18. The Brothers Johnson, ‘Strawberry Letter 23’/The Supremes, ‘Baby Love’
Jackie Brown (1997)

The Moment:

Tarantino uses two pieces of music to shift between two very different scenes.

First The Johnson Brothers' soulful love song floats from Sam Jackson's meticulously equalised car stereo as he pulls off a brutal car-boot murder.

Then he calls Robert De Niro's Louis, who's relaxing nervously to an amateur rendition of Baby Love, the cooing vocals of the former seguing with the latter to complete the masterful clash.

Tarantino Says:

“That’s one of the few cues not chosen by me, that was actually chosen by Elmore Leonard in the original novel.

And in the book she’s singing Baby Love, because part of the character’s thing is she knows all the Motown songs, and that’s part of her way of entertaining men – getting them in her place, getting them a little cocktail, and then putting on her little Supremes dress…”

17. Quincy Jones, ‘Theme From Ironside’
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

The Moment:

Each one of The Bride’s fateful flashbacks to her moment of betrayal (like the one below, as she coems face-to-face with O-Ren Ishii) are lit with the blistering siren sound from Jones’ original theme from classic cop series Ironside. It’s sleazy, ’70s, and screams danger.

Tarantino Says:

“A good majority of the cues in here, I had in mind in the writing stage.

I don't add them to the script because then they ask for more money. If I usually put anything in the script, it will be the wrong song. Then we say, ‘You're really the second choice, you know, because we really wanted The Judds!’”

Next: Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon, Battle Without Honor Or Humanity