Music being central to the plot of a film about a young pirate radio station DJ, the soundtrack featured a diverse number of artists.

The Cowboy Junkies' contribution to the soundtrack is a remake of a Robert Johnson song, while the Bad Brains and Henry Rollins track is a cover of the MC5 anthem "Kick Out the Jams".

Peter Murphy's exclusive track was later included on a special reissue of his 1988 album, Love Hysteria, while Sonic Youth's song appeared on their 1990 release, Goo.

An earlier version of Soundgarden's "Heretic" appears on the 1985 Seattle band compilation album Deep Six.

Although Cohen's version serves as the theme song for Mark's (Christian Slater) pirate radio program during most of the film, he opens his final broadcast with the Concrete Blonde cover that appears on the soundtrack.