1990 Best Original Song - Sondheim Goes Home with Oscar

in

WON: "Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)," Dick Tracy

SHOULD'VE WON: "Somewhere in My Memory," Home Alone

I whole-heartedly adore composer Stephen Sondheim. Gypsy, Company and Follies, just to name a handful of Sondheim works, are among my all-time favorite musicals. So, in theory, I love the idea of this incomparable artist having an Oscar under his belt. But, Sondheim winning his Oscar for 1990's Dick Tracy? That's not something I can easily get on board with.

I do very much admire Warren Beatty's colorful, pleasantly idiosyncratic take on the classic comic strip - the picture looks sublime and Beatty has rarely had a more commanding screen presence. But the film's score, composed by Danny Elfman, with original songs by Sondheim, doesn't much move me.

Perhaps part of it is Madonna. She's a performer who, time and time again, has been robbed of Oscar recognition but her turn as Breathless Mahoney just doesn't floor me. Also, the songs here, including "Sooner or Later," are just rather undistinguished and fleeting in comparison to the bulk of the Sondheim songbook. Unlike most of the Sondheim catalogue, I wouldn't immediately know who the composer was on first listen. It's not a bad soundtrack by any stretch but I don't think it's quite an Oscar-calibur one either.

What makes the Sondheim victory all the more difficult to swallow is at least two, arguably even three of his song's competitors in '90 Original Song are superior.

First off, the slightly rotten apple of the bunch here is "Promise Me You'll Remember," a Harry Connick, Jr.-performed tune which, much like The Godfather Part III itself, is nicely orchestrated but overlong and curiously hollow.

Young Guns II makes about as much sense as Mannequin and Beverly Hills Cop II as an Oscar nominee but its original song, Bon Jovi's "Blaze of Glory" is a tough-to-resist guilty pleasure rock record. I'm on-the-fence as to whether this or "Sooner or Later" is the third-best nominee of the line-up.

For me, '90 Original Song is really a close call between the remaining two contenders, Home Alone's "Somewhere in My Memory" and Postcards from the Edge's "I'm Checkin' Out." The former, composed by Oscar-winners John Williams and Leslie Bricusse, is, for my money, one of the best Christmas tunes of the past half-century or so (Williams' score for the film itself is terrific too). The latter, composed by the legendary Shel Silverstein of all people, is most memorable for its delightfully buoyant performance by Meryl Streep.

Because I'm not convinced another performer could sell "I'm Checkin' Out" in the same fashion Streep does, I lean toward "Somewhere in My Memory," but it's not an easy call.

The Oscar-winners ranked (thus far)...

  1. "Over the Rainbow," The Wizard of Oz (1939)
  2. "The Way You Look Tonight," Swing Time (1936)
  3. "High Hopes," A Hole in the Head (1959)
  4. "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)," The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
  5. "Mona Lisa," Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1950)
  6. "Baby, It's Cold Outside," Neptune's Daughter (1949)
  7. "(I've Had) the Time of My Life," Dirty Dancing (1987)
  8. "The Windmills of Your Mind," The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
  9. "The Way We Were," The Way We Were (1973)
  10. "Let the River Run," Working Girl (1988)
  11. "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
  12. "Under the Sea," The Little Mermaid (1989)
  13. "High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, On My Darlin')," High Noon (1952)
  14. "I'm Easy," Nashville (1975)
  15. "You'll Never Know," Hello, Frisco, Hello (1943)
  16. "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe," The Harvey Girls (1946)
  17. "Fame," Fame (1980)
  18. "Theme from Shaft," Shaft (1971)
  19. "Secret Love," Calamity Jane (1953)
  20. "White Christmas," Holiday Inn (1942)
  21. "Moon River," Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
  22. "Take My Breath Away," Top Gun (1986)
  23. "When You Wish Upon a Star," Pinocchio (1940)
  24. "Thanks for the Memory," The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938)
  25. "Lullaby of Broadway," Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935)
  26. "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah," Song of the South (1947)
  27. "Flashdance...What a Feeling," Flashdance (1983)
  28. "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," Arthur (1981)
  29. "Last Dance," Thank God It's Friday (1978)
  30. "Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)," Dick Tracy (1990)
  31. "Days of Wine and Roses," Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
  32. "For All We Know," Lovers and Other Strangers (1970)
  33. "All the Way," The Joker Is Wild (1957)
  34. "It Might As Well Be Spring," State Fair (1945)
  35. "The Last Time I Saw Paris," Lady Be Good (1941)
  36. "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening," Here Comes the Groom (1951)
  37. "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing," Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)
  38. "It Goes Like It Goes," Norma Rae (1979)
  39. "Born Free," Born Free (1966)
  40. "Never on Sunday," Never on Sunday (1960)
  41. "I Just Called to Say I Love You," The Woman in Red (1984)
  42. "Up Where We Belong," An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
  43. "Three Coins in the Fountain," Three Coins in the Fountain (1954)
  44. "Chim Chim Cher-ee," Mary Poppins (1964)
  45. "Call Me Irresponsible," Papa's Delicate Condition (1963)
  46. "Evergreen (Theme from A Star Is Born)," A Star Is Born (1976)
  47. "Swinging on a Star," Going My Way (1944)
  48. "You Light Up My Life," You Light Up My Life (1977)
  49. "Gigi," Gigi (1958)
  50. "The Continental," The Gay Divorcee (1934)
  51. "Sweet Leilani," Waikiki Wedding (1937)
  52. "Buttons and Bows," The Paleface (1948)
  53. "Talk to the Animals," Doctor Dolittle (1967)
  54. "The Shadow of Your Smile," The Sandpiper (1965)
  55. "Say You, Say Me," White Nights (1985)
  56. "The Morning After," The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
  57. "We May Never Love Like This Again," The Towering Inferno (1974)

1989 Best Original Song - A Love Letter to Howard Ashman

in

WON AND SHOULD'VE WON: "Under the Sea," The Little Mermaid

I believe the late Howard Ashman is, quite simply, one of the greatest and most influential lyricists of all-time.

Ashman, who initially left an immense impression not on the big screen but on stage from the late-'70s, through the mid-'80s, with colorful, idiosyncratic efforts like God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, Smile and Little Shop of Horrors, did not make his presence known in the world of film until just a few mere years prior to his tragic death from AIDS complications in 1991.

But what an impact he did leave in those final years.

After assisting on the soundtrack for Disney's modest 1988 release Oliver & Company, Ashman partnered with the comparably spectacular Alan Menken to score The Little Mermaid, which (some folks forget) marked quite a comeback for Walt Disney Pictures, a studio then yearning for a big, fat hit after a lengthy dry spell.

Following their smashing success on The Little Mermaid, Ashman and Menken would go on to score Beauty and the Beast, the first animated film to garner an Oscar nomination in Best Picture. That film would also triumph for the duo in Best Original Song, though Ashman's victory was a posthumous one, having died two weeks prior to the ceremony. Ashman's final nomination would actually come another year later, for his work on Aladdin's "Friend Like Me."

The impact Ashman's contributions had on the revival of Disney studios and on future composers cannot be understated. Songs he composed - the likes of "Under the Sea," "Be Our Guest" and "Beauty and the Beast" - are not only some of the most iconic and popular of the Disney catalogue but among the most beloved film songs ever.

But it's really Ashman's sweeter, more subtle work that's always gotten to me.

I think of Little Shop's "Somewhere That's Green," with those heartrending lyrics about inner beauty and dreams of a picture-perfect life out of Better Homes and Gardens Magazine, performed to the heavens by Ellen Greene. I also think of The Little Mermaid's glorious "Part of Your World," which, even though it somehow wasn't Oscar-nominated here, I consider the greatest of all Disney songs. Performed by the brilliant Jodi Benson, it's actually quite reminiscent of "Somewhere That's Green," a dreamy ballad that's equal parts hopeful and somber and all-around breathtaking.

We are so blessed to have lived in a world where Howard Ashman made music.

Now, as for 1989 Best Original Song, it's pretty much a slam dunk for "Under the Sea," which, while no "Part of Your World," is still a bouncy, exuberant delight, whole-heartedly worthy of victory. The other Little Mermaid nominee, "Kiss the Girl," is a nice one too, but hardly leaves the same level of impression. I'm also mildly fond of Chances Are's "After All," the agreeably corny Cher-Peter Cetera duet from the underrated Cybill Shepherd-Robert Downey, Jr. dramedy.

