These are the songs from Ernest Cline’s official version of the soundtrack for his book Ready Player One. Listening to these while you read through the story will create that perfect nerd-noir ambiance that puts you right in the middle of the chaos.  It’s gunters v. sixers and all is fair in virtual love and war…

Dead Man’s Party – Oingo Boingo

When the lyrics kicked in, Halliday begins to lip-synch along, still gyrating: “All dressed up with nowhere to go.  Walking with a dead man over my shoulder. Don’t run away, it’s only me…”

Dancing with Myself – Billy Idol

Family Ties Theme

I was halfway through the fourth episode of my Family Ties mini-marathon when the laundry room door creaked open and my aunt Alice walked in, a malnourished harpy in a housecoat, clutching a basket of dirty clothes.  She looked more lucid then usual, which was bad news.  She was much easier to deal with when she was high.

School House Rock: Verb

“To run, to go, to get, to give.  Verb! You’re what’s happenin’!”

Wild Boys – Duran Duran

I saw a few dozen other gunters milling around, with avatars that varied wildly in appearance.  There were humans, cyborgs, demons, dark elves, Vulcans, and vampires.  Most of them were gathered around the row of old arcade games against the wall.  A few others stood by the ancient stereo (currently blasting “The Wild Boys” by Duran Duran), browsing through Aech’s giant rack of vintage cassette tapes.

The Throne Room / Star Wars Soundtrack- John Williams

It was the last track from John Williams’s original Star Wars score, used in the scene where Princess Leia gives Luke and Han their medals (and Chewbacca, as you may recall, gets the shaft).

Beds Are Burning – Midnight Oil

I kept at it.

I burned the midnight oil.

Did you know that Midnight Oil was an Australian band, with a 1987 hit titled “Beds are Burning”?

I was obsessed.  I wouldn’t quit.  My grades suffered.  I didn’t care.

Like to Get to Know You Well – Howard Jones

I was also standing in front of  the famous Art3mis, someone I’d fantasized about meeting for years.  And she was cooler in person that I’d imagined.  I was dying to spend more time with her.  I wanted, as the ’80’s poet Howard Jones would say, to get to know her well.

Conan the Barbarian Theme

While I was playing, the “Conan the Barbarian” score ended and the jambox clicked over and began to play the opposite side of the tape, treating me to the synthesizer-laden score for “Ladyhawke”.

Also Sprach Zarathustra – Richard Strauss

“My God, it’s full of stars” I heard a disembodied voice say.  I recognized it as a sound bite from the film “2010”.  Then I heard a low, ominous hum, followed by a piece of music from that film’s score: “Also Sprach Zarathustra” by Richard Strauss.

Ladyhawke Soundtrack Theme

“The man had taste. That’s all the proof I need.”

“Then please explain to me why he owned ‘Ladyhawke’ both on VHS *and* Laserdisc.”

War Games Soundtrack – Video Fever by the Beepers

I, David Lightman, a teenage computer geek from suburban Seattle, had single-handedly prevented the end of human civilization.

Safety Dance – Men Without Hats

Blue Monday ’88 Remix – New Order

At the center of all that gear was the opening DJ, R2-D2, hard at work, using his various robotic arms to work the turntables.  I recognized the tune he was playing: the ’88 remix of New Order’s “Blue Monday,” with a lot of Star Wars droid sound samples mixed in.

Union of the Snake – Duran Duran

When I reached the bar, I ordered a Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster from the female Klingon bartender and downed half of it.  Then I grinned as R2 cued up another classic ’80s tune, “‘Union of the Snake,'” I recited, mostly out of habit.  “Duran Duran.  Nineteen eighty-three.”

Rebel Yell – Billy Idol

A cheer swept across the dance floor.
“I love this song!” Art3mis shouted.

Time After Time – Cyndi Lauper

Og set the dance floor’s gravity on a counterclockwise spin, making all of our avatars slowly rotate around the club’s invisible central axis, like motes of dust floating inside a snow globe.

James Brown is Dead – LA Style

“Nobody  busts into my joint uninvited!” Og shouted

Atomic – Blondie

“Let’s get this party going again , shall we?”

Wake Me Up Before You Go Go – Wham

So, I’d disabled my alarms snooze feature and instructed the computer to blast “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” by Wham! I loathed that song with every fiber of my being, and getting up was the only way to silence it.

A Million Miles Away – The Plimsouls

Change – John Waite / Vision Quest

In Your Eyes – Peter Gabriel / Say Anything

Once, in a supreme act of desperation, I stood outside her palace gates for two solid hours with a boom box over my head blasting “In Your Eyes” by Peter Gabriel at full volume.  She didn’t come out.  I don’t even know if she was home.

::sigh:: The immortal boom box scene as remembered by a generation of young women from the 80s as the single most romantic moment in cinematic history.  ever. And a generation of 80s men who had to live up to the “Lloyd enigma” for years to come.  Note: this charming token of affection does not translate to anything remotely close to romantic these days with ipods and mp3 players.  The Lloyd era has passed.

Don’t Let’s Start – They Might Be Giants

I cleared my throat and recited my pass phrase.  Each word appeared on my display as I said it.  “No one in the world ever gets what they want and that is beautiful.”

Pour Some Sugar on Me – Def Leopard

Note:  Wanna hear a real life coinkidink?  I’m actually in this video.  For real!  My cousin Diane and I were there for the filming. I’m the hair behind the hand 6 rows back at 1:22, no joke.  Wow,  my hair looked so young back then.

Kids Wanna Rock – Bryan Adams

Pac Man Fever – Buckner & Garcia

2112 Overture / The Temples of Syrinx – Rush

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap – AC/DC

Three is a Magic Number – School House Rock

Subdivisions – Rush

Monty Python and the Holy Grail – The Ending

BONUS TRACKS:

Invincible – Pat Benetar

Girl U Want – Devo

Dance the Night Away – Van Halen