I've never seen "Chariots of Fire", but why do I know the theme SO damn well? (I was only 12 in '81)

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Rooster_Ties, Aug 2, 2020.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Rooster_Ties

    Rooster_Ties Senior Member Thread Starter

    My wife has the movie on now, DVR'd from PBS a week or two ago. Neither one of us have ever seen it, but despite our both being in our early 50's (yikes!) - we know that epic theme song like we've each heard it hundreds of times (not recently, but over the years).

    Did this get radio play back in the day? But even if it did, I didn't really start listening to music on the radio that much until '82 or '83 even. (OK, maybe a little bit in '81, but not tons - but I have no actual memory of ever hearing that Chariots of Fire theme on the radio.)

    If it was "just everywhere" at the time (and that's kind of my vague memory of it) - Why? - and where would I have heard it as much my wife and I both obviously did.
     
    Last edited: Aug 2, 2020
  2. Big Jimbo

    Big Jimbo Forum Resident

    Location:
    NY
    The opening scene of running on the beach is much parodied.
     
  3. Roland Stone

    Roland Stone Offending Member

    The music is used all the time in sports homages and parodies, like Randy Newman's theme for THE NATURAL.
     
    BeatleJWOL, OldSoul and Steve Litos like this.
  4. Johnny Action

    Johnny Action Forum President

    Location:
    Kailua, Hawai’i
    There’s much better Vangelis than Chariots Of Fire.

    Try China.
     
    Floyd Crazy likes this.
  5. the pope ondine

    the pope ondine Forum Resident

    Location:
    Virginia
    its in the classic SCTV episode "chariot of eggs"
     
  6. I believe the soundtrack album topped the charts and the titles theme was released as a single.

    You should watch the film, it's great - one of my all time favorites.
     
  7. manicpopthrill

    manicpopthrill Forum Resident

    Location:
    ICT, Kansas
    Yeah, it was just in the ether back then.......unavoidable. You must not have had HBO, because I was also 12 in '81 and must have seen it twenty times as they ran it constantly. Loved that movie.
     
    BeatleJWOL likes this.
  8. Rooster_Ties

    Rooster_Ties Senior Member Thread Starter

    No, never had HBO until about 2011, when it was included in the cable package we had to get for my wife to get the particular ESPN sports channel she needed in order to see her beloved KU Jayhawks basketball (or more games, anyway) -- when we moved from Kansas City to Washington DC.
     
    manicpopthrill likes this.
  9. Steve Martin

    Steve Martin Wild & Crazy Guy

    Location:
    Plano, TX
    Probably been used in commercials over the years and just became familiar.
     
    BeatleJWOL likes this.
  10. altaeria

    altaeria Forum Resident

    You probably did hear it on the radio. It was actually a top-10 single in multiple countries. Plus, you could've heard it in various commercials, or maybe doctor's offices and department store muzak.
     
    BeatleJWOL and Steve Litos like this.
  11. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    TONS of airplay back then...I liked the song better than the movie! Don't get me wrong the movie was fine, but the song was GREAT!
     
  12. Solaris

    Solaris a bullet in flight

    Location:
    New Orleans, LA
    It was huge in 1981. You seriously couldn't escape hearing it. A fine film for what it is, but the theme was iconic.
     
    BeatleJWOL likes this.
  13. OldSoul

    OldSoul Don't you hear the wind blowin'?

    Location:
    NYC
    Yeah, just a famous soundtrack song. It happens. Wasn't until a few years ago that I knew where it came from.
     
    BeatleJWOL likes this.
  14. AKA

    AKA Senior Member

  15. jojopuppyfish

    jojopuppyfish Senior Member

    Location:
    Maryland
    The opening scene on the beach is the best part of the movie.
    When I first watched this as a kid, my dad and I saw it because we couldn't believe anyone thought it was better than Raiders of the Lost Ark.
    It was a bore fest.

