Bill Conti - Rocky: Original Motion Picture Score (1976)

I spent most of the first 12 years of my life in Odessa, Texas, which is situated on the Eastern edge of the Chihuahuan Desert. So, when sharing stories of my childhood with family, I often start with the phrase, "When I was growing up in the desert..." And here ya go:

When I was growing up in the desert, my friends and I went to the movies quite a bit. In my mind, we went every Saturday, but it was probably closer to twice a month. Our mothers were probably thrilled to have us out of their way and we were thrilled to see some entertainment in an air conditioned building. (At the time, my house as well as my school used swamp coolers instead of air conditioning.)

In addition to the drive-in places (which we never attended for whatever reason), there were four movie theaters in town. Two were downtown: the Ector theater and the Scott theater. Closer to my house were the Grandview Theater and the two screen cinema in the new Winwood Mall out on East 42nd Street.

So if there was a movie we truly enjoyed, we were limited in terms of options:

1. If the movie was "held over" at the theater, we could pay to see it again.
2. We could wait a few years for it to appear on television (for Rocky, the first broadcast was on CBS, Sunday, February 4, 1979).
3. We could possibly find a novelization of the movie.
4. Buy a copy of the soundtrack album.

That's it. No VCR, no DVD, no PPV, no streaming, no on demand. And Rocky wasn't on HBO until 1986.

Of course, me and my friends absolutely loved Rocky and probably saw it more than once at the theater. My friend Troy also picked up a copy of the soundtrack album and we would listen to it over and over when I was at his house. Until I picked up this CD, I had forgotten how often we listened to the thing because I remember almost all of it.

The album was nominated for a Grammy award in the category of Best Sound Track Album – Background Score from a Motion Picture or Television, losing to Star Wars (the first of John Williams's six consecutive wins in that category, 1978-83). The album was also nominated for an Oscar for best soundtrack plus Gonna Fly Now was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Pop Instrumental Performance, both also losing to Star Wars.

Press of the time:

• RPM: "powerful and exciting"
• CashBox: "short pieces that stand on their own even if you have not seen the movie"
• Billboard: "includes a couple of vocal cuts that are right-on contemporary"
• High Fidelity: "the main part of Bill Conti's score proves quite listenable and varied"

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #4
• Billboard R&B: #32
• CashBox: #5

Tracks: 13 tracks, 31½ minutes. Gonna Fly Now, the lead track here, was released as a single, peaking at #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 in July 1977 and #20 on the adult contemporary chart. It remains highly motivational at sports events a half-century later. There's an a capella doo-wop track written by Frank Stallone called Take You Back which may have been my first exposure to doo-wop and I'm amazed at how much of that one that I remember. I also recall Going The Distance and Fanfare For Rocky. Although I didn't know what a fugue was when I was 10 years old, I now recognize the counterpoint that closes the album, simply titled Rocky's Reward. The other tracks are brief cues from the movie that perfectly capture the mood of particular scenes and, like any good soundtrack, recycle a few leitmotifs. I had completely forgotten about You Take My Heart Away which features melodies from Gonna Fly Now and vocals from DeEtta Little & Nelson Pigford.

Gonna Fly Now also hit the Hot 100 in contemporary cover versions by Rhythm Heritage (peaked at #94, March 1977), Current (#94, April 1977), and most famously, Maynard Ferguson (#28, June 1977).

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: see above