Singles is a 1992 romantic comedy film written and directed by Cameron Crowe. The film stars Bridget Fonda, Campbell Scott, Kyra Sedgwick, and Matt Dillon.
Reception
Singles rode on the heels of Seattle’s grunge music boom. The success of and buzz around the film’s soundtrack largely eclipsed the film itself, which was neither as commercially nor as critically successful as either Crowe’s previous film, 1989′s Say Anything…, or his next film, 1996′s Jerry Maguire. Nevertheless, Singles has been credited with inspiring a wave of films marketed towards a Generation X audience, spawning numerous imitators (most notably Reality Bites and Threesome). Tim Appelo wrote in Entertainment Weekly, “With … an ambling, naturalistic style, Crowe captures the eccentric appeal of a town where espresso carts sprout on every corner and kids in ratty flannel shirts can cut records that make them millionaires.” As of June 24, 2008, Singles currently holds a 78% critical approval rating on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes with 21 out of 27 positive reviews.
Interestingly, Warner Bros. Television tried immediately to turn Singles into a television series. When Crowe balked at the notion, the company proceeded with the idea, engaged a new writing and directing team, changing elements and the name to Friends, which ran successfully on NBC from 1994-2004.
One of the few Seattle bands of this era not to have a cameo was Nirvana, and according to Everett True’s 2006 book, Nirvana: The Biography, Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain hated this film
Soundtrack
The Singles soundtrack was released on June 30, 1992 through Epic Records and became a best seller three months before the release of the film. The soundtrack included music from key bands from the Seattle music scene of the time, such as Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, and Soundgarden. Pearl Jam released two songs on the soundtrack: “Breath” and “State of Love and Trust”. The Soundgarden song “Birth Ritual” and Chris Cornell’s solo song “Seasons” appear on the soundtrack. Paul Westerberg of The Replacements contributed two songs to the soundtrack and provided the score for the film. The Smashing Pumpkins also contributed to the soundtrack with the song “Drown”.
Nirvana (who had gained major success a year earlier with the multiplatinum record Nevermind) was the only major grunge band of the time to not appear on the soundtrack. During production, Nirvana were not yet national stars, but by the time the soundtrack was released, the band’s song “Smells Like Teen Spirit” had to be cut because it was too costly to buy the rights.