    So I tried to watch it again last year and kept falling asleep through it. It really isn't memorable.
    BTW the movie from 1981 that was better than Raiders of the Los Ark is Prince of the City. (Still like to see the extended tv cut)
     
    YardByrd likes this.
  16. daglesj

    daglesj Forum Resident

    Location:
    Norfolk, UK
    I'm about the same age (but live in the UK). I finally watched the movie about 10 years ago. I could not see what the fuss was about.

    :shrug:
     
    Rooster_Ties and jojopuppyfish like this.
  17. Bradd

    Bradd Now’s The Time

    Location:
    Chester, NJ
    I agree, the movie is fantastic: superb story, great writing and acting. A reminder of halcyon days of the British Empire.
     
  18. dkmonroe

    dkmonroe A completely self-taught idiot

    Location:
    Atlanta
    Yes, the theme was a huge hit back in the day. I don't think I saw the movie until about 20 years ago but the theme has always been very familiar.

    I think perhaps I waited too long to see the movie. I heard for years and years about what a great movie it was, and when I finally saw it, I was like, "Is that it?" :laugh:
     
    BeatleJWOL and daglesj like this.
  19. JamieC

    JamieC Senior Member

    Location:
    Detroit Mi USA
    Like
    Baby Elephant Walk(Hatari!)
    Windmills Of Your Mind(The Thomas Crown Affair)
    Mah Na Ma Nah(some soft core Swedish porno)
     
    Steve Litos likes this.
  20. Wildest cat from montana

    Wildest cat from montana Humble Reader

    Location:
    ontario canada
    It was a Number One hit in Billboard. Heard it hundreds of times.
     
  21. I'm in Australia and it was at the cinema just before or just after my THIRD birthday. Three. Now I can't vouch for radio airplay but I can say that until I was fifteen, every sports tribute/parody scene in a movie/TV show/cartoon used "Chariots Of Fire" or "The William Tell Overture" (or elements of them, enough to make it obvious which tune they wanted you to think of) until I firmly believe every member of my generation in this country heavily associates those tunes with racing (running of any kind by any creature) and thinks of those tunes for every event from the Olympics to watching their kids on sports day.
     
    Steve Litos likes this.
  22. fishcane

    fishcane Dirt Farmer

    Location:
    Finger Lakes,NY


    i was more into this film in 81... and On Golden Pond
     
    Steve Litos likes this.
  23. Big Jimbo

    Big Jimbo Forum Resident

    Location:
    NY
    It was also pretty much the first time anyone used New Age music for an historical film. Oldfield’s “Tubular Bells” was used a few years earlier for “The Exorcist” but that was a more contemporary setting...not 60 years earlier as “Chariots of Fire”.
     
  24. Dillydipper

    Dillydipper Space-Age luddite

    Location:
    Central PA
    People should try to become more aware of how much musical information is in their lives through unexpected sources, from marching band covers under the Friday Night Lights, to visits to the grocery store. Many people don't even think about all the times they flip radio stations in the car when a commercial comes on your "favorite station" (it's one of the biggest frustrations of the traditional radio ratings methodology: people just don't remember when they flipped off of the Geico commercial, and their radio sat on that "office-listening station" until the Celine Dion song came on).

    There are songs your brain retains the complete length of, then you'll hear it on a commercial, and subconsciously the whole song will play in your head, and you'll have no idea what triggered it. You could be in a lobby waiting to pick up your pizza, or poolside while the LifeGuard clears out the water for fifteen minutes. Waiting in line at the License Bureau, or at the convenience store before you buy a lottery ticket.

    And, the fact that your thread title says you were 12 when the song came out. Now, that's an empty "hard drive" right there, with lots of "free space" for recording random events...:idea:
     
    altaeria and BeatleJWOL like this.
  25. vince

    vince Stan Ricker's son-in-law

    The song WAS a hit, I believe...
    When Ween performed one of their songs that had the same chords, they added it to the end of the song, when performed live!
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine