Slayer Soundtrack Sunday ~ Bellylove

The song "Back to Freedom" is played on the Bronze stage by the group Bellylove in the Season Three opening episode called "Anne." While the song plays in the background, Xander says "Welcome to depressing night at the Bronze." Reason for his depression? Buffy has been forced to leave town after being wrongly accused of killing the alternate slayer Kendra, who was actually murdered by the vampire Drusilla at the end of Season Two. Left behind in Sunnydale, the Scooby Gang consisting of Xander, Oz, Willow and Cordelia are learning to kill vampires on their own, and they aren't too happy about it.

The song is somewhat prophetic because while Buffy is "free" in the sense of being on her own for the first time, she has discovered the tragic world of poverty-stricken runaways living on the edge of society. After she frees a group of homeless people being held forced to work as slaves by demons in the bowels of Los Angeles, she finds her way home again after having her name cleared, which means back to responsibility and school, but also the freedom of being a kid at home with Mom again.

Slayer Soundtrack Sunday ~ Nickel on "School Hard"

Nickel plays two songs at the Bronze in the Season Two episode "School Hard," which introduces Spike and Drusilla as new villains who come to town to get rid of Buffy, and meet up again with their old pal Angel.



The title refers to the fact that Spike attacks Sunnydale High on parent-teacher night after a long week for Buffy in which the Principal gives her a hard time. Ironically, the way Buffy saves lives during the ordeal impresses her mother more than any school work could have.




"1000 Nights"



"Stupid Thing"

Slayer Soundtrack Sunday ~ Angie Hart and Splendid

Australian singer Angie Hart was quite a favorite on the Buffy series. One song was written specifically for the show, and her group Splendid, made up of Hart and her then-husband Jesse Tobias, played two songs at the Bronze.
The unreleased song "Tomorrow We'll Wake" is in the episode "Forever" and plays during a scene with Xander and Anya.

"I Only Have Eyes for You" is episode 19 of Season Two. The plot is about a ghost of someone who killed their girlfriend and committed suicide.

"Charge" and "You & Me" are played at the Bronze by Splendid, with vocals by Hart.





"Once More With Feeling" in Season 6, episode 7, is of course the musical epicenter of the entire series, and a tour de force by Whedon - it should have won an Emmy, alas. What's amazing is that it combines elements of Broadway musicals, old TV themes, dance numbers, and all by actors who weren't known for their singing ability. It's really my favorite episode, and Whedon has mentioned it as his also, which isn't surprising given his later success with "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog."

From The Buffy Trivia Guide

Joss Whedon, the show’s creator, wrote the music and lyrics for Once More, With Feeling himself with help from Buffy composer Christophe Beck and Splendid’s Jesse Tobias. It took him three months to write the episode - over the summer when he was supposed to be taking a break. The episode was is the only one of season six which Joss wrote or directed.
Buffy composer Christophe Beck spoke to the Bronze posting board about Joss Whedon’s talent: “[He] came up with lyrics, melodies, the underlying chords/harmony, as well as general stylistic direction for each of 16 musical numbers. The songs started out as four-track recordings Joss made himself. I co-arranged and co-produced the songs with Jesse Tobias of the band Splendid.”
Once More with Feeling took four months in total to write, film, and produce.

Angie Hart sang back-up for actress Amber Benson as Tara in "I'm Under Your Spell."



The collaboration continued in Episode Seven of Season Seven (magical numbers) with the song "Blue" in "Conversations with Dead People," a joint writing venture of Hart and series director Joss Whedon. It's probably my favorite song of the whole series, and just captures Buffy alone again at nightfall - just fantastic lyrics. It's found on both US and UK versions of Radio Sunnydale:

Slayer Soundtrack Sunday ~ Sprung Monkey

Sprung Monkey is a San Diego, California based band who played in the very first Buffy episode, "Welcome to the Hellmouth." So you could say they "set the tone" for every Bronze band that came after them. They also had songs in "The Harvest" and "The Pack."

All the songs are included in the 1998 album Swirl.

There are several songs by Sprung Monkey in the first episode, according to The Buffy Guide but unfortunately some of them aren't on YouTube. But I did find several:


"Believe" plays as Buffy walks into the Bronze the first time.



Swirl plays when the ill-fated Jesse talks to Cordelia, then the vampire Darla at the Bronze. Ominous sound!



"Right My Wrong" was used in "The Harvest."



"Reluctant Man" is used in "The Pack," in which Xander becomes part of a human-hyena pack.

Slayer Soundtrack Sunday ~ Velvet Chain

There is so much music to enjoy in the Buffy-verse, from the musical score of the series to the songs played by various bands at The Bronze. Where to start?

Slayer Soundtrack Sunday will be an ongoing feature of this blog until the music runs out, which will be years from now, or never, because remember there's also Angel and other shows and movies.

Let's start with a band from Season One of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, episode five which as called "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date," The artist is Velvet Chain, who played at the Bronze while Buffy danced with a boy named Owen.

But for this post, let's hear the two songs that were actually played in the show and which many fans associate with the relationship between Buffy and Angel, the remorseful vampire with a soul.

"Strong" is found on Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Album (1999 Television Series), while Treason can be purchased from Amazon. Later Velvet Chain released The Buffy EP inspired by the show. Read more about it HERE.