The remaining two nominees are so dull and unremarkable they're not really worth discussing, even though "I Love to See You Smile" was composed by Randy Newman and "The Girl Who Used to Be Me" marked another Hamlisch-Bergman-Bergman effort. All of these typically fine artists were completely asleep at the wheel here.

Why couldn't the Academy have dumped Newman and the old The Way We Were team for a couple of Prince tunes off the kinky Batman soundtrack?

The Oscar-winners ranked (thus far)...

  1. "Over the Rainbow," The Wizard of Oz (1939)
  2. "The Way You Look Tonight," Swing Time (1936)
  3. "High Hopes," A Hole in the Head (1959)
  4. "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)," The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
  5. "Mona Lisa," Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1950)
  6. "Baby, It's Cold Outside," Neptune's Daughter (1949)
  7. "(I've Had) the Time of My Life," Dirty Dancing (1987)
  8. "The Windmills of Your Mind," The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
  9. "The Way We Were," The Way We Were (1973)
  10. "Let the River Run," Working Girl (1988)
  11. "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
  12. "Under the Sea," The Little Mermaid (1989)
  13. "High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, On My Darlin')," High Noon (1952)
  14. "I'm Easy," Nashville (1975)
  15. "You'll Never Know," Hello, Frisco, Hello (1943)
  16. "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe," The Harvey Girls (1946)
  17. "Fame," Fame (1980)
  18. "Theme from Shaft," Shaft (1971)
  19. "Secret Love," Calamity Jane (1953)
  20. "White Christmas," Holiday Inn (1942)
  21. "Moon River," Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
  22. "Take My Breath Away," Top Gun (1986)
  23. "When You Wish Upon a Star," Pinocchio (1940)
  24. "Thanks for the Memory," The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938)
  25. "Lullaby of Broadway," Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935)
  26. "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah," Song of the South (1947)
  27. "Flashdance...What a Feeling," Flashdance (1983)
  28. "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," Arthur (1981)
  29. "Last Dance," Thank God It's Friday (1978)
  30. "Days of Wine and Roses," Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
  31. "For All We Know," Lovers and Other Strangers (1970)
  32. "All the Way," The Joker Is Wild (1957)
  33. "It Might As Well Be Spring," State Fair (1945)
  34. "The Last Time I Saw Paris," Lady Be Good (1941)
  35. "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening," Here Comes the Groom (1951)
  36. "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing," Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)
  37. "It Goes Like It Goes," Norma Rae (1979)
  38. "Born Free," Born Free (1966)
  39. "Never on Sunday," Never on Sunday (1960)
  40. "I Just Called to Say I Love You," The Woman in Red (1984)
  41. "Up Where We Belong," An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
  42. "Three Coins in the Fountain," Three Coins in the Fountain (1954)
  43. "Chim Chim Cher-ee," Mary Poppins (1964)
  44. "Call Me Irresponsible," Papa's Delicate Condition (1963)
  45. "Evergreen (Theme from A Star Is Born)," A Star Is Born (1976)
  46. "Swinging on a Star," Going My Way (1944)
  47. "You Light Up My Life," You Light Up My Life (1977)
  48. "Gigi," Gigi (1958)
  49. "The Continental," The Gay Divorcee (1934)
  50. "Sweet Leilani," Waikiki Wedding (1937)
  51. "Buttons and Bows," The Paleface (1948)
  52. "Talk to the Animals," Doctor Dolittle (1967)
  53. "The Shadow of Your Smile," The Sandpiper (1965)
  54. "Say You, Say Me," White Nights (1985)
  55. "The Morning After," The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
  56. "We May Never Love Like This Again," The Towering Inferno (1974)

1988 Best Original Song - Carly Simon's Grand Oscar Moment

in

WON: "Let the River Run," Working Girl

SHOULD'VE WON: "Calling You," Bagdad Cafe

In two respects, 1988 is a remarkable year of Best Original Song at the Oscars - one, as an all-around outstanding line-up of nominees (frankly, a rarity in this category), and second, as a bit of curiosity, as the Academy mysteriously opted on this occasion to recognize just three songs.

