Made in USA

A Soundtrack Sonic Youth in 1986 but that only had a proper release in 1995.

“Secret Girl”, a song off EVOL was used, and there’s a new vocal track, called “Tuck N Dar” (named after character in the movie). A two minute segment of the “Made in USA” theme was released in 1994 in a Bananafish compilation, and a 4 minute version was later made available for download in SY’s offical site. The rest of the songs are either instrumental pieces that hold out on their own or variation on these three central themes.

From the liner notes:

In 1985 Kim & I were chillin' at her parents' crib in West Los Angeles when we got a phone call from a couple of hard-workin' kids doin' an edit job on a big-time Hollywood flick with the proposed title of USA Today. They said that they had been using songs from our Evol LP on the “temp” soundtrack, and the director was “excited.” The director was Ken Friedman, who we knew as the screenwriter of a pretty cool movie called Heart Like A Wheel. This was to be his first real directing job in the city of dreams.
Supposedly Ken and his producer friends hired the talents of ‘70s Southern-fried boogie freaks the Outlaws to score the flick. The Outlaws sent the masters of their newly recorded LP and everyone was happy. Or so they thought. For some reason the chooglin’ sounds didn’t seem to jive so well with the film’s weird undertow. But there was one track of our Evol LP called “Secret Girl” that certainly did.
Sonic Youth had infamy among the underground rock circuit at this time but were virtually unknown to the mainstream. We were told Paul Westerberg of the more well-known The Replacements had been contacted to do the music, but he turned it down. To us, working on a Hollywood flick doing background/incidental music, etc., was a new and exciting kick. Plus we could make some big bucks, which was something we weren’t exactly making at the time.
Kim and I were star-struck when we went to a “rough” screening at Paramount Studios. It was there we met the director, the producer, and others and were invited to score the film. At this time the story was a dark, somewhat politically pointed road movie. We called Lee and Steve and gave ‘em the scoop, and they flew out (all expenses paid!). We also enlisted the services of our sound man Terry Pearson to man the controls.
We watched the film a few times and set up a rehearsal/demo situation at the now legendary (and defunct) Spinhead Studios in the San Fernando Valley. This studio was the home to a lot of music generated by the SST record label (Black Flag, Painted Willy, etc.). We found ourselves constructing spindly, twisting rhythms and quiet rushes of noise and melody. We also blasted out some straight-ahead Mac-truck rock riffs. Anything to fit the film’s “mood.”
We recorded (in mono!) at Hit City West (first Girls, Girls, Girls record, dude!). This was fun but exasperating because we had to deal with the whims of producers, et al.
The film was eventually titled Made In USA and, after testing, was reedited to resemble more of a “teen” flick. It played in Europe and may have been released in the States regionally but, for the most part, went straight to video.
We had fun doing it. We got to meet the stars Chris Penn and Adrian Pasdar and went to a screening where the producers were trying to woo John Fogerty to do the final song (he refused).
I recently found the video for $3.99 at a video closeout store and watched it and was kind of bummed when I saw how much of our music was cut from the final edit. I guess our vibe was too weird and edgy. But that’s what we liked about the earlier version of the film, so… to each his own, I guess. The music on this soundtrack is interesting in that it’s an odd compromise between New York City avant-gardsters and Hollywood hit men.
Roll camera.
–Thurston Moore Sonic Youth
June 1994