You know what this movie needs? More "Bad To The Bone"

George Thorogood (who appears tonight at Potawatomi Casino) is among the most successful bluesmen of the modern era. He has sold millions of records, played hundreds of shows, and remains a popular draw at county fairs, casinos, and wherever else middle-aged tough guys with thick mustaches congregate. But no matter what Thorogood has done or will do in his career, there will be four words on his tombstone: “Bad To The Bone.” Ever since Thorogood released the song on his 1982 album of the same, “Bad To The Bone”—and its instantly recognizable, cartoonishly bluesy riff—has had a steady home in pop culture, where it remains an easy cue for lazy filmmakers and advertisers looking to convey bad to the bone-ness.

According to IMDB.com, “Bad To The Bone” first appeared in John Carpenter's killer car movie Christine in 1983. Ever since then it has shown up in more than a dozen movies and TV shows, including Talk Radio, Problem Child, Problem Child 2, Terminator 2, The Parent Trap, 3000 Miles to Graceland, Joe Dirt, and North Country. Perhaps the most notable usage of “Bad To The Bone” is in the Problem Child movies, which uses the riff as a recurring motif accentuating Junior’s various acts of hilarious mayhem. To this day, many people believe that Thorogood wrote the song about a lil' redheaded asshole. (This appears to be false.)

There’s a lot of competition for most “on the nose” use of “Bad To The Bone”—it’s pretty much impossible to be subtle or clever with a song so awesomely ridiculous—but if only one filmmaker can take home the “Bad To The Bone” obviousness award, then it has to be James Cameron, who used the song in Terminator 2 for an early scene where Arnold Schwarzenegger beats up some bikers for their leather gear. Wow, a scene with motorcycles and a badass action hero set to “Bad To The Bone”? That’s almost as original as having Celine Dion sing the love theme to your blockbuster romantic drama! (We could only find a German language verison of this scene on YouTube. But "Bad To The Bone," thankfully, is still in English.)

Schwarzenegger terminating any and all suckas in his way is one thing; two Lindsay Lohans squaring off in a game of poker over who has to jump—naked, no less—into a lake is a whole other level of badness. Disney’s 1998 remake of The Parent Trap brought “Bad To The Bone” back where it belongs: as the soundtrack for precocious kids acting mischievously.