Only twice before in Oscar history had this occurred, in the first two years of Best Original Song, 1934 and 1935. What's especially puzzling is there was no shortage of other efforts to recognize here - for instance, The Beach Boys' '80s comeback with "Kokomo" (from Cocktail) and the entire Oliver & Company soundtrack.

Regardless of what the Academy was oddly thinking in that regard, they did recognize three terrific tunes here and, while a slimmer selection, they're among the most satisfying sets of nominees I've encountered thus far in Original Song.

I don't have the slightest quibble with Carly Simon having scored her Oscar here for Working Girl's memorable and wholly appropriate "Let the River Run" theme, other than to say the song isn't quite my favorite here. The victory served as something of a consolation prize in several respects - one, as a make-up win for Simon having egregiously lost for "Nobody Does It Better" back in '77, and two, as a prize for the film, which was otherwise (I would argue totally unfairly) shut out on Oscar night. But it's also a lot more than that - it's among Simon's strongest work for sure, an immensely catchy piece of adult contemporary-pop that especially soars once the chorus kicks in.

To a lesser extent, I also like Phil Collins' "Two Hearts," from his misfire film debut Buster. It's a peppy, if somewhat fleeting record that, while hardly on-par with something like "Against All Odds," is much more enjoyable than say, "Up Where We Belong" and "I Just Called to Say I Love You." This is also, in my humble opinion at least, one of the last times Collins was fun and loose, before he started getting all heavy-handed and syrupy.

Even better than the Simon and Collins tracks this year, however, is Bagdad Cafe's "Calling You," a truly glorious piece of music by composer Bob Telson, performed so stunningly here by the great gospel singer Jevetta Steele. It's a song tailored to the most gifted of vocalists, so it shouldn't surprise that the likes of Celine Dion, Barbra Streisand and Jeff Buckley went on to cover it. A brilliant song from a supremely underrated picture.

The Oscar-winners ranked (thus far)...

  1. "Over the Rainbow," The Wizard of Oz (1939)
  2. "The Way You Look Tonight," Swing Time (1936)
  3. "High Hopes," A Hole in the Head (1959)
  4. "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)," The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
  5. "Mona Lisa," Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1950)
  6. "Baby, It's Cold Outside," Neptune's Daughter (1949)
  7. "(I've Had) the Time of My Life," Dirty Dancing (1987)
  8. "The Windmills of Your Mind," The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
  9. "The Way We Were," The Way We Were (1973)
  10. "Let the River Run," Working Girl (1988)
  11. "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
  12. "High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, On My Darlin')," High Noon (1952)
  13. "I'm Easy," Nashville (1975)
  14. "You'll Never Know," Hello, Frisco, Hello (1943)
  15. "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe," The Harvey Girls (1946)
  16. "Fame," Fame (1980)
  17. "Theme from Shaft," Shaft (1971)
  18. "Secret Love," Calamity Jane (1953)
  19. "White Christmas," Holiday Inn (1942)
  20. "Moon River," Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
  21. "Take My Breath Away," Top Gun (1986)
  22. "When You Wish Upon a Star," Pinocchio (1940)
  23. "Thanks for the Memory," The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938)
  24. "Lullaby of Broadway," Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935)
  25. "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah," Song of the South (1947)
  26. "Flashdance...What a Feeling," Flashdance (1983)
  27. "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," Arthur (1981)
  28. "Last Dance," Thank God It's Friday (1978)
  29. "Days of Wine and Roses," Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
  30. "For All We Know," Lovers and Other Strangers (1970)
  31. "All the Way," The Joker Is Wild (1957)
  32. "It Might As Well Be Spring," State Fair (1945)
  33. "The Last Time I Saw Paris," Lady Be Good (1941)
  34. "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening," Here Comes the Groom (1951)
  35. "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing," Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)
  36. "It Goes Like It Goes," Norma Rae (1979)
  37. "Born Free," Born Free (1966)
  38. "Never on Sunday," Never on Sunday (1960)
  39. "I Just Called to Say I Love You," The Woman in Red (1984)
  40. "Up Where We Belong," An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
  41. "Three Coins in the Fountain," Three Coins in the Fountain (1954)
  42. "Chim Chim Cher-ee," Mary Poppins (1964)
  43. "Call Me Irresponsible," Papa's Delicate Condition (1963)
  44. "Evergreen (Theme from A Star Is Born)," A Star Is Born (1976)
  45. "Swinging on a Star," Going My Way (1944)
  46. "You Light Up My Life," You Light Up My Life (1977)
  47. "Gigi," Gigi (1958)
  48. "The Continental," The Gay Divorcee (1934)
  49. "Sweet Leilani," Waikiki Wedding (1937)
  50. "Buttons and Bows," The Paleface (1948)
  51. "Talk to the Animals," Doctor Dolittle (1967)
  52. "The Shadow of Your Smile," The Sandpiper (1965)
  53. "Say You, Say Me," White Nights (1985)
  54. "The Morning After," The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
  55. "We May Never Love Like This Again," The Towering Inferno (1974)

