as Justin Louis)
  • Job Interviewer
  • (as Harvey Alperin)
  • (as Sandra Will Carradine)
  • All cast & crew
  • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Days of Thunder

Did you know

  • Trivia Actress Gina Gershon stated in a podcast Interview that during their bed scene, Tom Cruise knew she was extremely ticklish and tickled her so hard, they both fell off the bed. It was, in fact, the take used in the movie.
  • Goofs When Doug falls down the stairs of the subway station he lands next to a puddle of water. In the next scene the puddle is not there anymore.

[Last Barman poem]

Brian : I am the last barman poet / I see America drinking the fabulous cocktails I make / Americans getting stinky on something I stir or shake / The sex on the beach / The schnapps made from peach / The velvet hammer / The Alabama slammer. / I make things with juice and froth / The pink squirrel / The three-toed sloth. / I make drinks so sweet and snazzy / The iced tea / The kamakazi / The orgasm / The death spasm / The Singapore sling / The dingaling. / America you've just been devoted to every flavor I got / But if you want to got loaded / Why don't you just order a shot? / Bar is open.

  • Alternate versions Some TV versions have some alternate takes of some scenes with no harsh language, such as the scene when Brian and Doug have their bar fight.
  • Connections Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Tucker: The Man and His Dream/Vibes/Cocktail/Clean and Sober/Bagdad Cafe (1988)
  • Soundtracks All Shook Up Written by Elvis Presley and Otis Blackwell Performed and Produced by Ry Cooder Courtesy of Warner Bros. Records By Arrangement with Warner Special Products

User reviews 158

  • Sep 26, 2008
  • How long is Cocktail? Powered by Alexa
  • July 29, 1988 (United States)
  • United States
  • Spanish Sign Language
  • The Bartender
  • Dunn's River Falls, Ocho Rios, St. Ann, Jamaica
  • Touchstone Pictures
  • Silver Screen Partners III
  • Interscope Communications
  • See more company credits at IMDbPro
  • $20,000,000 (estimated)
  • $78,222,753
  • $11,789,466
  • Jul 31, 1988
  • $171,504,781

Technical specs

  • Runtime 1 hour 44 minutes
  • Dolby Stereo

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Featuring the best 80s music videos, TV shows, 80s celebrities and more!

The Beach Boys – ‘Kokomo’ from the ‘Cocktail’ Movie Soundtrack

August 12, 2021 By the80sruled Leave a Comment

cocktail tom cruise songs list

In 1988, the Beach Boys recorded Kokomo for the soundtrack to the movie Cocktail starring Tom Cruise. The song became their first number one song on the Hot 100 charts since 1966’s Good Vibrations . Kokomo was also included on their 1989 album Still Cruisin’ , which featured both recent and classic Beach Boys songs. The music video for Kokomo featured clips from the movie along with the band and frequent live guest John Stamos playing the steel drum.

Enjoy a look back at the music video for Kokomo as well as another awesome video featuring scenes from the movie Cocktail! And, just for fun, we’ve also got a vintage clip of the Beach Boys singing Good Vibrations !

cocktail tom cruise songs list

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cocktail tom cruise songs list

Worst To Best: Tom Cruise Movie Singles and Theme Songs

Tom cruise has left a long mark on film history, but also on the history of pop music. we ranked his greatest hits (and then some)..

cocktail tom cruise songs list

Tom Cruise has a long history making movies, as Top Gun: Maverick 's arrival 36 years after the original ride into the danger zone has reminded everyone. He’s also had a long history on the pop charts, however indirectly. There’s not a lot that unifies songs that have appeared on Tom Cruise soundtracks, but many have taken on a life of their own after making appearances in Cruise’s films. Below is a ranking of 25 theme songs and/or singles from Cruise movies, from the awful to the sublime (with many that fall somewhere in the semi-memorable middle). 

26. “Kokomo,” The Beach Boys (from Cocktail )

A truly dreadful late-career Beach Boys hit, “Kokomo” was inescapable in the summer of 1988 and has, sadly, remained so ever since. It’s at the bottom of this list because it belongs at the bottom of just about every list for which it qualifies, including “Music Videos With John Stamos Cameos” or “Songs Co-Written by Children of Doris Day Who Made Enemies of Charles Manson.”

