Movie Music

The Internet Movie Database lists more than 40 movie/TV/videogame productions using compositions by Akron's own Chrissie Hynde, of Pretenders fame. The most significant, on a couple of grounds, is the presence of "My City Was Gone" on the soundtrack to "American Splendor." "City," of course, is Hynde's pointed song about urban decline in Akron and NE Ohio generally; I still love the performance at the inaugural Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concert where she reeled off a list of Ohio locations as a prelude to the song. "American Splendor," meanwhile, is about another bard of NE Ohio, Harvey Pekar, played in the movie by Paul Giamatti.