Prince's 'Kiss,' and more great songs from bad movies

Purple was definitely Prince's color. The music icon scored a massive hit in 1984 with the movie "Purple Rain," which raked in $70 million worldwide at the box office and spawned a massive soundtrack which has sold more than 25 million copies since.

Cherry, however, was a horse of another color. His 1986 film follow-up, "Under the Cherry Moon," grossed only a little over $10 million and racked up five Razzie Awards, including worst picture and worst actor for Prince. But it did have one bright spot — it featured the hit song "Kiss" from Prince's "Parade" album released earlier that year.

To mark the 40th anniversary of when "Cherry" was the pits, let's look at some other great songs that were heard in some of the worst movies ever made.

'The Happening' (1967)

Just before her star-making role in "Bonnie and Clyde," Faye Dunaway was plunked into "The Happening," a turkey about some cool kids who kidnap a businessman (Anthony Quinn) for kicks and $200,000. The ones who really made out like bandits were Diana Ross and the Supremes who sang the hip theme song, one of 12 No. 1 singles for Motown's premiere girl group.

'(Theme from) Valley of the Dolls' (1967)

Based on Jacqueline Susann's bestselling novel about sex, show biz, sex, drugs and sex, this king-sized cinematic Butterball is on pretty much everyone's list of the worst movies of all time. Its sole virtue was the theme song written by Andre and Dory Previn, which was a No. 2 hit for Dionne Warwick.

'Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going to?) (1975)

Everything from the performances to the outrageous costumes were over the top in this less than supreme outing for Diana Ross as a top fashion model with dreams of being a designer. Critics loathed it, but the film was a hit, thanks in no small part to the theme song, another No. 1 smash for Ross.

'Magic' (1980)

Audiences were hopelessly devoted to Olivia Newton-John after her movie debut in "Grease" (1978), but her follow-up, 1980's "Xanadu," about a goddess who comes to Earth, was a major misfire. While Newton-John failed to cast a spell on moviegoers with her acting, she was mesmerizing on "Magic," which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks. The soundtrack, which also featured songs by the Electric Light Orchestra, went double platinum.

'St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)' (1985)

"St. Elmo's Fire" was an ice cold "Big Chill" wannabe starring members of the Brat Pack as Georgetown University graduates trying to make it in the real world. David Denby of The New Yorker wrote that "nobody over the moral age of 15" would like it. John Parr's song for the movie, however, was red-hot and spent two weeks at No. 1. In 2012, Parr rerecorded the song as "Tim Tebow's Fire" with new lyrics in tribute to the Denver Broncos quarterback.

'Kiss From a Rose' (1995)

Val Kilmer played the Caped Crusader in "Batman Forever," the third installment in the film franchise that New York Times critic Janet Maslin called "the empty calorie equivalent of a Happy Meal." Audiences had to wait two hours to get to the piece de resistance, Seal's haunting ballad which was played over the end credits.

'Love Me Like You Do' (2015)

Critics went heavy on the whip with their reviews of the 2015 S&M "romance" "Fifty Shades of Grey. (USA Today wrote "The dialogue is laughable, the pacing is sluggish and the performances are one-note.") And that was one of the better reviews. But there were no lashes for Ellie Goulding's hit ballad, which seemed like it belonged to a whole other movie — that is, a good one.