25. “Take a Look Around (Theme From Mission: Impossible 2 ),” Limp Bizkit (from Mission: Impossible 2 )

Cocktail ’s soundtrack became a huge hit (we’ll meet a single from it again further up the list), in the process helping to inaugurate an era in which soundtrack albums packed with of-the-moment artists were a mandatory element of any blockbuster movie release, whether the of-the-moment artists really fit the spirit of the film or not. Case in point: the Mission: Impossible II soundtrack, filled with very-2000 hard rock (and Tori Amos), bottoming out with this dire Limp Bizkit song in which singer Fred Durst mostly grouses about critics. But, hey, at least it incorporates the famous riff from the Lalo Schifrin theme. Synergy!

24. “Someday,” Black Eyed Peas (from Knight & Day )

An autotuned disaster that’s not even good by Black Eyed Peas’ standards.

23. “Losin’ It,” Jeff Allan Band (from Losin’ It )

Cruise took on his first starring role in this sleazy (but Curtis Hanson directed) teen comedy in which he plays one of a quartet of ‘60s teens trying to, you guessed it, lose it in Tijuana. Recorded by the never-heard-from-again Jeff Allan Band, this is possibly the most generic ‘80s theme song ever committed to wax.

22. “Paradise City,” Tom Cruise (from Rock of Ages )

Cruise has stuck almost entirely to action films over the last couple of decades. His appearance in Adam Shankman’s 2012 adaptation of the popular jukebox musical Rock of Ages is an exception. This stab at Guns N' Roses glory might be fun in context (and he hits some impressive high notes), but in isolation it’s a real don’t-quit-your-day-job moment.

21. “Don’t Worry, Be Happy,” Bobby McFerrin (from Cocktail )

Yes, Cocktail’s soundtrack went quadruple platinum in part because of this a cappella bromide. No, science still does not understand why.

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20. “All the Right Moves,” Jennifer Warnes and Chris Thompson (from All the Right Moves )

‘80s soundtrack regular Jennifer Warnes joins forces with Manfred Mann vocalist Chris Thompson for a bland-but-harmless anthem from this early-career football drama.

19. “Old Time Rock and Roll,” Bob Seger (from Risky Business )

Remember what we said about “Paradise City” probably playing better in context than in isolation? The same goes for one of the most famous songs in the Tom Cruise filmography. Yes, Cruise dancing in his underwear to this Bob Seger hit, originally released in 1979, soundtracks the moment that made Cruise a star. But, yeesh, is it obnoxious when encountered in the wild, a paean to classic rock and roll values that’s more grumpy than celebratory. Seger released a lot of immortal songs in his heyday. This shouldn’t have been one of them.

18. “Danger Zone,” Kenny Loggins (from Top Gun )

Ditto this Kenny Loggins track from Top Gun. It’s the perfect song in Top Gun, but who wants to hear it anywhere else? (Apparently a lot of people. It was a big hit. But should it have been?)

17. “Impossible,” Kanye West feat. Twista, Keyshia Cole and BJ (from Mission: Impossible III )

Kanye West’s contribution to the world Mission: Impossible soundtracks appeared back when the producer/rapper could seemingly do no wrong. Seemingly. This isn’t his finest moment and quietly disappeared after failing to crack both the pop and R&B/hip-hop Top 40.

16. “Endless Love,” Lionel Richie and Diana Ross (from Endless Love )

Cruise has only a small part in Franco Zefferelli’s ill-fated 1981 adaptation of a pretty good Scott Spencer novel, which yielded this sappy theme song from two remarkable talents. It might rank higher if it didn’t immediately summon up the memory of dentists’ waiting rooms.

15. “Sympathy for the Devil,” Guns N Roses (from Interview with the Vampire )

Notable mostly for being recorded at the very tail end of the original(ish) Guns N’ Roses lineup’s existence, this solid, unremarkable cover of the Rolling Stones classic plays over the closing credits of Neil Jordan’s Anne Rice adaptation.

14. “Show Me Heaven,” Maria McKee (from Days of Thunder )

Lone Justice is a pioneering country rock band from the ‘80s waiting for rediscovery, and singer Maria McKee probably deserved more success as a solo artist than she enjoyed. But also: Zzzzzzzz….

