‘Priscilla’ Music Supervisor Randall Poster and Phoenix on the ‘Challenge’ of Not Having Elvis Songs and That Heartbreaking Final Scene
variety.comEllise Shafer SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for “Priscilla,” in theaters now. As the opening sequence of Sofia Coppola‘s biographical drama “Priscilla” unfolds, viewers meet a 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu (Cailee Spaeny) in 1959 West Germany to the tune of the Ramones’ 1980 hit “Baby, I Love You.” This time-bending choice may seem unexpected, but to those familiar with the work of Coppola — who famously soundtracked her 2006 historical film “Marie Antoinette” with the Strokes, Aphex Twin and the Cure — it won’t come as a surprise.
After all, though the song is a subversion, it’s a cover of the Ronettes’ 1964 classic and carries much of the musical stylings of the period, courtesy of Phil Spector, who produced both versions. “To immediately be out of period was very exciting,” says music supervisor Randall Poster, who has had a stellar year with credits on “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Asteroid City” and “Hit Man.” “So much of the music that we landed on was born out of Sofia’s instincts, and some songs were particularly important to Priscilla herself that we learned about from the memoir or from Sofia’s conversations that she had with Priscilla.” During the soundtracking of the film — on which Poster collaborated with indie-pop band Phoenix, whose lead singer Thomas Mars is married to Coppola — Spector’s signature “wall of sound” style soon became an unintentional theme, exemplified by tracks from the Ronettes and the Righteous Brothers. “[It’s] that kind of symphonic pop music that just plays very dramatically,” Poster says. “Some of the musical throughlines were a revelation even to us, once we put these things together.
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