It was such an obvious pairing that you might not have thought about it -- that is,
ragga
superstar
Shaggy
singing the
Scooby-Doo
theme, here entitled
"Shaggy, Where Are You?"
It opens up the soundtrack to the big, glossy summer blockbuster
, featuring a CGI
Scooby
; the powerhouse pair of
Freddie Prinze Jr
. and
Matthew Lillard
(appearing in no less than their fourth film together);
Freaks & Geeks
refugee
Linda Cardellini
; and, of course,
Sarah Michelle Gellar
, who has graduated from
Buffy
's
gang to leading the real thing. Who knows what this means for the film, but the soundtrack is equally colorful and knowing, sliding in in-jokes (which anybody raised on '70s television will get) and not being afraid of being silly, which is kind of refreshing after such sour, serious soundtracks as
Spider-Man
. Sure, that means that some of this is disposable, but cheerfully, engagingly so -- and they help set the stage for curveballs of inspiration, such as
OutKast
's brilliant
"Land of a Million Dreams"
(as bracing and deliriously inventive as
Peter Gabriel
's forgotten
"Out Out"
on the
Gremlins
soundtrack); or how
Solange
with
Murphy Lee
folds the
theme into
"Thinking About You"
; or a good cover of
Whodini
"Freaks Come Out at Night"
Uncle Kracker
and
Busta Rhymes
; or another wonderful slice of
Euro-disco
from
Kylie Mingoue
,
"Whenever You Feel Like It."
Plus, a good mainstream soundtrack in 2002 wouldn't be the same if it didn't have a good
Sugar Ray
or
Smash Mouth
song -- no
, but
"Words to Me"
is yet more proof that this band crafts cheerful, mainstream
pop
better than most of their peers. It all adds up to a soundtrack that takes you by surprise and is actually a breezy slice of summer fun. Hopefully, the movie will pull off the same trick. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine