Who Wrote the “Teen Beach Movie” Music?
Teen Beach Movie (2013) features a variety of catchy songs blending modern sounds with musical stylings of the 1960s. No one songwriter can take credit for the film’s entire soundtrack - in fact, the songs were written by a whole list of songwriters that lent their contributions to the film.
“Oxygen” - The film’s opening number sets the stage for the movie and establishes the tone and story. It was written by Antonina Armato and Tim James, known for composing Selena Gomez’s hit “Love You Like a Love Song.” The song was also previously released as a single by Disney recording artist Hoku before being repurposed for this musical, sung by Maia Mitchell.
“Surf Crazy” - The surfer gang’s theme song in the film, this track was written by David Lawrence and Faye Greenberg. In addition to writing songs for various pop music artists, the two had worked on High School Musical before Teen Beach Movie.
“Cruisin’ for a Bruisin’” - The theme song for the film’s biker game (The Rodents) was written by a team including Mitch Allan, Jason Evigan, Jason Charles Miller and Nikki Leonti. The song draws inspiration from West Side Story and Jerry Lee Lewis.
“Falling for Ya” - The song’s darling love ballad which sets the romantic plotline in action was written by Aris Archontis, Chen Neeman and Jeannie Lurie. It’s a female Motown-style hit with a catchy hook and arrangement. This group previously worked together on the Sonny With a Chance soundtrack, Zendaya’s “Something to Dance For,” and Demi Lovato’s “So Far So Great,” among others.
“Meant to Be” - Like “Surf Crazy,” David Lawrence and Faye Greenberg are responsible for this thematic song that transports the film’s through-line and pulls from a variety of 1960s artists to create its musical style.
“Like Me” - This fun, stylistic song about different perceptions of gender roles across societal generations was written by Antonina Armato, Tim James, Thomas Sturges, Jon Vella and In-Q, who formerly teamed up on the soundtrack for Disney’s Let it Shine.
“Can’t Stop Singing” - One of the film’s more humorous songs about the way uncontrollable singing happens at random times in musicals was written by Aris Archontis, Chen Neeman and Jeannie Lurie.
“Surf’s Up” - This song sums up the film and was written by Ali Dee Theodore, Alana De Fonseca, Jordan Yaeger and Garrett Kotecki.
“The Coolest Cats in Town” - The final song from the film was written by Mitch Allan (Demi Lovato’s “Heart Attack”), Jason Evigan and Nikki Leonti.