Songs that feel like Airplane! (1980)
Chaotic slapstick anxiety masked by relentless deadpan absurdity at 30,000 feet.
- Danger Zone by Kenny Loggins: It captures the over-the-top, adrenaline-fueled pilot bravado that Ted Striker desperately tries to channel.
- Fly Like An Eagle by Steve Miller Band: Provides the smooth, ironic cruise-altitude soundtrack for a flight descending into absolute madness.
- Yakety Sax by Boots Randolph & The Nashville Brass: The ultimate aural equivalent to the film's breakneck visual gags and frantic passenger panic.
- Don't Bring Me Down by Electric Light Orchestra: Mirrors the escalating exasperation of the air traffic controllers watching the disaster unfold.
- Rocket Man by Elton John: A bittersweet nod to the loneliness and psychological weight of being responsible for a vessel in the sky.
- Disco Inferno by The Trammps: Matches the literal and figurative dumpster fire taking place inside the burning, food-poisoned cabin.
- Riders on the Storm by The Doors: Evokes the terrifying weather conditions and severe turbulence battering the doomed aircraft.
- Stayin' Alive by Bee Gees: The absolute anthem for everyone on board desperately hoping to survive the poisoned fish.
- Rebel Rebel by David Bowie: Channels the disruptive, rule-breaking attitude of passengers and crew completely losing their minds.
- Take the "A" Train by Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra: A classic jazz standard that nods to the vintage Hollywood disaster movie tropes being so brilliantly spoofed.
