Music and Sound in the Films of Dennis Hopper

This book explores five of Hopper's films to show how this deep engagement with music to build character and setting continued throughout his career, as Hopper used folk, punk, hip-hop, and jazz to shape the worlds of his films in ways that influenced other filmmakers and foreshadowed the advent of the music video format.

Stephen Lee Naish is a researcher and writer based in Ontario, Canada.

Introduction: Dennis Hopper in Context 1. Keeping It Cool: Easy Rider,The Rock Music Compilation Soundtrack and The Slow Death of the Sixties 2. Never-ending Daydream: Diegetic Sound, Aural Assaults, and Folk Mosaics in The Last Movie and The American Dreamer 3. Kill All Hippies: Punk Rock Rebellion, Elvis Presley, and Hippie "Burn Out" in Out of the Blue 4. Rebel Without a Pause: Rap and Hip Hop's Gang Affiliation, Popularity, and Battle with Authority in Colors 5. Blue Notes: Jazz and Blues Music Hybridity, and (Mis)Representation of Black Voices in The Hot Spot Conclusion