1987 Best Original Song - The Year We Had the Times of Our Lives

in

WON AND SHOULD'VE WON: "(I've Had) the Time of My Life," Dirty Dancing

Ah, nothing like a year at the Oscars that recognizes the likes of Beverly Hills Cop II, Dirty Dancing and Mannequin.

Despite my admiration for Jennifer Grey and the late Patrick Swayze, I've never much cared for Dirty Dancing - it's not a picture I feel great nostalgia for and, in the echelon of coming-of-age cinema, I don't quite consider Baby's awakening among the most memorable or compelling. What the film does unimpeachably offer, however, is a flat-out fantastic soundtrack, mostly adapted, of course, with legendary tunes like "Be My Baby," "Stay" and "Love Is Strange."

As for the picture's iconic Oscar-winning original song, "(I've Had) the Time of My Life," to call it merely infectious would be an understatement. Somehow, this effort, featuring the unlikely pair of The Righteous Brothers' Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes (the latter headlining her third and final Oscar-winning tune) - both guilty of attaching themselves to their fair shares of dreck over the years - and composed by a trio of songwriting novices (Frankie Previte, John DeNicola and Donald Markowitz), managed to pull off '80s adult contemporary-pop perfection. Even without caring terribly about the film and the romance between Baby and Johnny, I can't help but be swept away by this one, cheesy saxophone solo and all. It works marvelously.

A close runner-up, however, is Mannequin's "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now," which came along during Grace Slick and Starship (formerly Jefferson Airplane)'s surprise comeback in the mid-'80s. The song, which marked composer Diane Warren's first appearance at the Oscars, is also a prime piece of '80s soft rock, reasonably corny without ever being offensively so, and very hard to resist. And Slick sounds fantastic.

There's a bit of a gap in quality from there but - a rarity in Best Original Song - there isn't a rotten apple to be found among the nominees.

Bob Seger's "Shakedown" is a nice, pulsating piece of pop rock, from the terrific Beverly Hills Cop II soundtrack, which also featured some great tunes from George Michael (the notorious "I Want Your Sex"), Jermaine Jackson and the Pointer Sisters. "Cry Freedom," from the eponymous film, is a sweeping, if exhausting effort from composers George Fenton and South African jazz legend Jonas Gwangwa. It works in fits and starts and has a glorious finish but there are portions that just sit there, lifeless. Finally, The Princess Bride's "Storybook Love" is a pleasant, simple piece, appropriate for the picture but not all that note-worthy otherwise.

The Oscar-winners ranked (thus far)...

