Pop songs as a second script
Scorpio Rising scored its bikers with thirteen chart records, each commenting on the scene. Scorsese has credited that idea for the way he uses songs.
Before Scorpio Rising, pop music in films mostly played in the background. Anger made each song a caption: Bobby Vinton's Blue Velvet over leather and chrome, Little Peggy March's I Will Follow Him over shots of Jesus.
Mean Streets opens with The Ronettes' Be My Baby and keeps going, needle drop after needle drop. Scorsese has spoken about Anger's influence, and the wall-to-wall soundtrack became a signature of his films.
Acknowledged by the director