Oscar's Favorite Tunes Revisited: The 1970s
1970: “For All We Know” (Fred Karlin, Robb Royer, Jimmy Griffin) from Lovers and Other Strangers. It may be a perfect accompaniment for a wedding sequence, this sweet song performed by Larry Meredith in this clip. The tune was made popular by The Carpenters.
1971: “Theme from Shaft” (Isaac Hayes) from Shaft. Hayes’s most popular tune is a funky piece very much unlike previous Oscar winners. Hayes became the first African-American to win the category.
1972: “The Morning After” (Al Kasha, Joel Hirschhorn) from The Poseidon Adventure. Maureen McGovern had her first hit with this song (it’s her version in the clip), but it was first performed in this disaster movie.
1973: “The Way We Were” (Marvin Hamlisch, Marilyn Bergman, Alan Bergman) from The Way We Were. Barbra Streisand (the film’s co-star) sings this somewhat sleepy tune, co-written by the Bergmans who picked up their second Oscar.
1974: “We May Never Love Like This Again” (Al Kasha, Joel Hirschhorn) from The Towering Inferno. The guys who wrote an Oscar-winning tune for a previous disaster movie returned to repeat the success; Maureen McGovern, who sang “The Morning After”, also returned. The song is not bad at all, but definitely bears similarities to that other tune.
1975: “I’m Easy” (Keith Carradine) from Nashville. This clip, a scene from the film, shows the low-key song performed by Carradine in a room full of movie stars watching him intensely.
1976: “Evergreen” (Barbra Streisand, Paul Williams) from A Star is Born. This movie surely was a showcase for Streisand, and so perhaps was the song. It is still one of her best, though.
1977: “You Light Up My Life” (Joseph Brooks) from You Light Up My Life. Written by the director, this song can be unbelievably boring, but Pat Boone’s daughter Debby brought some passion to it. Here she is performing it at the Grammys.
1978: “Last Dance” (Paul Jabara) from Thank God It’s Friday. The first disco tune to win an Oscar is one of Donna Summer’s greatest hits. It doesn’t really do anything for me, but it is interesting as a milestone. The clip is from the movie.
1979: “It Goes Like It Goes” (David Shire, Norman Gimbel) from Norma Rae. A return to more traditional rhythms with this song, performed by Jennifer Warnes, accompanying scenes from the film. A good song, but we have indeed heard it before.
Published by Stefan Hedmark 2009-06-13 14:16
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