  1. "Over the Rainbow," The Wizard of Oz (1939)
  2. "The Way You Look Tonight," Swing Time (1936)
  3. "High Hopes," A Hole in the Head (1959)
  4. "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)," The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
  5. "Mona Lisa," Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1950)
  6. "Baby, It's Cold Outside," Neptune's Daughter (1949)
  7. "(I've Had) the Time of My Life," Dirty Dancing (1987)
  8. "The Windmills of Your Mind," The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
  9. "The Way We Were," The Way We Were (1973)
  10. "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
  11. "High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, On My Darlin')," High Noon (1952)
  12. "I'm Easy," Nashville (1975)
  13. "You'll Never Know," Hello, Frisco, Hello (1943)
  14. "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe," The Harvey Girls (1946)
  15. "Fame," Fame (1980)
  16. "Theme from Shaft," Shaft (1971)
  17. "Secret Love," Calamity Jane (1953)
  18. "White Christmas," Holiday Inn (1942)
  19. "Moon River," Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
  20. "Take My Breath Away," Top Gun (1986)
  21. "When You Wish Upon a Star," Pinocchio (1940)
  22. "Thanks for the Memory," The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938)
  23. "Lullaby of Broadway," Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935)
  24. "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah," Song of the South (1947)
  25. "Flashdance...What a Feeling," Flashdance (1983)
  26. "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," Arthur (1981)
  27. "Last Dance," Thank God It's Friday (1978)
  28. "Days of Wine and Roses," Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
  29. "For All We Know," Lovers and Other Strangers (1970)
  30. "All the Way," The Joker Is Wild (1957)
  31. "It Might As Well Be Spring," State Fair (1945)
  32. "The Last Time I Saw Paris," Lady Be Good (1941)
  33. "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening," Here Comes the Groom (1951)
  34. "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing," Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)
  35. "It Goes Like It Goes," Norma Rae (1979)
  36. "Born Free," Born Free (1966)
  37. "Never on Sunday," Never on Sunday (1960)
  38. "I Just Called to Say I Love You," The Woman in Red (1984)
  39. "Up Where We Belong," An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
  40. "Three Coins in the Fountain," Three Coins in the Fountain (1954)
  41. "Chim Chim Cher-ee," Mary Poppins (1964)
  42. "Call Me Irresponsible," Papa's Delicate Condition (1963)
  43. "Evergreen (Theme from A Star Is Born)," A Star Is Born (1976)
  44. "Swinging on a Star," Going My Way (1944)
  45. "You Light Up My Life," You Light Up My Life (1977)
  46. "Gigi," Gigi (1958)
  47. "The Continental," The Gay Divorcee (1934)
  48. "Sweet Leilani," Waikiki Wedding (1937)
  49. "Buttons and Bows," The Paleface (1948)
  50. "Talk to the Animals," Doctor Dolittle (1967)
  51. "The Shadow of Your Smile," The Sandpiper (1965)
  52. "Say You, Say Me," White Nights (1985)
  53. "The Morning After," The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
  54. "We May Never Love Like This Again," The Towering Inferno (1974)

1986 Best Original Song - The Year That Took Our Breath Away

in

WON AND SHOULD'VE WON: "Take My Breath Away," Top Gun

Growing up, one of my very favorite films was Frank Oz's Little Shop of Horrors. To this day, I truly consider it one of the all-time great movie musicals, a deliriously entertaining and inventive horror-comedy with knockout leading turns from Rick Moranis and Ellen Greene and a devastatingly terrific score by Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman. (Thank God for "Somewhere That's Green.") I consider it right up there with The Rocky Horror Picture Show, perhaps even a tad higher, given the big heart Little Shop has.

Like so many stage-to-screen adaptations, Menken and Ashman of course opted to compose a new track, for consideration in Best Original Song. And, as is the unfortunate case with so many of these add-ons, their new piece, "Mean Green Mother from Outer Space," simply was not up-to-par with the rest of the score, not even close. While "Skid Row (Downtown)," "Somewhere That's Green" and "Suddenly Seymour" are up there with the very best of showtunes, "Mean Green Mother" is just kind of loud and unpleasant, even with the commanding voice of the Four Tops' Levi Stubbs.

Even worse in 1986 Best Original Song, however, is "Somewhere Out There," the inexplicably Grammy-winning tune from the Steven Spielberg-produced An American Tail. While the picture itself is quite cute (who can resist a Russian-Jewish mouse immigrant), the song is pure nails-on-a-chalkboard, whether performed by the character of Fievel or in the closing credits, by the king and queen of muzak, James Ingram and Linda Ronstadt. It has the depth and sophistication of a 99-cent Hallmark card.

Beyond those two nominees, thankfully, '86 Original Song is actually a halfway decent affair.

