Gymnastics in the Dusty Vinyl Archive? What in the Wide World of Sports is going on here?
Is another Monday morning leaving you unable to get up off the mat? Well, The Nest is going to have you doing some rhythmic dancing as we dig out another world record we hope won’t get shattered from that Olympic sized swimming pool full of lost hits we like to call the Dusty Vinyl Archive! DJ Scratchy’s rosining up her hooves right now as she looks to perfectly time the needle drop on today’s song, while the Sponkies try to gracefully walk the balance beam to impress the Russian judge. It’s time to put on our spandex onesies and go for the gold…
It was some kind of unwritten law back in the 1980’s that every movie that appeared at a theater near you had to contain at least one custom written theme song that was worthy of becoming a radio hit. It was the decade of the popular soundtrack, after all. That meant that some movies are even less remembered than the songs they spawned onto the music charts. Like, for instance, the 1986 movie about a male gymnast with Olympic dreams, American Anthem…
Ummmm…. male gymnast?
Let’s face it… though the plot of the movie followed football player turned gymnast Steve Tevere… anyone who remembers this movie at all probably only recalls that the female lead was Janet Jones, aka Mrs. Wayne Gretzky, who was the apple of many men’s eyes in the late 80’s.
Oh, and the movie had some ear candy as well. Like former Duran Duran guitarist Andy Taylor performing his lone solo hit, and a song that rocks entirely too much to have been associated with a movie about gymnastics. With apologies to The Eagles, here is the best song ever titled “Take It Easy”…
After playing third and fourth fiddle behind the likes of Simon LeBon and Robert Palmer during the first half of the 80’s, Andy Taylor came out on his own and knocked this one out of the park! I loved this song then, and still love it now…. even though it was only a #24 hit in 1986, and is almost entirely forgotten about now like the movie it came from.
And Andy had some interesting help in making “Take It Easy” sound so easy. He borrowed the bassist and the drummer from new wave act Missing Persons. Yes, that drummer in the video is none other than Terry Bozzio, the guy who looked like this just five years earlier…
Hey, this makeup makes me look prettier than Mrs. Gretzky!
No, Terry. It doesn’t…
I will have another pretty lost hit earworm for you next Monday…
Evil Squirrel's Nest 
love it too!!! omg 1986… I was …not old yeah!!!
Yeah, me neither!
Gosh – never heard this song and never heard of the movie but 1986 was a weird year for me personally so I’ll use that as my excuse! The song rocks FOR SURE……. 🙂
Pam
Neither song nor movie stuck around very long. I’ll always remember the song, but I only remember the movie because my sisters watched it every time it came on HBO, because….. gymnastics! I hated my sisters’ movies, but they always had great music!
Nice beat. Found it interesting that in the movie Mrs. Gretsky’s haircut was only slightly longer (but very similar) to her Hall of Fame hubby back in the day. Guess there were only two haircuts back in the 80’s…mullet or awful. Sometimes the two converged. ☺️
It’s always convenient when husband and wife can go to the same hairstylist. I do hope Janet didn’t share a dentist with Wayne, though…
🤣
A most excellent selection. Had this on a 45. The guitars, bass and drums provide a rock solid and irresistible foundation.
As much as I loved Duran Duran’s sound, I also like how Andy grew more and more into a rocker the further he moved away from DD’s influence. This song would have been a hit had it been in a better movie…
I don’t remember ever hearing this one, but I sure do like the sound!
Good way to start a music Monday! 🙂
No problem! Happy to share another lost piece of music history…
Wow. Steve looks almost prettier than Julie. Ahhhh those 80’s pretty boys.
Great song. Andy Taylor knocks it out of the park.
Between the porn stached 70’s and the grungy goateed 90’s was the clean shaven (and probably waxed) 80’s pretty boy. Certainly a unique decade…
It wasn’t a drum kit in the 80s unless there were at least 500 drums. Or sometimes two or three very flat electronic drums. But this guy’s gone for the traditional look.
I liked the sound of those electric drum sets. Can’t understand why they were only used for a few years in the 80’s…