Teen Drama

For a teen drama to work, it has to be relevant. It doesn’t really matter if the actors are ten years on the wrong side of 18. It doesn’t really matter if their arch, self-aware style of speaking is unlike anything ever heard in a high school. Hell, it doesn’t even matter if they stay in high school for 9 years. What does matter though, is the music. A teen drama needs a credible, realistic soundtrack, more than anything else. Viewers are willing to suspend their disbelief to a certain extent, but not enough to believe that a 17 year-old boy is going to a Hannah Montana concert. Equally, music featured in a teen drama has to change with fashion. It’s no use writing a show about teenaged hipsters who are three months out of the loop in their listening habits. While several studios (Disney in particular) have circumvented this problem by making their teen characters be in fictional/real-life bands, others have learnt to take a more hands-on approach, learning through trial and error that, ultimately, the viewer knows best.

The hit Nickelodeon show, Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996-2003), featured a spunky young witch, growing up in happenin’ Boston at the tail end of the nineties, and therefore had endless scope for credible musical interludes. The first guest musical appearance on the show was by The Violent Femmes (31st January 1997), whose in store record-signing Sabrina fan-girlishly attended. Needless to say, a spell goes wrong, she is still learning, after all, and Gordon Gayno falls in love with Sabrina’s arch nemesis, head-cheerleader Libby Chesler. The writers on the show quickly learnt that one mumbled spell could magic any artist into the script, no matter how strained the connection was. In ‘Dante’s Inferno’ (10th October 1997) an unfortunate dose of ‘Pun-itis’ means that Sabrina’s aunt Hilda can only speak in puns that then, hilariously, come true. Hilda says something about the name ‘Jean’ (by the way, not a pun) and Davy Jones from the Monkees appears, singing ‘Daydream Believer’. He then hangs around for the rest of the episode, giving sage advice, and teaching the characters how to do the Monkees’ walk. An appearance by 10,000 Maniacs on Season 2’s Hallowe’en special is equally shoe-horned into the script. Libby turns up at Sabrina’s impromptu Hallowe’en party, with a withering put-down at the ready: “I thought I’d swing by the biggest gathering of freaks this century.” Sabrina then opens the doors to her kitchen, where 10,000 Maniacs are midway through a surprise set. Teenage Witch- 1, Head Cheerleader- 0.

Alas, Sabrina’s taste in music was subject to popular demand. When the show began, she was into grunge-lite, wearing Doc Martens to school, self-consciously toting a canvas satchel, and secretly going to a Smashing Pumpkins concert (2nd May 1997). However, come Season 2, the Backstreet Boys have performed in her school hall (27th February 1998) and in Season 3, she sneaks out to an *N Sync concert (5th February 1998). ‘Sneaking’ out to an *N Sync concert? Surely a spell has gone awry somewhere? It only gets worse, by the time Sabrina has gone to college and found a job on a magazine, she’s firmly ditched her indie leanings, in favour of Daniel Bedingfield, Ashanti and an unforgivable two guest appearances from Avril Lavigne (Season 7).

It seemed as if music was doomed to play (if Pun-itis can be carried over) second fiddle to the writing on a show, or to falling ratings. However, The O.C. (2003-2007) marked a turning point for music in teen dramas. Previously, musical appearances or references had been mainly incidental, or as part of a special episode. In The O.C., however, creator and producer Josh Schwartz was adamant “that music be a character on the show”. The show utilized the familiar format of a local music club, where local and international bands perform. The Walkmen, Modest Mouse, Tom Vek, The Thrills (!), Death Cab for Cutie and The Subways, to name but a few, coupled with some in-the-know muso characters, who name checked Bright Eyes, The Cramps and The Postal Service. Alexandra Patsavas, The O.C.’s music supervisor, also commissioned several special cover versions for the show: ‘Maybe I’m Amazed’ covered by Jem, ‘If You Leave’ covered by Nada Surf, and ‘Champagne Supernova’ covered by Matt Pond PA.

As the show grew more and more popular, artists chose it as a platform to premier their latest singles. Coldplay’s ‘Fix You’ was played for the first ever time at the end of ‘The O Sea’ (Season 2), as Seth and Ryan apologize to their respective girlfriends at the prom, and Caleb, the pater familias and corrupt mogul, suffers a heart attack next to a swimming pool. Six volumes of Music from the O.C were released, the first in 2004, the last, an album of cover versions, in 2006. Each ‘Mix’ was essentially a soundtrack to the series, featuring indie-alternative artists such as Of Montreal, Stars, Shout Out Louds, Sufjan Stevens and Ben Kweller. While the mixes were hardly cutting edge, Mix 6 got a 1.8 review in Pitchfork, they introduced previously unknown artists to a wide-ranging, and iTunes-happy audience. Imogen Heap, who features on ‘Mix 4’ and ‘Mix 5’, found mainstream success through her connection with The O.C. Her song ‘Hide and Seek’ soundtracked a dramatic rape/shoot-out/crying a lot scene in the finale of Season 2, the next day, it reached number 8 on the download charts. Likewise, Bell X1’s ‘Eve, the Apple of My Eye’ was the tune to which Marissa Cooper (Mischa Barton) shared her first lesbian kiss.