In third place for me would be "Life in a Looking Glass," which I think rather unfairly garnered a Razzie nomination too this year (the first, though not last original song to garner nods at both ceremonies), on account of being featured in the mushy Blake Edwards dramedy That's Life. While the film was a misfire, its tune is a pleasant one, composed by Edwards' usual team of Henry Mancini and Leslie Bricusse and performed just splendidly by Tony Bennett. The lyrics are a bit on-the-nose for my tastes but Mancini's music is quite beautiful. This in fact marked the final Oscar nomination for Mancini.

For the win in '86, I have a bit of a head vs. heart conundrum.

My head says Top Gun's "Take My Breath Away," performed by Berlin and produced by the incomparable Giorgio Moroder, was a richly deserving winner this year. It's an enormously sexy, atmospheric record that adds quite a bit to its film and has proven a timeless record, in spite of the '80s production values. My heart says "Andrew, you've always secretly loved Peter Cetera's theme to The Karate Kid Part II, cheesy soft rock warts and all. You've been humming along to it like a madman over the past 24 hours."

Ultimately, I am going to go with my head on this one but I wouldn't have complained one bit if Cetera somehow scored the upset here.

As for the snubbed in '86, there are two biggies - Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD)'s "If You Leave," from Pretty in Pink (one of the decade's best songs, in my opinion), and Madonna's "Live to Tell," from At Close Range.

The Oscar-winners ranked (thus far)...

  1. "Over the Rainbow," The Wizard of Oz (1939)
  2. "The Way You Look Tonight," Swing Time (1936)
  3. "High Hopes," A Hole in the Head (1959)
  4. "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)," The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
  5. "Mona Lisa," Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1950)
  6. "Baby, It's Cold Outside," Neptune's Daughter (1949)
  7. "The Windmills of Your Mind," The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
  8. "The Way We Were," The Way We Were (1973)
  9. "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
  10. "High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, On My Darlin')," High Noon (1952)
  11. "I'm Easy," Nashville (1975)
  12. "You'll Never Know," Hello, Frisco, Hello (1943)
  13. "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe," The Harvey Girls (1946)
  14. "Fame," Fame (1980)
  15. "Theme from Shaft," Shaft (1971)
  16. "Secret Love," Calamity Jane (1953)
  17. "White Christmas," Holiday Inn (1942)
  18. "Moon River," Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
  19. "Take My Breath Away," Top Gun (1986)
  20. "When You Wish Upon a Star," Pinocchio (1940)
  21. "Thanks for the Memory," The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938)
  22. "Lullaby of Broadway," Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935)
  23. "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah," Song of the South (1947)
  24. "Flashdance...What a Feeling," Flashdance (1983)
  25. "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," Arthur (1981)
  26. "Last Dance," Thank God It's Friday (1978)
  27. "Days of Wine and Roses," Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
  28. "For All We Know," Lovers and Other Strangers (1970)
  29. "All the Way," The Joker Is Wild (1957)
  30. "It Might As Well Be Spring," State Fair (1945)
  31. "The Last Time I Saw Paris," Lady Be Good (1941)
  32. "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening," Here Comes the Groom (1951)
  33. "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing," Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)
  34. "It Goes Like It Goes," Norma Rae (1979)
  35. "Born Free," Born Free (1966)
  36. "Never on Sunday," Never on Sunday (1960)
  37. "I Just Called to Say I Love You," The Woman in Red (1984)
  38. "Up Where We Belong," An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
  39. "Three Coins in the Fountain," Three Coins in the Fountain (1954)
  40. "Chim Chim Cher-ee," Mary Poppins (1964)
  41. "Call Me Irresponsible," Papa's Delicate Condition (1963)
  42. "Evergreen (Theme from A Star Is Born)," A Star Is Born (1976)
  43. "Swinging on a Star," Going My Way (1944)
  44. "You Light Up My Life," You Light Up My Life (1977)
  45. "Gigi," Gigi (1958)
  46. "The Continental," The Gay Divorcee (1934)
  47. "Sweet Leilani," Waikiki Wedding (1937)
  48. "Buttons and Bows," The Paleface (1948)
  49. "Talk to the Animals," Doctor Dolittle (1967)
  50. "The Shadow of Your Smile," The Sandpiper (1965)
  51. "Say You, Say Me," White Nights (1985)
  52. "The Morning After," The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
  53. "We May Never Love Like This Again," The Towering Inferno (1974)