I think we need to start a movement to get Kenny Loggins back to writing movie soundtrack hits. He is responsible for three of the most spectacular cheezy movie hits ever: “I’m Alright” from Caddyshack, “Footloose” from duh, and probably the best movie pop hit ever: “Danger Zone” from Top Gun.
Don’t you sometimes make a list in your head of artists you would love to hear cover that song? Can you imagine Bono singing:
Headin' into twilight
Spreadin' out her wings tonight
She got you jumpin' off the deck
And shovin' into overdrive
Highway to the Danger Zone
I'll take you
Right into the Danger Zone
Or Stevie Nicks belting out:
Revvin' up your engine
Listen to her howlin' roar
Metal under tension
Beggin' you to touch and go.
That would be awesome. Too bad the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame doesn’t honor songs because I would make it my life’s mission to get this song inducted. Imagine the jam session they could put together.
You could make a good argument that Bryan Adams is the king of movie soundtrack hits. (e.g. “Heaven” from “A Night in Heaven” {Does anyone remember that movie?} and “Everything I Do (I Do It For You)” from the Robin Hood movie with Kevin Costner.) (While I’m here, I encourage you to check out BA’s bio. He’s been up to a lot since the summer of ’69. He also lives in England and supports a team I like, Chelsea.) But BA’s hits are mostly variations of the same sappy love song and don’t have the thematic range or rhythmic depth that Loggins covers in his superstar three.
When I went to UCSB Kenny lived in Santa Barbara or more likely, Montecito. I don’t know if he lives there now as we’ve lost touch over the years, but I suspect he does because no one would ever leave there if they didn’t have to. I worked at the Santa Barbara Zoo on the weekends and one Sunday afternoon Kenny showed up with his family. I didn’t actually see him but I heard about it and immediately had to go find a telephone (this was way before the days of cellphones, kiddies) and call my friend Jenny, because she was a Kenny Loggins fanatic.
She brought fellow fan, Gina (who you can see in a Kenny Loggins special going on stage and kissing him before gently being removed by security) and they stalked him from afar, taking photos. Last night I ransacked my old photo albums thinking I had one of these photos which consist of some people in the distance standing around on the grass. Sadly, I couldn’t find one.
According to Wikipedia, Kenny is still keeping busy including, and I’m so bummed that I just found out about this, participating in some sort of “Singing with Celebrities” TV show where he sang some of his hits with Lucy Lawless AKA Xena and super badass cylon lady. That would have been the best night of TV ever. Just the photos on Kenny’s website make me feel a bit tingly.
If you see Kenny, tell him I’m thinking of him and hoping for more hits.