13. “Hold My Hand,” Lady Gaga (from Top Gun: Maverick )

Given the pounding standard set by the hits from the original Top Gun soundtrack and Lady Gaga’s own masterful ability to go biiiiiiig, why does this just-OK theme to Top Gun: Maverick sound a little too tastefully restrained?

12. “Iko Iko”, The Belle Stars (from Rain Man )

The British group the Belle Stars was essentially defunct when the song, recorded in 1982, appeared on the Rain Man soundtrack in a remixed form, in 1988. That didn’t stop it from becoming a hit, however. That’s just part of the song’s long history, which dates back to Mardis Gras Indian chants and became a big hit for the Dixie Cups in 1965 (a version that smashes this not-bad cover to pieces).

11. “Is Your Love Strong Enough,” Bryan Ferry (from Legend )

In 1982, Roxy Music released Avalon , a bittersweet, atmospheric light rock masterpiece. Then the group disbanded and lead singer Bryan Ferry mostly spent the rest of his career releasing (mostly pretty good) solo work that sounds like variations on Avalon . This is one of them. It’s not bad.

10. “Vanilla Sky,” Paul McCartney (from Vanilla Sky )

Cameron Crowe’s 2001 Vanilla Sky is a big, twisty, ambitious science fiction film about memory and meaning that makes extremely innovative use of pop music from start to finish, sometimes bleeding one song into another to hallucinatory effect. McCartney’s theme is a restrained, moody little ditty. It’s a counterintuitive choice, but not a bad one. 

9. “Book of Days,” Enya (from Far and Away )

With songs that mixed dreamy, Celtic-inspired melodies, ethereal vocals, and lots and lots of synths, Enya became a kind of genre unto herself. Who better to provide the theme to Ron Howard’s the-story-of-the-Irish-in-America film starring Cruise and Nicole Kidman? Nobody, that’s who.

8. “Oblivion,” M83 with Susanne Sundfør (from Oblivion )

The French synth-pop act M83 branched out into film scores with the theme to this kind-of-overlooked (but worthwhile) sci-fi movie from 2011. For the theme the group brought in Norwegian singer Susanne Sundfør, whose vocals match nicely against the sweeping sounds behind it. Though not a huge hit, it’s a rare Cruise soundtrack song from the digital era, after studios and labels had given up on creating monster albums to go with their huge movies. No one tried to spin a hit off of, say, The Mummy or Edge of Tomorrow (though it’s kind of fun to imagine what those tracks might have sounded like).

7. “It’s in the Way that You Use It,” Eric Clapton (from The Color of Money )

No, it’s not hip. Yes, Clapton has been freely offering a lot of shitty opinions lately. But its smoky, ‘80s beer commercial power is still pretty undeniable.

6. “Theme from Mission: Impossible” by Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. (from Mission: Impossible )

Called upon to update Lalo Schifrin’s classic theme for the mid-‘90s, the other two guys in U2 kind of kill it (in a mid-‘90s kind of way).

5. ”A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall,” Edie Brickell & New Bohemians (from Born on the Fourth of July )

For a brief moment at the end of the 1980s it looked like folk (and folk-adjacent) music was going to make a comeback, thanks to some surprise hits from Tracey Chapman and Edie Brickell & New Bohemians. This turned out to be a phenomenon isolated to, well, those mostly just those two artists. But it explains how Brickell and her band got the nod to cover this Bob Dylan classic for Oliver Stone’s Ron Kovic biopic. It’s a ‘60s song given a slick-but-effective ’80s sheen, making it kind of perfect for the movie.

4. “Secret Garden,” Bruce Springsteen (from Jerry Maguire )

One of the best songs from Springsteen’s wandering ’90s, this restrained ballad was written a few years before Jerry Maguire but sounds custom-made for Cameron Crowe’s tender romance. It became a hit, but only after a Portland radio station created an unauthorized remix incorporating dialogue from the film.

3. Baby Did a Bad, Bad Thing,” Chris Isaak (from Eyes Wide Shut )

Similarly, this sinuous Chris Isaak song sounds like it was recorded just for Stanley Kubrick’s night-long journey of sexual anxiety, even though it was cut years earlier. It sets a tone of sexy menace that the film locks into and never abandons.

2. “Take My Breath Away,” Berlin (from Top Gun )

The synthesizer wasn’t invented only so this Oscar-winning power ballad could exist, but maybe it should have been?

