The Best Song Podcast

Episode 63: Sighs and Whispers (1995)

The members of the music branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences split the original score category in two in 1995, but the rules for original song stayed the same. Pop songs and traditional movie songs were still in the running for the biggest movie award, including a chance for Alan Menken to earn a record-tying fourth Original Song Oscar. His competition included Oscar winners John Williams, Alan and Marilyn Bergman, and Bruce Springsteen, all of whom wrote some compelling movie songs.

Episode 62: Kings and Vagabonds (1994)

Tim Rice returns to the show to offer a masterclass in songwriting as he talks about writing the lyrics for the three Oscar-nominated songs from the animated movie The Lion King. He details how the song "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" changed and why writing a song for a warthog shouldn't feel much different from writing for "the wife of an Argentinian dictator."

Episode 61: Don’t Turn Your Back On Me (1993)

The pop music world invaded the Academy Awards honoring films from 1993, with Janet Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, and James Ingram among the nominees for the Best Original Song Oscar. Host Jeff Commings has many stories to share about the creation of the five Oscar-nominated songs, and why Danny Elfman couldn't join the roster for his songs from The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Episode 60: Won’t You Hold Me In Your Arms?(1992)

Host Jeff Commings invited not one, not two, but THREE Oscar-nominated songwriters to this episode to share their behind-the-scenes tales of creating two of the five Oscar nominees for original song of 1992. Jud Friedman and Allan Rich talk about writing "Run to You" for Whitney Houston and creating a guerilla campaign for an Oscar nomination. Tim Rice discusses his detour into writing songs for Aladdin and how Alan Menken's melody for "A Whole New World" helped shape the lyrics.

Episode 59: The Stars Are All My Friends (1991)

History was made with the Original Song Oscar nominees from 1991, as three songs from one movie made the list. Those songs came from the Disney animated film Beauty and the Beast, which was a landmark film in more ways than its song nominations. Host Jeff Commings guides you through this major year for movie songs, highlighting a worldwide hit by Bryan Adams and one of the two songs to survive a major retooling of Steven Spielberg's movie about a grown-up Peter Pan.

Episode 58: I’m a Devil on the Run (1990)

Broadway legend Stephen Sondheim earned his first Oscar nomination for writing a song for the action film Dick Tracy, pitting himself for the industry's highest award against a number-one song by Jon Bon Jovi, and a rare song composition by John Williams. Host Jeff Commings also details the hit songs that missed out on a nomination, including others that Sondheim wrote for Dick Tracy, and an Alan Menken song performed by Elton John for Rocky V.

Episode 57: I Guess It Must Be Fate (1989)

Dean Pitchford returns to the show to talk about achieving his fourth Oscar nomination, this time for the love ballad "After All." He discusses writing a more "mature" song than he had written for previous films, why Cher and Peter Cetera didn't record their vocals at the same time, and why he felt his song had little chance to win the Original Song Oscar. After listening to all five nominated songs on this episode, you can decide for yourself which song deserved to win the Academy Award for 1989.

Episode 56: Riding on the Water (1988)

Only three songs were nominated for the Academy Award in 1988, the first time the list of nominees was that low since the 1930s. An Academy rule forced the list to be cut to three in that year, and the ones that made the final list gave Oscar voters a tough choice over which should be picked as the best of the year. Host Jeff Commings details those three songs, and mentions a comeback song from The Beach Boys that might have finished in fourth place in nominations voting.