FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH Director Amy Heckerling Clarifies That "Side One Of Led Zeppelin IV"/"Kashmir" Scene

As much of a shit-pit that Twitter can be, it can still deliver minor miracles like the director of a beloved classic explaining the reasoning behind a scene 36 years after the movie debuted. It all started goofily enough with me giving props to Led Zeppelin III when @RetroNewsNow noted the fantastic album’s anniversary. You know, real important, life-changing shit.

Then my man Dan chimed in…

Every time you watch FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH with pals (for the 154th time) and this scene comes up, somebody like Dan inevitably points out that “Kashmir” isn’t even on Led Zeppelin’s fourth album, fer chrissakes, it’s on “Physical Graffiti”! And everybody says, “oh yeah” but silently thinks “He’s on the Blue Man Group again” and moves on with their lives. But that ‘somebody’ who points it out? It nags at him.

One of the cool things about Twitter is how you can just reach out to big-name Hollywood writers and directors and quite possibly get a reply to an inquiry about a decades-old creative decision (or was it?). Lo and behold…

Mind blown. Within minutes, FAST TIMES director Amy Heckerling filled us in on the details.  “Kashmir” wasn’t a movie error and it wasn’t to make Ratner look like a dipshit by playing the wrong album—its brooding beat was simply perfect for the scene. I went from praising a gem of an album to uncovering a movie ‘mystery’ thanks to the vagaries of Twitter. So now the next time you’re watching FAST TIMES and somebody points out that “that song isn’t even on that album”, you can dunk all over them with facts straight from the director’s mouth.

Now if we could only get Cameron Crowe to explain this.