Speaking of anachronisms in period movies...

...here are some examples of Hollywood getting the period music wrong:

AMERICAN GRAFFITI. Set in 1962, but the Beach Boys' "All Summer Long," recorded in 1963, plays over the closing credits.

THE FIVE HEARTBEATS. We hear the Dells' 1968 hit, "Stay In My Corner," playing on a jukebox during a scene set in 1965. Also, the Five Heartbeats make the front cover of ROLLING STONE in 1966, two years before the magazine debuted.

HAIRSPRAY. Also set in 1962, but the soundtrack prominently features the Five Du-Tones' "Shake A Tail Feather" (from 1963) and Toussaint McCall's "Nothing Takes The Place of You" (from 1967).

HOMETOWN, U.S.A. Directed by Max Baer (Jethro on "The Beverly Hillbillies"), this low-budget comedy featured the slogan, "It was heaven in '57." Which makes me wonder why 11 of the 20 songs in the soundtrack were recorded between 1958 and 1966!

LA BAMBA. When Ritchie Valens, Buddy Holly, and the Big Bopper die in February 1959, a disc jockey announces the sad news and dedicates Santo & Johnny's "Sleepwalk" to the dead singers. However, "Sleepwalk" did not come out until that summer. Also, there's a scene (from approximately late 1958) in which we hear the Skyliners' "This I Swear," which also was not released until the summer of 1959.

RESERVOIR DOGS. Throughout the film, we hear a radio D.J. (voiced by Steven Wright) announcing the songs on his "Super '70s Weekend," or something like that. At one point, the D.J. states that Stealer's Wheel had a hit with "Stuck in the Middle With You" in March 1974. The song actually charted in the spring of 1973.

Like that? Or how about how all the musical numbers in "1776" weren't quite period?

As far as I know, that was a big deal for about one summer (1958, I think) and then sank without a trace. Once the Twist appeared, all the 50's-style dances were dead dead.

The scene was right near the beginning, and it killed a lot of the credibility of the movie for me.