Category:Music

"The greatest hits of mullet rock" Promotional image from 1.01 Pilot (episode)

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CUE MUSIC And you can take your anemic alternative pop and shove it up your ass. Dean plays bass thumping, pile driving Zeppelin, and he plays it loud.

– Eric Kripke, from an early draft of the Pilot

Music is integral to Supernatural, whether it is the classic rock or the scary scoring. Eric Kripke had a clear vision from the start about the music he wanted on the show:

That was something that was really important to me, coming into the Pilot. I’m from a small town in Ohio and this is the music I listen to. I was a huge Zeppelin fan. So when it came time to write and produce the Pilot, it was so important to me, with all due respect to my beloved network, not to have music that is usually on that network. I was so rabid about it that in the original draft of the pilot, I even wrote in the script, “Cue music. And you can take your anemic alternative pop and shove it up your ass.” And the reason I wrote the scene in the Pilot, where they’re talking about tapes – AC/DC, Motorhead, Metallica – if we shoot that and it gets in the pilot, then we have to use my music because it’s already in the show. We had a great time in post-production, figuring out these songs and calling in one morning, “Billy Squire, what about Billy Squire?” I think it is a real signature to the show and it is Midwestern, two guys from Kansas and a muscle car and this is the music they listen to. I love it. The other night there was Joe Walsh and I was laughing, “Yay, Rocky Mountain Way on WB.”

– Eric Kripke, at the Paley Panel 2006

In the Official Supernatural Companion, Season 1 Eric adds another reason for using this music on the show:

"There's a real energy in the Midwest to miles and miles of flat farmland and two-lane blacktops that stretches into infinity and you're jamming classic rock as loud as it can go. There's something so mythic, so American about that), and that's the energy I wanted the show to have."^{S1Com, p. 11}

In the Pilot, Sam and Dean have the following exchange:
Sam: ...I swear man; you gotta update your cassette tape collection.
Dean: Why?
Sam: Well for one they are cassette tapes, and two— {Pulls out a few cassette tapes} Black Sabbath? Motorhead? Metallica? It’s the greatest hits of mullet rock.
Dean: {Grabs a cassette from Sam and pops it in the player} House rules, Sammy. Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cake hole.

In 2007, Kripke reiterated his commitment to mullet rock at a post-Comic Con interview.

(Kripke) sees himself as a sort of School of Rock missionary. Sadly, the gospel according to Zeppelin won't be preached since the group won't sell their songs for under a billion dollars. "That's a rough estimate," Kripke adds.

Other dream songs and bands on Kripke's list are Traveling Riverside Blues, Ramble On," and Aerosmith, which he also had to pass on because the songs were too expensive. Still, he has managed to procure an incredible collection of classic rock tunes that have become anthems for the show's fans and there's nothing Kripke likes better than a convert.

"One of the best pleasures I've had with this show is when I'm online checking out the blogs and there's this 14-year-old kid who says, 'What is this band, Foreigner and this song, Hot Blooded? I really liked it and I went out and bought the greatest hits of Foreigner' and I'm like, ah, I'm doing God's work! I'm introducing people to Foreigner, now if I can get people on board with Triumph! Spreading that sick obsession of mine has been very very gratifying."

In 4.18 The Monster At The End Of The Book Dean says that his favourite songs are a tie "Between Zep's "Ramble On" and "Traveling Riverside Blues."

We know nothing of Sam's music tastes, although Kripke gave some clues at another post Comic Con interview in August 2007.

Interviewer: Okay, and since we’re talking music, what in blazes is Sam’s problem with Dean’s music? And given the chance, what music would Sam play?

Kripke: (laughs out loud) We have interesting debates about that all the time; about what Sam’s music would be, and you know, I hope that Sam listens to whatever cool modern music is. I don’t know any of them because I don’t listen to anything after 1980, so, you know… Green Day, I guess? I don’t know! Who is cool these days? Is Green Day cool? What band is cool these days?

Interviewer:Maybe Red Hot Chili Peppers…

Kripke: Yeah, so he listens to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Fall Out Boy and maybe The Killers? I am so a stranger in a strange land when it comes to those bands that that’s why you never hear Sam’s soundtrack, cos I don’t know that music and I’d choose the wrong songs. All my friends call me “Old Man Kripke” because I don’t listen to any bands after 1980; that’s why Dean’s music always wins out, because I hate so much modern music that I can’t bear to listen to it in the editing room. (laughs)