10 Best Nostalgic Mixtape Movie Soundtracks

Choice cuts: Bill Haley & His Comets - "Rock Around The Clock", The Beach Boys - "Surfin Safari", Johnny Burnette - "You're Sixteen"

A classic of the "one night that exemplifies our whole existence" school of teen movie making - in this case a night in Modesto, California the summer of 1962 (as seen through the lens of 1973) - George Lucas's breakthrough movie of hot rods and diners doesn't let up on the rock 'n' roll-era Americana and the soundtrack is no exception.

The gravelly voice of real-life DJ Wolfman Jack is an ever-present sound on radios throughout the movie, his hepcat patter leading into a realistic feeling version of a 1962 radio station playing all the best of the first flush of American rock music, from Buddy Holly to Chuck Berry.

In an era in which not every one of his projects came with an endless licence to print money, Lucas had to be a lot more budget conscious on American Graffiti, but that didn't mean he didn't splash a lot of his cash licensing all of those songs. So much so, in fact, that there was no money left for a traditional score.

It didn't matter, though, not only was the movie a massive box office smash, but that soundtrack really resonated with people, taking them back a decade to their misspent youth while the album went multiple platinum.