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

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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

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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

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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)

1985 Best Original Song - The First Time Madonna Was Robbed

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WON: "Say You, Say Me," White Nights

SHOULD'VE WON: "Separate Lives," White Nights

If 1984 is a merely frustrating year of Best Original Song at the Oscars - given the lack of Purple Rain love and Stevie Wonder having defeated four marvelous songs with a piece of cornball fluff - 1985 is a flat-out aggravating affair, a year featuring not one or two but really five pretty ho-hom tracks, all at the expense of at least half a dozen vastly superior contenders that failed to make the cut.

Eligible for consideration in '85 were, among others: Simple Minds' spectacularly iconic "Don't You (Forget About Me)," from The Breakfast Club; Journey's "Only the Young" and Madonna's dazzling "Crazy for You," both from Vision Quest; Madonna's "Into the Groove," from Desperately Seeking Susan, arguably among both her finest records and the best songs of the '80s; Tina Turner's "We Don't Need Another Hero," from Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome; Duran Duran's rollicking theme to A View to a Kill; and DeBarge's delightful "Rhythm of the Night," from The Last Dragon. (If nominated, I would've been most torn between "Don't You (Forget About Me)" and "Crazy for You.")

Alas, leave it to the Academy to overlook all of those fantastic tunes in favor of a supremely unremarkable fivesome of nominees.

The big man on campus this year was Lionel Richie, who not only scored two nominations here (winning for "Say You, Say Me," nominated for co-writing "Miss Celie's Blues") but also in '85 went on to win the Album of the Year prize at the Grammys for Can't Slow Down (one of the all-time worst and most inexplicable AOTY victories, by the way, beating Cyndi Lauper, Prince, Bruce Springsteen and Tina Turner).

While I'm mildly fond of "Miss Celie's Blues," mostly on account of my great affection for The Color Purple (it was also composed by the legendary Quincy Jones and Rod Temperton), I cannot find much of anything to be fond about with "Say You, Say Me." It's a record emblematic of all I can't stand about Richie's work, a lifeless, uber-generic, clunky piece of elevator muzak, with the most headache-inducing of '80s soft rock production values. At least "Endless Love" had Diana Ross to provide some merit. This is just like molasses to my ears, almost as dreadful as the two Maureen McGovern winners.

Huey Lewis and the News, another '80s act I'm not the least bit fond of, also showed up here in '85, with "The Power of Love" from Back to the Future. Terrific film, one of the most entertaining pictures of the decade - it certainly deserved more than the four nominations and one win it garnered at the Oscars this year. But "The Power of Love"? Give me a break. This lame yuppie pop-rock could've showed up in just about any '80s comedy.

Beyond Mr. Richie and Mr. Lewis, this category gets a tad brighter, but just a little bit.

"Surprise, Surprise," from Richard Attenborough's unfortunate film adaptation of A Chorus Line, is almost awe-inspiring in the heights of '80s cheese it manages to reach but it does feature a gangbusters performance by Gregg Burge, an immensely talented dancer who tragically died of a brain tumor at age 40, a little more than a decade following the film. 

My favorite this year, however, would have to be another Phil Collins-performed record, this time "Separate Lives," his duet with the lovely Marilyn Martin, from White Nights. This isn't a great song - I wouldn't nominate it over any of the aforementioned non-nominees - but it is a nice, listenable piece of adult contemporary, composed by Stephen Bishop, who did such a charming job performing nominee "It Might Be You" (from Tootsie) back in '82.

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. "When You Wish Upon a Star," Pinocchio (1940)
  20. "Thanks for the Memory," The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938)
  21. "Lullaby of Broadway," Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935)
  22. "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah," Song of the South (1947)
  23. "Flashdance...What a Feeling," Flashdance (1983)
  24. "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," Arthur (1981)
  25. "Last Dance," Thank God It's Friday (1978)
  26. "Days of Wine and Roses," Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
  27. "For All We Know," Lovers and Other Strangers (1970)
  28. "All the Way," The Joker Is Wild (1957)
  29. "It Might As Well Be Spring," State Fair (1945)
  30. "The Last Time I Saw Paris," Lady Be Good (1941)
  31. "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening," Here Comes the Groom (1951)
  32. "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing," Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)
  33. "It Goes Like It Goes," Norma Rae (1979)
  34. "Born Free," Born Free (1966)
  35. "Never on Sunday," Never on Sunday (1960)
  36. "I Just Called to Say I Love You," The Woman in Red (1984)
  37. "Up Where We Belong," An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
  38. "Three Coins in the Fountain," Three Coins in the Fountain (1954)
  39. "Chim Chim Cher-ee," Mary Poppins (1964)
  40. "Call Me Irresponsible," Papa's Delicate Condition (1963)
  41. "Evergreen (Theme from A Star Is Born)," A Star Is Born (1976)
  42. "Swinging on a Star," Going My Way (1944)
  43. "You Light Up My Life," You Light Up My Life (1977)
  44. "Gigi," Gigi (1958)
  45. "The Continental," The Gay Divorcee (1934)
  46. "Sweet Leilani," Waikiki Wedding (1937)
  47. "Buttons and Bows," The Paleface (1948)
  48. "Talk to the Animals," Doctor Dolittle (1967)
  49. "The Shadow of Your Smile," The Sandpiper (1965)
  50. "Say You, Say Me," White Nights (1985)
  51. "The Morning After," The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
  52. "We May Never Love Like This Again," The Towering Inferno (1974)

