![]() “Somewhere Out There” from “An American Tail” The 1986 Oscar nominees in Best Original Song were: The best of this year, however, would have to be another Phil Collins-performed record, this time “Separate Lives,” his duet with the lovely Marilyn Martin, from “White Nights.” This isn’t all that remarkable a track but it is a nice, listenable piece of adult contemporary, composed by Stephen Bishop, who did such a charming job performing nominee “It Might Be You” (from “Tootsie”) back in 1982.ĭISCUSS All of this year’s Oscar contenders with Hollywood insiders in our notorious forums “Surprise, Surprise,” from Richard Attenborough‘s unfortunate film adaptation of “A Chorus Line,” is almost awe-inspiring in the heights of 1980s cheese it manages to reach but it does feature a gangbusters performance by Gregg Burge, an immensely talented dancer who tragically died of a brain tumor at age 40, a little more than a decade following the film. But “The Power of Love”? This mildly diverting pop-rock could’ve shown up in just about any 1980s comedy.īeyond Richie and Lewis, this category gets a tad brighter, but just a little bit. Huey Lewis and the News, another iconic 1980s act, also showed up here, with “The Power of Love” from “Back to the Future.” A terrific film, one of the most entertaining pictures of the decade – it certainly deserved more than the four nominations and one win it garnered at the Oscars this year. At least “Endless Love” had Diana Ross to provide some merit. While “Miss Celie’s Blues” is a pleasant track, composed by the legendary Quincy Jones and Rod Temperton, it’s tough to get very excited about “Say You, Say Me.” It’s a record emblematic of the worst of 1980s soft rock, a lifeless, generic, clunky piece of elevator music, with the most headache-inducing of production values. The most recognized man of 1985 was Lionel Richie, who not only scored two nominations here (winning for “Say You, Say Me” and nominated for co-writing “Miss Celie’s Blues”) but also in 1985 went on to win the Album of the Year Grammy for “Can’t Slow Down.” If 1984 is a merely frustrating year of Best Original Song at the Oscars – given the lack of “Purple Rain” love and Stevie Wonder having defeated four marvelous songs with a decidedly inferior track – 1985 is a flat-out aggravating affair, a year featuring not one or two but five ho-hom pieces, all at the expense of at least half a dozen vastly superior contenders that failed to make the cut.Įligible for consideration in 1985 were, among others: Simple Minds‘ spectacularly iconic “Don’t You (Forget About Me),” from “The Breakfast Club” Journey‘s “Only the Young” and Madonna‘s dazzling “Crazy for You,” both from “Vision Quest” Madonna’s “Into the Groove,” from “Desperately Seeking Susan,” arguably among both her finest records and the best songs of the 1980s Tina Turner‘s “We Don’t Need Another Hero,” from “Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome” Duran Duran‘s rollicking theme to “A View to a Kill” and DeBarge‘s delightful “Rhythm of the Night,” from “The Last Dragon.”Īlas, leave it to voters to overlook all of those fantastic tunes in favor of a supremely unremarkable quintet of nominees. Should’ve won: “Separate Lives” from “White Nights” Won: “Say You, Say Me” from “White Nights”
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