The Best Song Podcast

Episode 45: The Way That You Hold Me (1977)

One of the most popular songs of the 1970s found its way onto the list of Academy Award nominees for 1977, and the story of the song's rise to fame is just a small part of the legacy of "You Light Up My Life." Host Jeff Commings talks about the song's history and its post-Oscars aftermath, as well as the two songs nominated from Disney movies that year, a retelling of the Cinderella story, and the second Bond song to receive an Oscar nomination.

Episode 44: Girls in Sleeveless Jackets (1976)

Horror, comedy, romance, and action are all represented in the five songs nominated for the Academy Award from 1976. Host Jeff Commings tells the stories of the creation of Barbra Streisand's first songwriting effort, Bill Conti's on-the-cheap recording of the Rocky theme song, and how Peter Sellers made an earnest love song laugh-out-loud funny.

Episode 43: Take My Hand and Pull Me Down (1975)

The first guest of The Best Song Podcast is Keith Carradine, who talks with host Jeff Commings about writing the Oscar-nominated song "I'm Easy" for the 1975 Robert Altman film Nashville. Carradine tells of the origins of the film's concept, including having actors write and perform their own songs, and how he handled the sudden award attention for his song. You'll also learn about the other four songs nominated for the 1975 Academy Award and why Carradine thought "the Motown machine" made one song a likely Oscar winner.

Episode 42: Your Laugh Turned On the Sun (1974)

The list of five songs nominated for the 1974 Academy Award were about as diverse as you could get. Not only did Mel Brooks give us a comedy song about the fake sheriff at the center of his movie Blazing Saddles, but an unknown songwriting duo offered up a jaunty song about a loveable dog. There's also the conventional love ballad and a sweet tribute to a fictional child in a musical that marked the return of legendary songwriters Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe. Host Jeff Commings offers up a somber piece of history regarding the five nominated songs and how their unpopularity made this year seemingly forgettable in the list of Oscar-nominated tunes.

Episode 41: With Affection From a Sentimental Fool (1973)

After many years of trying, a theme song from a James Bond movie finally broke through and received an Oscar nomination! Paul and Linda McCartney made history with "Live and Let Die," not only ushering in a new chapter for James Bond songs, but showing that rock music can be a part of Academy history two years after "Theme From Shaft" won the Academy Award. Host Jeff Commings talks more about the story to bring "Live and Let Die" to the screen, and the extremely popular Barbra Streisand song that brought her back into global popularity and made her songwriters the talk of Hollywood.

Episode 40: Listen to the Distant Drums (1972)

The conversation surrounding the Oscar-nominated songs from 1972 might start with the songs that were not nominated, instead of the five that made the cut. Two original songs from the hit movie Cabaret, which remains one of the oddities of Academy Award history, especially knowing how loved the movie itself was by the Academy. Host Jeff Commings gives a history of the five nominated songs, including a love song for a killer rat and a love song in the midst of immense tragedy.

Episode 39: Let It Shine All Around Them (1971)

Johnny Mercer's 18th and final Oscar nomination for songwriting came for a conventional movie song that was competing for the big award alongside a song that was the equivalent of a 9.1 earthquake. Shaft featured a no-holds-barred black New York private investigator and a no-holds-barred theme song that shook up the list of five Oscar nominees from that year. Isaac Hayes, who was new to the Hollywood game, wrote a song that sounded new but also fit the formula of other title songs that came before it. At a time when the Academy was still hesitant to accept anything other than love ballads as Oscar winners, host Jeff Commings brings you the story of the race for the Original Song Oscar for 1970 on this episode of The Best Song Podcast.

Episode 38: We’ve Got a Lifetime to Share (1970)

Competition was tight for the Original Song Oscar for songs released in 1970, as six of the 11 Oscar nominees had already won at least one Oscar. The five songs weren't immensely popular with the public, but they did provide some intriguing storylines as two members of a moderately popular rock and roll band wrote a conventional love ballad and used pseudonyms in case the song was a flop. Henry Mancini found himself writing his first song for Julie Andrews, and Leslie Bricusse was gunning for another Oscar with another song from a British musical. Find out which one wins on The Best Song Podcast!