With Eye Of The Tiger, Survivor has classic Rocky rock songs that inspire athletes around the world.

Number 2 hits come in all shapes and sizes. Some are now almost forgotten, others have achieved all-time status, despite not being able to reach the coveted number 1 position in the Dutch Top 40.

This week marks the 40th anniversary of the Rocky III theme song Tiger Eyes to second place of the Dutch Top 40 peaked. Sylvester Stallone (Rocky III star and film writer and director) originally wanted Others Bite Dust from Queen for the film, but not allowed. Then Tony Scotti, from Scotti Brothers Records, showed him some songs from Survivor. The band was signed under the Scotti label. Sylvester Stallone commissioned Survivor lead songwriters Jim Peterik and Frankie Sullivan to write the theme song for the new Rocky III. This one should be very different from Bill Conti’s Gonna Fly Now from the first Rocky film. Not an orchestra theme, but a pop song for young consumers. Guitarist Jim Peterik has Another One Bites The Dust in mind as he writes. He started with a few cut chords and guitar riffs popped up when he saw the punch in the raw film version. The title is a quote from Apollo Creed, Rocky’s new coach, who encouraged him after the death of his old coach Mickey (“Now when we fight… you have tiger eyes”). The boxing ring is Clubber Lang, played by Mr T, best known as BA. at The A-Team.

The song was originally going to be titled Survival due to the rhyme scheme, but became Eye Of The Tiger. Survivor guitarist and co-founder Frankie Sullivan, who is a huge admirer of Muhammad Ali, wrote most of the lyrics. Stallone was very happy with the demo version, but wanted to hear louder drums and additional verse. Singer Dave Bickler has a wide vocal range and his voice has some similarities to that of Steve Perry from Journey.

Rocky III premiered on May 18, 1982, and the single topped the Billboard Hot 100 that same week. A month later, Eye Of The Tiger was already in the top 40, earning six weeks at number 1. The song achieved double platinum status and became the best-selling single of 1982 in the US. It also became a number 1 hit in the UK. In our country, Eye Of The Tiger entered the Top 40 after 3 weeks of the Tipparade on September 11 of that year (along with the first U2 hit I Will Follow (Live). Four weeks later, the single reached number 2. Private Investigation van Dire Straits kept the tiger’s eye away from the top spot. It was the other way around on the UK charts.

In 1985, Sylvester Stallone again appealed to Survivor. For Rocky IV, where the main character fought Russian boxer Ivan Drago, they came up with Burning heart. This theme song peaks again with us to number 2, behind the soundtrack of The Jewel Of The Nile: When the journey becomes difficult, the difficult becomes gone by Billy Ocean. In their own country, they almost scored the number 1 goal again. James Brown also contributed his music to Rocky IV. Written by Dan Hartman Live in America also made it into the top 10 with us. In the US, both songs from Rocky IV became top 5 hits. On Burning Heart vocalist Dave Bickler was replaced by Jimi Jameson.

Survivor was never in the Dutch Top 40 again after that. What’s even more remarkable is that both hits went to number 2 and came from the Rocky movies. Other boxing-related number 2 hits include In Zaire by Johnny Wakelin and World’s Greatest by R. Kelly (from the film Ali, played by Will Smith).

Eye Of The Tiger eventually became a classic, especially in the world of sports. Ranging from marathon running, weightlifting to wrestling. Hit has been used in many movies and TV shows. Survivor record executive Tony Scotti even produced a film called Eye Of The Tiger in 1986.

The song won a Grammy Award for ‘Best Rock Performance by Duo or Group with Vocal’ and was also nominated for Song Of The Year. It lost to Always in my mind by Willie Nelson. It was also nominated for an Oscar in the Best Original Song category, losing to Until Where We Have.

In 2004 Eye Of The Tiger was used for a Starbucks commercial, which featured Survivor itself.

In 2012, Frankie Sullivan sued American politician Newt Gingrich for using the song at a campaign event without permission during his candidacy for the Republican nomination. A year later, Katy Perry referenced The Eye Of The Tiger on roar (I got the eye of a tiger, a warrior). His version also became a number 2 hit in our country and number 1 in the US and UK. The singer did not pay royalties to the Survivor songwriters, but they decided against taking legal action.

Eye Of The Tiger still has a big impact with its positive energy. Hardly any sporting or political event is complete without this classic Rocky song.

Eye Of The Tiger has for two weeks been at number 2 behind Private Investigations (by Dire Straits) since October 9, 1982.