"Rock Box" Track of the Day: The Motherhood, "Soul Town"

Song: "Soul Town" by The Motherhood
Released: 1969
Why's it part of the "Rock Box" playlist?: It's featured in Ocean's Thirteen.
Which moment in Ocean's Thirteen does it appear?: The closing credits (right after my favorite ending in the three Ocean's films: Brad Pitt's way of apologizing to David Paymer for what he and the crew had to put him through as part of their revenge plot against Al Pacino).

Of the three Ocean's soundtracks, my favorite has to be the third and final one, because of how much music supervisor David Holmes' score music had evolved since Eleven, as well as his taste for obscure tracks like Puccio Roelens' cover of "Caravan" and the breezy and badass "Soul Town" instrumental by the Krautrock band The Motherhood. (Plus, Thirteen opens with future "Rock Box" Track of the Day "The Riviera Affair" during the studio logos, and it doesn't contain a certain Elvis track I grew sick of hearing after it got overplayed and horribly remixed by Junkie XL).

The Motherhood was a fusion band led by German saxophonist Klaus Doldinger, the composer of the scores to Das Boot and The NeverEnding Story. I can hardly find any info about this phase of Doldinger's career or "Soul Town." I like how the tune kicks off with a slightly out-of-place piano solo straight out of Ramsey Lewis' "The 'In' Crowd."

"Soul Town"'s a comin'.

"Rock Box" Track of the Day: Puccio Roelens, "Caravan"

Last Monday, I started a series of weekday posts about each of the existing songs that are streamed during the "Rock Box" block on A Fistful of Soundtracks (4-6am, 9-11am and 3-5pm on Mondays and 5-7am, 9-11am and 3-5pm on Fridays). Each post provides info on a different track from the "Rock Box" playlist and points out the movie or TV series moment where the track shows up and is utilized to great effect.

Song: "Caravan" by Puccio Roelens
Released: 1971
Why's it part of the "Rock Box" playlist?: It's featured in Ocean's Thirteen.
Which moment in Ocean's Thirteen does it appear?: The sequence where George Clooney and Brad Pitt sabotage David Paymer's hotel room so that Paymer can give Al Pacino's hotel a bad review (the above photo is from this sequence).

I love this little-known cover of the 1936 jazz standard that was unearthed by Ocean's Thirteen music supervisor and score composer David Holmes. It sounds like a source cue straight out of Diamonds Are Forever--another Vegas movie. Ocean's Thirteen's inclusion of "Caravan" is a callback to the use of Arthur Lyman's version of "Caravan" in Ocean's Eleven.

Hotel room vandalism never sounded so chill and slick.