Mini-Countdown: 5 Songs From The 1980s You Won't Believe Were Nominated For An Oscar!

Ah, the 1980s. Huge shoulder-pads, tight trousers and more hairspray than you could shake a stick at - and that was just some of the men! This was the decade that brought us such questionable musical 'talent' as Jive Bunny And The Mastermixers, Bucks Fizz and Glenn Medeiros. It also brought us this quintet of songs which were all nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song during the 1980s. All of these nominations came as a complete surprise to me. Maybe they will for you too.


1. 'For Your Eyes Only' (1981)





This is not the first James Bond theme song to get a Best Original Song Oscar nod- both 'Live And Let Die' and 'Nobody Does It Better' from The Spy Who Loved Me were also nominated (but didn't win)- but it did surprise me that Sheena Easton's rather insipid track got the nod at the 54th Annual Academy Awards in 1982. The theme tune from Arthur actually got the Oscar.




2. 'Eye Of The Tiger' (1982)





At the 55th Annual Academy Awards in 1983, Survivor's anthemic 'Eye Of The Tiger' from Rocky III was one of the five songs nominated. It was beaten to the Oscar by 'Up Where We Belong' from An Officer And A Gentlemen.




3. 'Ghostbusters' (1984)





If there's something strange in your neighbourhood, who ya gonna call? Yep, Ray Parker Jr.'s theme song went up against songs from Footloose, The Woman In Red and Against All Odds at the 57th Annual Academy Awards in 1985. The Oscar actually went to 'I Just Called To Say I Love You' by Stevie Wonder from The Woman In Red.




4. 'Glory Of Love' (1986)





The fact that Peter Cetera's slushy quintessentially 80s power ballad was seen as worthy for an Oscar nomination at the 59th Annual Academy Awards in 1987 boggles the mind. Taken from The Karate Kid Part II, it was beaten to the Oscar by another slushy quintessentially 80s power ballad, 'Take My Breath Away' from Top Gun. But am I the only one to think that there's been an absolute robbery in the fact that 'Mean Green Mother From Outer Space' from Little Shop Of Horrors didn't win? No? Just me then...




5. 'Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now' (1987)





No, I am not joking. This utterly cheesy rock ballad, which was the main theme to Mannequin, was one of the five songs nominated at the 60th Annual Academy Awards in 1988. Which means that Mannequin can officially be called an Oscar-nominated movie. What on Earth? It didn't win the Oscar - that went to '(I've Had) The Time Of My Life' from Dirty Dancing. Given the alternative winner, I don't know whether we've had a lucky escape or not.


And if you think some of these choices were odd, wait til you see some of the ones nominated in the 1990s...


Tez