As Paul Noonan’s delicate vocals float in, gliding above clunky teenage romantic dialogue (“Are you in the mood for the beach? It’s almost time. The tide’s about to change. I have this ritual, for whenever something major’s going to change in my life.” “I thought you said no dating on Valentine’s Day.” “Screw it. I’m a huge fan of spontaneous first dates.”) the sun sets on the two young hotties kissing on the beach, beneath the pier. Understandably, the inclusion of the song on the soundtrack brought Bell X1 to the attention of the U.S. Unfortunately, the inclusion of the song on the soundtrack brought Bell X1 to the attention of a lot of angry American Christians, who immediately associated Bell X1 with promoting homosexuality, promoting drug use, promoting The O.C., promoting being Irish, and anything else they could think of. God only knows what would happen if they watched Skins, a teen drama that centres on a crowd of Bristol-based 18 year olds who like to take drugs, party hard and get laid. And study for their A-Levels.

Skins (2007- ) was created exclusively for E4 and is currently filming its third series. Surprisingly, for a show that centres solely on youth culture, it has yet to lose any of its credibility. This could be due to the innovative use of music in the series. The promo for Series 1 is a panorama of young hedonism. Teenage girls who are prettier than any teenage girls ever were take drugs with teenage boys who are cooler than any teenage boys could ever be. A food fight explodes across the screen, while bikes are ridden inside a family house. All the while, The Gossip’s ‘Standing in the Way of Control’, the series’ unofficial theme, blares out. Needless to say then that the music in the show veers towards the hipper side of zeitgeisty, with a focus on drum and bass. DJ Shadow, Tricky, Root Manuva and The Fall can all be found on the soundtrack to Series 1.

Skins touts itself not as a TV show, but as ‘a lifestyle choice.’ Fitting then, that it had an Official Skins Tour to celebrate the launch of the second series last February. The tour featured bands and DJs which have made guest appearances on the show already, Crystal Castles and Klaxons, and others which haven’t, but might as well have: Mylo, Maximo Park, Annie Mac, Erol Alkan, Kissy Sell Out. Accompanying the tour were a series of “exclusive” and “deeply decadent” Skins after-parties, tickets to which were, erm, free and available through the ever-decadent Myspace. Just as in The O.C., being associated with Skins is enough to propel a long-forgotten song back to the top of the charts. In the finale of Series 1, Sid, one of the main characters on the show, plays an acoustic cover version of Cat Steven’s ‘Wild World’. When the episode was broadcast, the song re-entered the Top 40 for the first time since it was released. Likewise, a heart-felt cover version of Daniel Beddingfield’s ‘If You’re Not the One’ brought Natasha Beddingfield’s less famous brother back into the spotlight.

While the show has a dedicated composer, Fat Segal who wrote the theme song and a lot of the incidental music, much of the music, especially for the later series, is chosen by the viewers themselves, through fansites and message boards. Skinslife, the main fansite, has its own record label, which signs viewer’s bands, and then features the bands in the show. The signings tend to fit in with the ‘sound’ of the show, or music that will (presumably) go with the episode structure. ‘Alex’, a music producer on the show of some sort, left the following message on Skinslife: “As always I’d like to hear everything you’re making but in particular the following genres: Modern chart friendly Indie like Skinslife’s Paper Heroes produce. Funky House type stuff that sounds like DJ NG, Geeneus, Crazy Cousinz, etc. Dark electronic noise like Alva Noto and neo classical ambient soundscapes like the Stars of the Lid. Things that sound like UK Punk acts from the 70s. And finally ANYTHING remotely Disco orientated.”

As recently as three weeks ago, producers were calling out through the fansites for suggestions for the season 3 soundtrack and noting carefully the replies they received. As a result, “Awesome Kompakt-orientated acts (the new Burger/Voigt 12” maybe?)” lie next to “amazing twee Swedish indie pop with bands like Suburban Kids With Biblical Names” in the suggestion box. “Ambient compositions from Summer Night Air to Stars of the Lid to Eluuvium” are also promised to appear in Series 3. By eschewing the middle-man, and going straight to the source, the resulting soundtrack-in-progress becomes both hip and, more importantly, relevant. Instead of talking down to a teen audience, or dictating their tastes, producers are instead listening to them. It seems that the producers, directors and the cast themselves have learnt that if they want the series to be a success, they’re going to have to do more than just keep up with the kids, they’re going to have to out-run them.