The Intro

Sylvester Stallone had wanted Queen’s Another One Bites the Dust for a scene in Rocky III, but couldn’t get the publishing rights. Rock band Survivor stepped in and saved the day with the suitably macho Eye of the Tiger.

Before

Survivor was founded by Jim Peterik and Frankie Sullivan. Peterik had previously been the singer and guitarist in The Ides of March, who had scored a number two hit in the US with Vehicle in 1970. Sullivan had played guitar in Mariah.

When The Ides of March split in 1973, Peterik joined the band Chase, which also featured Dennis Keith Johnson on bass and Gary Smith on drums. In 1976 he formed The Jim Peterik Band, but when they dissolved in 1978, Peterik considered turning to writing jingles, but roadie and soundman Rick Weigand persuaded him to meet with Sullivan, and they agreed to start a new band. They named it Survivor as a reference in part to Peterik having missed a flight that had crashed and killed several members of Chase back in 1974. He added Johnson and Smith as their rhythm section, and they then recruited former Jamestown Massacre singer Dave Bickler on vocals.

Their first, eponymous LP was released in 1979 to little fanfare and no impact. In 1981, Johnson and Smith were let go, as the others weren’t too keen on their more ‘jazzy’ tendencies. They were replaced by Stephan Ellis and Marc Doubray respectively, and work began on second album Premonition. They did at least make it to the top 40 when the single Poor Man’s Son reached 33 in the US. Sometime later, Peterik was shocked to discover an answering machine message from Sylvester Stallone.

The Hollywood star had been busy working on the third film in the Rocky franchise, and wanted a new theme song that was more contemporary. Bill Conti’s brilliant Gonna Fly Now had reached number 1 in the US back in 1977, but it wasn’t exactly hip, five years later. He understandably thought Queen’s 1980 hit Another One Bites the Dust would be the perfect new theme song, but despite Rocky and its sequel catapulting Stallone to critical and commercial success, for some reason he couldn’t get the publishing rights for its use. Toni Scotti, president of Columbia Records, played Stallone some tracks from Premonition. He thought their rock sound would be a great fit – and of course, Survivor were signed to Columbia. He gave Stallone Peterik’s phone number.

Survivor were shown a rough cut of the scene they needed to score (with Another One Bites the Dust over the top), and over the next three days, they tried to outdo Queen as they thought about a guitar riff that would sync with some of the punches they saw thrown. The memorable hook came Peterik as he drove his car one day, a boxing match playing over in his mind. Meanwhile, Sullivan thought up the original opening lines: ‘Back on the street, doin’ time, taking chances.’. When Peterik added ‘Rising up’ to the start, they knew they were on to something. With the music nearly complete, they snatched references such as ‘Went the distance’ from the original Rocky (1976) film. Originally called Survival (might have looked a little unimaginative considering the group’s name), they settled on Eye of the Tiger.

Stallone heard the demo and loved it, but asked for a third verse rather than the repeat of the first he heard, plus a louder drum sound. The boss got what he asked for and one of the most memorable film themes of the 80s was born.

Review

I loved the simple but oh-so effective theme to Rocky III as a child, strutting around and punching nothingness to the sledgehammer riff. Never a confident boy, I felt six-feet high as the record span on the family record player. Line after line of macho cliche conjured up an epic vision of masculinity, that actually worked better than Another One Bites the Dust. Rocky III was more of a cartoon than the gritty original and sequel, so Survivor’s music and lyrics were ideal.

In a way, Eye of the Tiger is so daft it doesn’t stand up to critical evaluation in the way many number 1s do. In the decades that followed, it was spoofed many times, offered up as a figure of fun and example of the macho silliness espoused by the Reagan administration of the 80s.

The video to Eye of the Tiger is a camp classic, in which Survivor strut down the street in leather jackets to the music at night. Where are they headed? To what appears to be a warehouse for a bath showroom, as they walk past a row of baths, pick up their instruments and mime along. Knockout.