1.“Save Me,” Aimee Mann (from Magnolia )

Just as “Kokomo” provided the inevitable bottom for this list, Aimee Mann’s Magnolia soundtrack serves as the unavoidable top. Take your pick of Mann tracks featured in the film, but we’re going with this one.

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35 Years After Its Release, the Movie ‘Cocktail’ Shows Us How Far Drinks Culture Has Come

35 Years After Its Release, the Movie ‘Cocktail’ Shows Us How Far Drinks Culture Has Come

words: Rich Manning

illustration: Danielle Grinberg

In the lead up to the 95th Academy Awards, this week on VinePair we’re celebrating the starring role drinks have played in the most iconic movies in history. Read more about Drinking On Screen here .

“Cocktail” is not a good movie. Critics savaged the Tom Cruise vehicle when it hit theaters in 1988. It “won” Golden Raspberry Awards for Worst Movie and Worst Screenplay. Its current Rotten Tomatoes audience score of 58 percent suggests the public perceives the film as a mediocre slice of ‘80s cheese. Most people don’t really need to spend the $3.99 it currently costs to stream the movie. That is, most people.

If you’re in the drinks industry, or if you’re a fan of modern cocktail culture and the bartending industry that makes it possible, “Cocktail” is worth 1 hour and 43 minutes of your time. The movie hasn’t aged too well 35 years after its release, but that’s what makes it interesting. Time has caused “Cocktail” to evolve into a movie that you don’t watch as much as observe if you’re in the know about contemporary mixed drinks. If you simply watch it, it’s terrible. If you observe it, it’s oddly fascinating.

The Duality of ‘Cocktail’

When you stream “Cocktail” and become awash in the glow of its neon opening credits, you’ll naturally observe it through the knowing eyes of the modern bar scene. You already know that the drinks are going to suck and the techniques will be horrific, and they’ll be fun to mock as you sit there with your proper mixed drink made with real ingredients in hand. The movie indeed gives drinks aficionados ample fodder. Cruise’s Brian Flanagan and Bryan Brown’s Doug Coughlin may know how to toss a bottle over their shoulder or slam a Boston shaker onto a bar top in unison, but they don’t know drink specs or use jiggers, fruit juices, or pretty much anything that creates a balanced drink. They free pour every spirit, sometimes three bottles at once. When the movie shifts from New York to Jamaica and Doug asks Brian to make him a Daiquiri after bragging that he taught Brian everything he knows, Brian immediately reaches for a blender instead of a shaker. Granted, they’re in a tropical setting and you can easily predict that he’s going for the blender. But for those who know modern bartenders use the classic Daiquiri recipe as a litmus test of professional skill, this sequence is still cringeworthy, especially since the final result ends up looking like a Mudslide . These things turn the movie into something mildly horrific and slightly comedic, bloated with a bevy of bad beverages.

At some point, though, you’ll remember that “Cocktail” came out in 1988. It may be during the film, or it could be a few hours later when you’re reaching for a snack in the fridge. In some weird way, “Cocktail” provides a window into what the bar scene was like before the work of pioneers like Dale DeGroff, Audrey Saunders, Sasha Petraske, and Julie Reiner helped transform the industry for the better. Cocktail mixers and canned, frozen juices were the weapons of choice behind the stick back then. Craft spirits weren’t a thing, so options were limited at best. In the era’s context, Brian’s goal of franchising a bar chain for suburban shopping malls called Flanagan’s Cocktails and Dreams seems like a legitimate strategy, even if it petrifies our contemporary sensibilities. All of this is enough to make you drop to your knees and thank God and Jerry Thomas that you can enjoy cocktail culture in its present state.

We Need to Talk About Doug

Brian Flanagan is “Cocktail’s” protagonist. Yet Doug Coughlin is the more fascinating character. His jaded cynicism makes him a natural mentor for “young Flanagan,” as he calls Brian throughout the film. He appreciates the good stuff despite his penchant for flair. The last time he and Brian are seen together in the film, they’re working through his bottle of Louis XIII Cognac — a bottle that will set you back at least $3,000 today.

