Rock-tober 21, 2014

In 1982 I was 12 years old. That same year, Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, prompting a stern reply from Britain, seven people died in Chicago from cyanide laced Tylenol capsules, and Israel ceded the Sinai  to Egypt. Epcot Center opened, a new car could be had for $8,000, a loaf of bread for $0.50, and a gallon of gas, $0.91.

That summer, some of the big screen blockbusters were An Officer and a Gentleman, Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan, and Rocky III.

For this iteration of the Rocky franchise, Sylvester Stallone wanted something different for the soundtrack rather than reusing the Bill Conti orchestral theme, "Gonna Fly Now." Originally producers wanted to use Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust." Score writers were amazed at how well the onscreen action synced with the beat and tempo of the song in a rough cut of the movie. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), they were unable to secure publishing rights. Stallone then reached out to Jim Peterik and Frankie Sullivan of Survivor and asked them to write an original score for the movie. They took on the challenge and started by crafting the leading staccato guitar riffs to emulate punches being thrown. The rest of the melody as well as the lyrics took shape over the next few days.

The song was a hit. It held the #1 spot on the Billboard 100 for 6 weeks and finished the year as the #2 single behind Olivia Newton John's "Physical." The following year, it was nominated for, and won, a Grammy for Group Vocal (beating out "Centerfold" by the J. Geils Band). It was eventually certified platinum and, according to online sources, is one of the best selling singles of all time.

That's not hard to believe since just about every old school gym rat, including this one, will likely have this tune somewhere in their workout playlist.