1984 Best Original Song - Stevie Ain't Afraid of No Ghostbusters (or Kevin Bacon)

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WON: "I Just Called to Say I Love You," The Woman in Red

SHOULD'VE WON: "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)," Against All Odds

Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called to Say I Love You" is a sweet, charmingly corny trifle, easily the most notable thing (well, besides Kelly LeBrock) from Gene Wilder's underwhelming midlife crisis comedy The Woman in Red. Its performance by Wonder and the cast of The Cosby Show is truly one of the great and iconic sitcom moments of the 1980s. In most years, I wouldn't much mind Wonder having prevailed.

Alas, in 1984 Best Original Song, Wonder's victory was downright criminal. Not only did "I Just Called to Say I Love You" defeat four vastly superior tracks but its presence also aided in keeping Prince's sublime Purple Rain from scoring a single nomination in Original Song.

Purple Rain, which did score its leading man an Oscar in the now-defunct "Best Original Song Score" category, could have conceivably filled out an entire Original Song line-up on its own, with the legendary likes of the title track, "When Doves Cry" (which scored a Golden Globe nom), "Let's Go Crazy," "I Would Die 4 U" and "The Beautiful Ones." Alas, perhaps because of vote-splitting among the contenders (or, just as likely, some Academy members' aversion to Prince), it ended up missing-in-action on Oscar nominations morning.

As for the four truly kickass nominees that did make the cut, I think I can split the foursome into two tiers, one a tad superior to the other, but both leaps and bounds more memorable than the Wonder tune. Note that all four of these songs clocked in at number one on Billboard's Hot 100 in '84.

"Footloose" and "Ghostbusters," from their eponymous blockbusters, are among probably the 10 or so most recognizable movie tracks of the '80s. Kenny Loggins' "Footloose" marks one of the most exciting and exuberant records of the artist's terrific (and I would argue awfully underrated) career, and the image of Kevin Bacon getting his groove on on the dance floor can't be beat. Ray Parker Jr.'s "Ghostbusters" is surely a tad on the cheesy side, and it's not a record to be listened to over and over again, but it's such a pitch-perfect fit for the film and deliriously catchy. It's also, I think, a pretty timeless record, even with the aggressive '80s production values.

Much as I enjoy "Footloose" and "Ghostbusters," however, I'm even more enamored with the remaining two nominees, neither of which I would hesitate to place on a list of the top 50 songs of the decade.

"Let's Hear It for the Boy," performed by the always-dazzling Deniece Williams (who, despite four Grammys and a handful of hits, never quite got the attention I think she deserved), is an irresistible piece of bubble gum R&B-pop. Good luck not singing along. Ultimately, however, while it is a close call, I have to go with "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" as my winner here, and this is coming from someone who, as you'll see through future categories, isn't always too keen on Phil Collins. He couldn't be better here, however. It's an immensely moving, even haunting record, from the film of the same name (one of the decade's most purely sexy pictures, featuring the jaw-droppingly gorgeous Rachel Ward and Jeff Bridges in beefcake mode).

Oh, and then there's this.

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. "When You Wish Upon a Star," Pinocchio (1940)
  20. "Thanks for the Memory," The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938)
  21. "Lullaby of Broadway," Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935)
  22. "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah," Song of the South (1947)
  23. "Flashdance...What a Feeling," Flashdance (1983)
  24. "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," Arthur (1981)
  25. "Last Dance," Thank God It's Friday (1978)
  26. "Days of Wine and Roses," Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
  27. "For All We Know," Lovers and Other Strangers (1970)
  28. "All the Way," The Joker Is Wild (1957)
  29. "It Might As Well Be Spring," State Fair (1945)
  30. "The Last Time I Saw Paris," Lady Be Good (1941)
  31. "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening," Here Comes the Groom (1951)
  32. "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing," Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)
  33. "It Goes Like It Goes," Norma Rae (1979)
  34. "Born Free," Born Free (1966)
  35. "Never on Sunday," Never on Sunday (1960)
  36. "I Just Called to Say I Love You," The Woman in Red (1984)
  37. "Up Where We Belong," An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
  38. "Three Coins in the Fountain," Three Coins in the Fountain (1954)
  39. "Chim Chim Cher-ee," Mary Poppins (1964)
  40. "Call Me Irresponsible," Papa's Delicate Condition (1963)
  41. "Evergreen (Theme from A Star Is Born)," A Star Is Born (1976)
  42. "Swinging on a Star," Going My Way (1944)
  43. "You Light Up My Life," You Light Up My Life (1977)
  44. "Gigi," Gigi (1958)
  45. "The Continental," The Gay Divorcee (1934)
  46. "Sweet Leilani," Waikiki Wedding (1937)
  47. "Buttons and Bows," The Paleface (1948)
  48. "Talk to the Animals," Doctor Dolittle (1967)
  49. "The Shadow of Your Smile," The Sandpiper (1965)
  50. "The Morning After," The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
  51. "We May Never Love Like This Again," The Towering Inferno (1974)