Doug is also problematic. His words of advice — occasionally self-referred throughout the film as “Coughlin’s Laws” — are awful nuggets of anti-wisdom that revolve around misogyny and treating customers like garbage. They sure as hell have nothing to do with making a good drink. Even though “Cocktail” is a work of fiction, it still seems like Petraske’s Rules were needed to cancel out Coughlin’s Laws.

In between his misbegotten mandates, Doug drops some knowledge that initially jumps out as falsehoods if you forget about the film’s context — particularly if you have even passing knowledge of New York City’s bar scene. When Doug says, “This is the Upper East Side, saloon capital of the world,” your brain may start screaming out the names of the critically acclaimed bars in the Lower East Side and Brooklyn.

At the time, however, Doug was spot on. In the ‘80s, the Upper East Side was absolutely the industry’s epicenter, a mélange of establishments that offered the beautiful and the monied ample choices to get their drink and dance on. The scene kept rolling strong through the ‘90s even as the clientele shifted from Wall Street types to the college crowd, thanks in part to gimmicks like cheesy, themed establishments and “ Ladies’ Night s.” Meanwhile, south-of-14th neighborhoods like the East Village and the Lower East Side wouldn’t start gaining acclaim for their bars until places like Angel’s Share and Milk & Honey opened, long after copies of “Cocktail” filled up video rental store shelves. Doug’s lines about the scene may have aged like a long-forgotten bottle of open cream liqueur, but it’s not his fault.

The Business of ‘Cocktail’

There are a few things in “Cocktail” that still hold up today. The beginning of the film showcases the type of money-waving, bar-top-slapping customers who still drive bartenders nuts. Brian’s character arc of a person who fell into the bar scene when other career ambitions fizzled still resonates. Toward the end of the movie, Jordan’s (Elisabeth Shue’s) dad essentially accuses Brian of being a loser because he’s a bartender (i.e., he doesn’t have a “real job”). Such classist viewpoints continue to exist.

The drinks, on the other hand, do not hold up. Most are relics of a time when creamy sweet concoctions with no base spirit and vodka drinks with dirty names dominated the scene. Taste is relative, of course, but if you tend to imbibe in spirit-forward drinks like the Boulevardier or Manhattan , it feels safe to assume that cocktails like the Orgasm, Velvet Hammer, and Friar Tuck will probably be of no interest to you.

There are a few oddities among the cocktails called out in the film. In an odd poem he recites in front of a crowd, Brian references a drink called the “Death Spasm.” One problem: No such drink seems to exist. Googling the drink brings up the Death in the Afternoon cocktail, a potent potable consisting of Champagne and absinthe (or pastis if absinthe isn’t available). It’s possible that Death Spasm was a stand-in for Death in the Afternoon so Brian could use a word that rhymed with orgasm.

Another quirk involves the Angel’s Tit cocktail. Ordering the drink when “Cocktail” came out in 1988 got you a creamy drink consisting of a two-to-one ratio of maraschino liqueur and cream. Ordering it today may get you something better, thanks to an ingenious tweak. Sometime in the 2010s, The Dry Cocktail founder Mikka Kristola updated the recipe when she was bartender at The Varnish in Los Angeles, adjusting the ratios to three-quarters of an ounce each and adding a bar spoon of both Heering Cherry liqueur and Fernet Branca .

Then there’s the Ding-a-Ling, a concoction featuring vodka, peach schnapps, and lemon-lime soda that’s mentioned twice in the film. Searching the drink today will produce images of a radically different beverage. That’s because author Simon Difford created his own cocktail called the Ding-a-Ling in 2022. It features  Del Maguey Vida mezcal , dark rum, Disaronno amaretto, and lemon juice. Judging by the specs, it seems much more interesting than the original.

A Unique Kind of Lasting Legacy

There’s one final observation to be made about “Cocktail” 35 years after its release. It has nothing to do with a crucial scene or a bit of dialogue. It’s an observation that can only be made after the fact. By the time the movie came out, the days of the cocktail bar landscape the movie depicted were already numbered.

In 1987, the year before “Cocktail” came out, DeGroff got behind the stick at the Rainbow Room and kicked off cocktail culture’s ongoing renaissance. It was a slow-growing seed that germinated at a deliberate pace, allowing the Doug Coughlins and Brian Flanagans of the industry a few more years of glory before the 2000s hit. There are still some Dougs and Brians behind the stick today, but they’ve been pushed into a space of far less prominence over the last two decades, thanks to a still-blossoming nationwide network of talented bartenders that give a damn about making a great drink and providing great service to their guests. This, then, may be the main reason why “Cocktail” is an oddly fascinating movie to observe 35 years after its release, even if it is a bad film to watch. It doesn’t necessarily show how bad the bar scene was back in the day as much as it shows how far it’s come.

Published: March 7, 2023

  • 35 Years After Its Release, the Movie ‘Cocktail’ Shows Us How Far Drinks Culture Has Come | VinePair
  • https://vinepair.com/articles/cocktail-movie-drinks-culture/
  • wbs_cat Spirit, cocktail culture, craft cocktails, Movies
  • We Asked 10 Bartenders: What’s the Most Underrated Tequila Cocktail? (2023) | VinePair
  • https://vinepair.com/articles/wa-bartenders-underrated-tequila-cocktails/
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  • wbs_cat Spirit, wbs_type Tequila, tequila, tequila cocktails, underrated, we asked

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Top songs: a guide to Tom Cruise singing cheesy tunes in movies

Might as well face it, Tom Cruise is addicted to belting out an off-key classic in his films. Here's a quick guide to some of his most memorable – and more forgettable – moments on the mic

cocktail tom cruise songs list

Photos: Alamy/Collage: The Big Issue

Ace fighter pilot, champion stock car racer, secret agent extraordinaire, barman at TGI Fridays: Tom Cruise has lived exciting lives which we mere mortals can only dream of through his blockbuster acting roles. And yet, from watching the vertically challenged sexy scientologist’s movies over the years, I can’t help but sense that his greatest ambition in life has never been fully realised.

I still haven’t seen Top Gun: Maverick – and I understand he judiciously leaves the theme song to Lady Gaga – but if it doesn’t feature a scene in which Cruise wonkily if gamely sings his little heart out to some sort of vintage rock’n’roll tune then he is selling us all and indeed himself short. The man clearly just wants to sing!

Not content merely packing the soundtracks of his movies with hit songs that can have taken anywhere between three and seven minutes to write – be it Take a Look Around , Limp Bizkit’s butthurt riff on a Lalo Schifrin TV theme classic from 2000’s Mission: Impossible 2 , or Paul McCartney’s fantastically lazy Vanilla Sky from 2001’s film of the same name (sample lyric: “Tonight you fly so high up/In the vanilla sky” ) – Cruise has on many a memorable occasion grabbed the mic himself, only rarely crashing and burning in the process. Shake your nerves and rattle your brain, with a short history of Tom Cruise singing in films. 

Great Balls of Fire  – Top Gun (1986)

Whether it’s spectacular aerial dogfights or a very homoerotic beach volleyball match, Cruise’s breakout action classic is full of memorable scenes, including not just one but two where he sings. The best is of course when Mav and Goose and their respective better halves are drunk in a bar, and Goose is banging away at an upright piano with his young son perched on top, and the two BFFs are going ballistic howling Jerry Lee Lewis’s horndog anthem like a right pair of flaming testes. Unbearably wholesome content.

Addicted to Love  – Cocktail (1988)

It’s hard to believe it happened not long after Top Gun , but Cruise’s arguably worst-ever film saw him play a flair bartender at a MOR American chain restaurant, serving up extravagantly made boozes with often sexy results. His credentials as the money-maker shakin’ lothario who can also do you a decent margarita are burnished by a scene in which the erotic mixologist starts ad-libbing to Robert Palmer’s Addicted to Love behind the bar while a woman stares at him longingly, whether smitten or perhaps just wondering when the hell she’s getting her drink. 

Free Fallin’  – Jerry Maguire (1996)

He’s a cocky American sports agent just been binned from his job, she’s a naive and let’s face it desperate secretary and single mum (played by the future multiple Oscar-winning Renée Zellweger). Their relationship makes no sense whatsoever and is actually quite tragic. But watch this much-overrated romcom anyway for the always enjoyable scene where Jerry’s driving off from doing what he thinks is a career-saving deal, searching the radio for a song to match his ecstatic mood, before finally settling on Tom Petty’s 1989 classic Free Fallin’ . Cue Cruise frantically car singing along at the top of his voice with no-one’s-listening aplomb. 

Little Deuce Coupe  – War of the Worlds (2005)

“The chances of anything coming from Mars are a million to one, but still they come!” OK, so sadly Cruise didn’t have a go at singing Jeff Wayne’s 1978 funky prog-rock opera based on HG Wells’ Victorian era proto-sci-fi frightener. But in playing the unlikely part of the deadbeat dad in Steven Spielberg’s 2005 blockbuster movie adaptation, he does have a pretty sweet moment when, searching his mind in vain for a lullaby to sing his terrified daughter, from somewhere he comes up with The Beach Boys’ 1963 hot-rod rock ode, sung in a fragile reedy voice with tears in his eyes. 

Various songs  – Rock of Ages (2012) 

Perhaps we should be more careful what we wish for. Back in 2012, Cruise really did get to fulfil many of his obvious rock star fantasies by joining the ensemble cast of a film based on a popular glam-rock Broadway jukebox musical. The actor took lessons with Axl Rose’s vocal coach to get up to scratch for his role as brooding superstar Stacey Jaxx, and ended up singing surprisingly passable lead vocals on various songs including Guns N’ Roses’ Paradise City , Bon Jovi’s Wanted Dead or Alive and Def Leppard’s Pour Some Sugar on Me . Luckily the film tanked at the box office, and music’s loss remains acting’s gain.

Malcolm Jack is a freelance journalist

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IMAGES

  1. Original Sound Track / オリジナル・サウンドトラック「COCKTAIL / 『カクテル』オリジナル・サウンドトラック

    cocktail tom cruise songs list

  2. Cocktail [DVD]: Amazon.es: Tom Cruise, Elisabeth Shue, Kelly Lynch

    cocktail tom cruise songs list

  3. COCKTAIL 1988 with Tom Cruise

    cocktail tom cruise songs list

  4. Cocktail

    cocktail tom cruise songs list

  5. Cocktail (1988)

    cocktail tom cruise songs list

  6. Cocktail

    cocktail tom cruise songs list

VIDEO

  1. The Utter Mess That is Tom Cruise's 'Cocktail'

  2. Tom Cruise fans..imges/music [shorts ]

  3. COCKTAIL MOVIE TOM CRUISE. T.AMO

  4. The WORST Tom Cruise movie!

  5. Why Tom Cruise Refused to play Tony Stark 😂

COMMENTS

  1. Cocktail (1988)

    Hippy Hippy Shake Written by Chan Romero Performed by The Georgia Satellites Produced by The Georgia Satellites and Brenden O'Brien Courtesy of Elektra Records Powerful Stuff Written by Michael Henderson, Robert S. Field and Wally Wilson Performed by The Fabulous Thunderbirds Produced by Terry Manning Courtesy of CBS Associated Records

  2. Cocktail

    1988 Duration 35:27 Genre Stage & Screen, Pop/Rock Styles Contemporary Pop/Rock, Soundtracks, Film Music AllMusic Review User Reviews Track Listing Credits Releases Similar Albums Moods and Themes Submit Corrections Discover Cocktail by Original Soundtrack released in 1988. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic.

  3. Cocktail Soundtrack

    Hippy Hippy Shake The Georgia Satellites Kokomo The Beach Boys

  4. Cocktail (1988) Soundtrack

    Hippy Hippy Shake The Georgia Satellites - Cocktail (Original Soundtrack) Add Scene Description Amazon Rave On John Cougar Mellencamp - Cocktail (Original Soundtrack) Add Scene Description Amazon All Shook Up Ry Cooder - Cocktail (Original Soundtrack) Brian & Douglas working in bar at night club Amazon Oh, I Love You So

  5. Cocktail (1988 film)

    Cocktail (1988 film) Cocktail is a 1988 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Roger Donaldson from a screenplay by Heywood Gould, and based on Gould's book of the same name. It stars Tom Cruise, Bryan Brown and Elisabeth Shue. It tells the story of a young New York City business student, who takes up bartending in order to make ends meet.

