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Why writing contextual music matters, part 2
Last week we wrote about how Rocky III and The Karate Kid waged war for music supremacy. The battle picked up once again when Rocky IV and The Karate Kid Part II were released within a year of each other.
Peter Cetera, the former singer and bassist of the legendary band Chicago, penned the song “The Glory of Love” about Rocky’s love for Adrian and likely America based on the theme of the film.
Sylvester Stallone decided to pass on the song for the film. He elected to instead use the power ballad “Hearts on Fire” by John Cafferty. This song was most famously used during the films epic training montage, but it also closed the film during its end credits. Funny enough, this song was actually co-written by Joe Esposito. He performed the song “You’re the Best” that Stallone passed on for Rocky III.
Stream: Apple Music / Prime Music / Spotify
The Glory of a Number 1 Hit
For the second time, a song that was passed on for the Rocky franchise made its way to The Karate Kid series. This time the passed on record ended up with its hand raised.
“Glory of Love” peaked at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart on August 2, 1986, remaining in that spot for two weeks. It also spent five weeks atop the U.S. adult contemporary chart. This was Cetera’s first hit single after he left Chicago.
Stream: Apple Music / Prime Music / Spotify
While The Karate Kid Part II ended up with the better song, Rocky IV had an overall better score and soundtrack. And if you love Vinyl as much as I do you can actually pick these up on Best Buy (score / soundtrack), Amazon (score / soundtrack), or Target (soundtrack).
