Movie Music Monday – Back to the Future – Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian

Michael J. Fox celebrates his 61st birthday today. He started acting as a child in the 70’s, but his role as Alex Keaton on Family Ties in the 80’s made him a star.

The role of Marty McFly in Back to the Future was first given to actor Eric Stoltz. His performance didn’t fit what they were looking for and he was replaced by Michael J. Fox.

Fox was the original choice to play Marty. Producers gave the script to the producer of Family Ties and asked him to give the script to Fox. They didn’t. After shooting scenes with Stoltz and deciding he was wrong for the part, they approached the Family Ties producer again. This time he told Fox that he was wanted for a role. They also told him he could take it as long as filming didn’t interfere with his work on Family Ties. Fox accepted the role without even reading the script.

Michael would film Family Ties during the day and Back to the Future at night until production ended on Family Ties. This left him exhausted, but according to him “Worth it.”

Huey Lewis was approached to write a song for the movie. He contributed Back In Time and The Power of Love.

My favorite cut on the soundtrack is the version of Johnny B. Goode that Marty sings at the dance in the film. Producers wanted audiences to think that it was Michael singing the song, so they never gave credit to Mark Campbell who is really singing.

Fox was taught how to look like he was playing guitar, as well as mimicking the moves of Jimi Hendrix, Pete Townshend, and Chuck Berry. Berry originally wrote and had a hit with Johnny B. Goode. He waited until the day before filming to give them permission to use the song in the film.

In the movie, Marty kind of goes crazy at the end of the song, leaving the audience and band members wondering just what he was doing. On the soundtrack, we hear a version with bits of the guitar solo from the film, but not the craziness Marty does in the film.