After

Eye of the Tiger went to number 1 in the US, UK and many other countries. In addition to its obvious placing on the Rocky III soundtrack, it also became the name of their third album, which also featured the follow-up American Heartbeat, which climbed to 17 in the US.

However, before long Survivor would end up on the ropes. Their 1983 LP Caught in the Game contained no hits. To make matters worse, Bickler developed vocal issues and was forced to undergo an operation to remove vocal cord nodules in the middle of a tour with REO Speedwagon. At the end of the tour he was told by doctors to take a year off, but Peterik and Sullivan wouldn’t stand for it, and made the harsh decision to sack their singer. He was replaced by Jimi Jamison.

The first release with Jamison was The Moment of Truth, from the soundtrack to another 80s cult classic, The Karate Kid (1984). It didn’t chart, but their album Vital Signs, released later that year, performed well in the US, most notably with the single The Search Is Over, which reached number four.

History repeated itself in 1985 when Stallone asked Survivor to record a track for Rocky IV. Burning Heart may have been a retread of Eye of the Tiger, but it’s not bad and was their second UK hit, reaching number five.

The first track from next album, When Seconds Count, was Is This Love, and was their final US hit, peaking at number nine. Ellis and Doubray were replaced by Bill Syniar and Mickey Curry, but after the 1987 album Too Hot to Sleep, Survivor were out for the count and split.

The next few years were full of of failed solo albums and differing line-ups of the band, until 1993 when Peterik and Sullivan reunited with Bickler and became Survivor once more, with Bill Syniar and Kyle Woodring on bass and rums respectively, having briefly toured in the band before their breakup. They also tried to stop Jamison from touring under the same name, but failed.

In 1996 Peterik grew tired of Sullivan pushing the band in a more bluesy direction, and he quit. They soldiered on, and in 1999 Sullivan won the right for sole use of the band’s name. Laughably, Bickler was fired again and was replaced by Jamison. After several more line-up changes, Survivor released the album Reach in 2006, which featured six tracks recorded in the 90s featuring Bickler behind the mic.

It becomes almost impossible to keep up with the lineup changes by 2010. Jamison died of a hemorrhagic brain stroke in 2014. Former bassist Ellis died in 2019, having been suffering dementia. Survivor have been inactive since 2020.

The Outro

Whereas Rocky III developed a cult following in time, Eye of the Tiger has eventually grown to be bigger than the film it came from. It’s a karaoke classic, adored by people of all ages and it’s simple but pure fun,. You can’t argue with a riff that cool.

The Info

Written & produced by

Frankie Sullivan & Jim Peterik

Weeks at number 1

4 (4 September-3 October)

Trivia

Births

7 September: Actor David Dawson
12 September: Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran
22 September: Actress Billie Piper
26 September: Rugby league player Rob Burrow
30 September: Model Michelle Marsh

Deaths

5 September: Second World War fighter pilot Douglas Bader (see ‘Meanwhile…‘)
6 September: Television executive Norman Collins
10 September: Botanist Jane Ingham
23 September: Violist Lena Wood
24 September: Actress Sarah Churchill
29 September: Lucy Griffiths/Folk song collector AL Lloyd
3 October: Actress Vivien Merchant

Meanwhile…

5 September: Second World War hero Sir Douglas Bader dies suddenly of heart failure, aged 72.

7 September: Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher expresses concern at the growing number of children in single-parent families, but says she is not opposed to divorce.

16 September: The Gower by-election in Wales is held as a result of Labour Party MP Ifor Davies’ death in June. Gareth Wardell holds the seat for Labour.

22 September: An estimated 14% of the workforce is reported to be unemployed.

23 September: Secretary of State Nigel Lawson announces no industry should remain in state ownership, unless there is an ‘overwhelming’ case.

30 September: After more than 100 years, the UK Inland Telegram service closes.