When famed teen-flick director John Hughes first heard experimental jazz-rockers

Tortoise a few years back, he felt emotions that took him to the heyday of the mid-'80s.

Watching them play at various Chicago rock clubs, he felt a connection to their music as

he had with the new-wave sounds of the Specials, Echo and the Bunnymen and Simple

Minds, bands he featured prominently in his classic '80s films, such as "Sixteen

Candles."

It's no wonder then that the filmmaker who merged new wave and the movies recruited

Tortoise's songwriter John McEntire to score his new film "Reach the Rock."

"His music just worked so well for the film that I think it's the best soundtrack I've done,"

Hughes boasted. "The music just has so much integrity and stands so well on its own."

When most people think of scores for Hughes flicks, they recall such new-wave hits as

the Simple Minds' "Don't You (Forget About Me)." Now, just as the Chicago-based

filmmaker turned to '80s pop acts to give an indelible sonic signature to his earlier flicks,

he's infusing his current project, "Reach the Rock," with the sounds of this decade.

"I think the music ended up working really well in the film because there's not a

tremendous amount of development in it," said McEntire, 28, an avowed fan of such

legendary film scorers as Bernard Herrmann ("Psycho").

"Reach the Rock" -- which Hughes wrote and produced -- was scored by McEntire,

multi-instrumentalist with Chicago's pioneering band Tortoise. Slated for a March 2

release, the soundtrack features the new Tortoise track

href="http://media.addict.com/atn-bin/get-music/Tortoise/In_A_Thimble.ram">"In A

Thimble" (RealAudio excerpt). It also includes a host of other experimental

Chicago rock musicians and bands such as Bundy K. Brown, the Sea and Cake, and

Dianogah.

All contributors were hand-picked by the film's music supervisor, Hughes'

son, musician John Hughes III (Slicker).

"The music for this film is more subdued than previous films I've worked on," said director

Hughes, known to many '80s kids for his genre-defining teen movies "Sixteen Candles"

(1984), "The Breakfast Club" (1984), "Pretty in Pink" (1985) and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off"

(1986).

As in his earlier films, the music by then-fairly obscure acts -- including Orchestral

Manoeuvres in the Dark and Echo and the Bunnymen -- played a major part. Hughes

called McEntire's score a central element of "Reach the Rock."

Hughes said his films always have drawn from whatever music is obsessing him at the

time, be it reggae, jazz or punk from pioneering bands such as the Clash. More recently,

he's been checking out avant-garde Chicago bands, such as Shellac, the Sea and

Cake, and Tortoise's 1996 dub-jazz masterpiece Millions Now Living Will Never

Die -- and the new film reflects it.

"When you hear Tortoise and see these nighttime scenes where it's hot and you're

waiting for the rain, and there's this impotent thunder in the distance, the mood of the

music really matches the picture," Hughes said.

The film, which had a limited theatre release in October of 1998 and will hit video in

March, was directed by William Ryan from a script by Hughes. Much slower paced and

more down-tempo than the films Hughes is generally known for, it follows the trail of

troubled, small-town youth Robin (played by Alessandro Nivola) as he attempts to woo

his former high-school girlfriend for one last time. Most of the film takes place on a stormy

evening in jail as Robin confronts his difficult past with a local police sergeant who

blames the youth for the death of his nephew.

McEntire, who created atmospheric, minimal instrumental pieces such as

href="http://media.addict.com/atn-bin/get-

music/McEntire,_John/Stolen_Car.ram">"Stolen Car" (RealAudio excerpt) for

the film, said that the notion of scoring came naturally to him, even though this was his

first attempt.

"The music suits the film because it doesn't demand that they be epic pieces," McEntire

said. "It's more about tone and setting. I felt good about doing it, like I was getting my feet

wet."

The project felt like the beginning of a new avenue for his restless creativity, McEntire

said.

For his part, director Hughes said he felt confident asking his son to help compile the

film's music.

"John [Hughes III] brought John McEntire to me because he knows I've had a great deal

of concern throughout my career about getting the music right," Hughes said. "That's the

first priority."

Hughes' son, a veteran of such Chicago bands as the late Bill Ding and Slicker, said he

was aware of how vital a role music would play in the film, which is why McEntire was the

top of his list. "It's such an obvious call because a lot of the Tortoise records have that

soundtrack quality to them already," said the younger Hughes, 22, who will release the

album on his own Hefty Records imprint.

Although he said he had indirectly helped his father choose music for films before, the

younger Hughes said his first professional collaboration with dad was an eye-opening

experience.

"He's always looked to us for opinions," said John Hughes III, whose younger sibling

James is also a musician. "We weren't able to help when he was making his teen

movies, but I'm obviously familiar with his tastes and I think Tortoise and John were an

easy match."

In fact, Hughes' son said he already had suggested Tortoise music as the temporary

score for the film before McEntire was involved.

"I don't know what we would have done if John [McEntire] had said no," John Hughes III

laughed.