Every so often a scene gets paired with a song that, for better or worse, ends up making it that much more memorable and we’re following up a beautiful Mam-morial Day Weekend by paying homage to the ultimate Skin classic, Fast Time At Ridgemont High. Only instead of deep diving into Phoebe Cates’ iconic poolside topless scene scored by The Cars song “Moving in Stereo”, we’re going with the not-so-obvious choice -but one we think doesn’t get enough credit.
It’s true that Phoebe Cates emerged as the film’s ultimate pin-up thanks to that infamously spank-tastic dream sequence, but Gen X audiences remember that it was actually her on-screen bestie Jennifer Jason Leigh that got all the action.
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At less than 19 minutes into the film, Jennifer bares her breasts way before Phoebe does, while having sex with an older man in a baseball dugout as singer songwriter Jackson Browne croons his single “Somebody’s Baby.” It’s a quick peek, but it’s not the last time we’ll see her headlamps, or hear the song even.
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After a disastrous first date with shy boy Mark Ratner (Brian Backer) that is noticeably “Somebody’s Baby” - free, Jennifer pops her top again for Mark’s friend Mike Damone (Robert Romanus) in the pool house with Jackson’s melodic voice jumping in again as they fully undress.
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It only takes two scenes to establish the song as the bona fide theme for Jennifer’s Stacy Hamilton, and in truth the song was written and recorded by Browne specifically for the 1982 movie. And it inevitably becomes a signal that Jennifer is about to strip down and get horizontal. Plus, just as the lyrics point out, there’s a person (Mark) who can’t stop thinking about her and wants to get up the courage to be with her while she’s getting it on with these sub par men. It can even be argued that the title “Somebody’s Baby” provides a tiny nugget of foreshadowing when it comes to Stacy’s unfortunate situation.
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Basically, the song is a masterful complement to the film that enhances the story without the audience really realizing it at first watch, and that’s just one of the many things that cement Fast Times at Ridgemont High’s well-deserved place as a time-honored standard of skin-ema.
Catch Up With Previous Editions of Songs in the Key of Nudity
—Antichrist's Operatic Real Sex Opener
