One of the greatest things about the hit Netflix series Stranger Things isn’t just the storytelling and character development. Perhaps one of the show’s greatest strengths is the Duffer brothers’ propensity to tell a great story and series of action through 80s music. These moments are referred to as needle drops.
Many writers find great success in writing to music, such as the great George Lucas famously writing Star Wars in collaboration with John Williams, as outlined by Screen Crush. Music combines its own use of storytelling, and when put to a series of images, the combination can truly be a work of art. With that being said, these are the top 5 needle drops in Stranger Things so far.
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5 Madonna — Material Girl
Netflix
The 80s as a whole were full of great music, and are a big part of the reason many individual movies have memorable scenes, such as the training montage from Rocky. Used in a montage scene in Stranger Things, Madonna’s “Material Girl” helped an already fun scene in the Season Three episode, “The Mall Rats,” shoot to its maximum potential. Madonna, one of the top women artists of the 80s, performs the song, which is set to an above-mentioned montage of the kids being, well, kids. Max is showing Jane that there is more to life than boys shortly before she dumps Mike to get his attention, much to the same degree that Lucas is taking Mike out to just have a good time at the mall. Beyond the terror, storytelling, and wider scope of the show does entail beautiful coming of age stories, and kids just being kids.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
4 Bon Jovi — Runaway
The song “Runaway” by Bon Jovi is a featured drop in Season 2, Chapter 7, “The Lost Sister.” The song hits when Eleven does exactly what the song says and runs away to Chicago. She and Hopper are having trouble adapting to their new father-daughter dynamic and have a pretty big falling out regarding house rules. Eleven, being rebellious, splits. The episode seems out of place, though serves mainly two purposes. Firstly, the episode separates the action showing a side story in Chi-Town while the gang in Hawkins is slowly being surrounded by juvenile demogorgon at the end of episode six and before the start of episode 8. The second purpose of the episode is to introduce the audience to Kali, Eleven’s sister, who can make people hallucinate at her will. To this date, she has never been shown again in the series. Nonetheless, “Runaway” sets the scene perfectly and provides some great listening as Jane explores The Second City.
3 Limahl — Never Ending Story
Nothing says amazing needle drop more than being forced to sing a catchy 80s song impromptu when you’re trying to save the world, and you know what? That’s exactly what happened in Stranger Things’s Season Three finale, “The Battle of Starcourt”. Originally sung by Limahl, who also released a French version of the song, Dustin and his girlfriend Suzie take flight as an almost real life Dungeons and Dragons Quest task with the prize being Plancks Constant (6.626 x 10-34 Joules). The famous number was the key that was given to Murray, Hopper, and Joyce by a kind of defecting Russian scientist, Alexi. There was some sort of miscommunication and the number was copied incorrectly. That’s when Dusty Buns reached out to Suzie, who finally copied, and the song is performed as a duet.
2 Kate Bush — Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)
Audiences weren’t ready for this song when it hit Season Four of Stranger Things. The song is used on several occasions throughout the season. Performed by Kate Bush, fans of Stranger Things lost their minds over this amazing 80s gem and ran it up to #1 on Spotify, per Billboard. Bush herself also benefited from this exchange, which introduced the song and her work to a brand-new audience while simultaneously earning her big bucks. The track is touted as Max’s favorite song, which both helps her escape Vecna and keeps him out of her head until the team puts their plan into motion. It is also incredibly fitting that the song plays in the background as Vecna is being severely injured in the battle against Steve, Robin, and Nancy.
1 Metallica — Master of Puppets
Netflix
Metallica themselves could not have done a better job performing the ultimate rock concert to cause a distraction. Like “Running Up That Hill,” new fans drove “Master of Puppets” up to the top 50 of streaming lists, when Stranger Things introduced Metallica to a new generation in the most amazing way. Many shows hope to pull this kind of thing off at least once in their lifetime, but Stranger Things pulled it off twice in the same season. Metallica even went as far as to welcome their new fans and bemoan some of their old fans who weren’t quite as welcoming to new fans of the group as a result of this needle drop. The scene is wonderfully acted out, and the music syncs up with the action incredibly well. Eddie Munson channels his own inner rock star to deliver a stellar performance for Dustin who is assisting him and, of course, their Demobat audience.
