This 1985 Rock No. 1, Theme Song For Brat Pack Flick Of The Same Name, Topped Charts 41 Years Ago Today

The song that stood atop the Billboard Hot 100 on September 11, 1985, is a musical statement of purpose, intention, and action: John Parr's "St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)." It likely provided inspiration to countless people in the mid-1980s, and certainly drove enough record buyers and radio listeners to the single that it spent two weeks as the No. 1 song in the United States.

Culled from the soundtrack of the coming-of-age movie name-checked in the first half of its title, "St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)" is one of many movie theme songs that ruled the pop charts. Parr's song was co-written with David Foster, who transformed Chicago from '70s has-beens into a mainstream band that scored pop hits, and it shows how rock music, once considered so potentially dangerous and unseemly, had spread far and broken into many factions by the mid-'80s. Now there was room for works that were musically gentle and powered by machine-made instrumentation and empowering lyrics. Here's how "St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)," a song from 1985 that defines rock history, took over the radio in the fall of 1985.

In addition to composing the score for "St. Elmo's Fire," a 1985 drama about a group of post-collegiate friends, David Foster was responsible for the film's theme song. Then Columbia Pictures changed the release date and put a rush on that tune. By the time Foster recruited John Parr, whom he liked based on his sole Top 40 hit, "Naughty Naughty," they had a day to get the music done.

Then Parr dove into the lyrics, which he was supposed to come up with based on a few scenes from "St. Elmo's Fire" he'd screened. He wasn't particularly inspired, so he turned his thoughts to Rick Hansen. A decorated Paralympics athlete and repeat wheelchair marathon winner, Hansen spent most of 1985 on the Man in Motion World Tour, piloting his wheelchair on a charitable global journey. Despite the specific references to Hansen and his remarkable undertaking, Parr kept the lyrics to "St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)" deliberately ambiguous so the track could reasonably fit into the film.

At any rate, audiences embraced the song. While "St. Elmo's Fire" earned a moderate $37 million or so at the box office, "St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)" was explosive, spending most of the summer of 1985 on the Hot 100 and moving up to No. 1 for two weeks in early September.