  6. Cocktail

    Cocktail - Movie Soundtrack (The Most Complete Playlist on Spotify) · Playlist · 15 songs · 681 likes

  7. Cocktail (1988)

    1,147 Play trailer 2:23 3 Videos 99+ Photos Comedy Drama Romance A talented New York City bartender takes a job at a bar in Jamaica and falls in love. Director Roger Donaldson Writer Heywood Gould Stars Tom Cruise Bryan Brown Elisabeth Shue See production info at IMDbPro STREAMING +3 Add to Watchlist Added by 58.3K users 158 User reviews

  8. Cocktail

    7M views "Cocktail" (1988) - starring: Tom Cruise, Bryan Brown, Elisabeth ShueMusic: "Oh I Love You So" by Preston SmithCREDITS:Buena Vista Pictures (1988)Director - ...

  9. COCKTAIL 1988

    1:50 Job behind a bar - Cocktail RealXFool 1:50 Cocktail (1988) - Red Eye The Cheat 1:52 Cocktail - Tom Cruise and Bryan Brown Bib48_MovieClips 0:48 Tom Cruise plays basketball in...

  10. Cocktail

    "Cocktail" (1988) - starring: Tom Cruise, Bryan Brown, Elisabeth ShueMusic: "Hippy Hippy Shake" by The Georgia SatellitesCREDITS:Buena Vista Pictures (1988)D...

  11. Cocktail

    847 1.2M views 16 years ago Clip of Cocktail - starring Tom Cruise as Brian Flanagan ...more ...more Watch on YouTube Cocktail Romance • 1988 • 1 hr 43 min English audio R CC Try AMC+ free...

  12. Soundtracks from movies with Tom Cruise

    Soundtracks from movies with Tom Cruise · Playlist · 96 songs · 819 likes.

  13. The Beach Boys

    In 1988, the Beach Boys recorded Kokomo for the soundtrack to the movie Cocktail starring Tom Cruise. The song became their first number one song on the Hot 100 charts since 1966's Good Vibrations. Kokomo was also included on their 1989 album Still Cruisin', which featured both recent and classic Beach Boys songs. The music video for Kokomo ...

  14. Cocktail (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

    Communities For Artists Developers Advertising Investors Vendors Useful links Support Free Mobile App © 2024 Spotify AB Listen to Cocktail (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) on Spotify. Various Artists · Compilation · 1988 · 10 songs.

  15. Movie Sounds Unlimited

    Releases Similar Albums Submit Corrections Discover Music From Tom Cruise Movies by Movie Sounds Unlimited. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic.

  16. Worst To Best: Tom Cruise Movie Singles and Theme Songs

    Cocktail's soundtrack became a huge hit (we'll meet a single from it again further up the list), in the process helping to inaugurate an era in which soundtrack albums packed with of-the-moment artists were a mandatory element of any blockbuster movie release, whether the of-the-moment artists really fit the spirit of the film or not.

  17. Cocktail: Revisiting Tom Cruise as the world's greatest bartender

    By Chris Bumbray. March 19th 2023, 11:01am. In 1988 Tom Cruise was arguably the biggest star in the world. Top Gun came out in 1986 and was the year's top-grossing movie. It wasn't only a hit ...

  18. 35 Years After Its Release, the Movie 'Cocktail' Shows ...

    It doesn't necessarily show how bad the bar scene was back in the day as much as it shows how far it's come. Published: March 7, 2023. 35 years after its release, the dated '80s movie ...

  19. Cocktail: Tom Cruise's 80s Classic Revisited

    In 1988 Tom Cruise was arguably the biggest star in the world .Top Gun had come out in 1986 and wound up being the top grossing movie of the year. It wasn't ...

  20. Top songs: a guide to Tom Cruise singing cheesy tunes in movies

    Various songs - Rock of Ages (2012) Perhaps we should be more careful what we wish for. Back in 2012, Cruise really did get to fulfil many of his obvious rock star fantasies by joining the ensemble cast of a film based on a popular glam-rock Broadway jukebox musical.

  21. Cruise's made-in-Canada movie 'Cocktail' celebrates 25 years

    Written by Heywood Gould (previously a writer and producer of TV's The Equalizer) and directed by Roger Donaldson (who had just made No Way Out starring Kevin Costner ), Cocktail was Cruise's...

  22. TOM CRUISE SOUNDTRACKS

    Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

  23. Favorite Tom Cruise Cocktails you Need to Try

    I made all Tom Cruise's Cocktails from the 1988 movie CocktailYOU WILL LOVE THESE VIDEOS: Top 10 James Bond Cocktails you Need to Tryhttps://youtu.be/dQP7AFc...