The LA Times posted video of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis giving Sly his Hollywood Lifetime Achievement Award.
Author: Craig
Sly, Jim Peterik & Eye of the Tiger
On October 26, 2010, Smashing Interviews Magazine posted an interview with Jim Peterik the founder of Survivor and composer of the classic “Eye of the Tiger.” Did you know that Jim was also in the band Ides of March famous for the #1 hit “Vehicle” that he wrote? The song also appeared in the Stallone film “Lockup.” Jim also wrote hit songs for 38 Special and Sammy Hagar.
Here’s what Jim had to say about Sly and “Eye of the Tiger”…
Melissa Parker (Smashing Interviews Magazine): How did you get involved in writing “Eye of the Tiger” for Rocky III?
Jim Peterik: That was just a miracle event as far as I’m concerned. Apparently Stallone had caught wind of Survivor and liked our sound. One day I got a message on my answering machine. This sounds like a story one would make up but I pressed the button and heard, “Hey, yo Jim, give me a call. It’s Sylvester Stallone.” I’m thinking, “Yeah, whatever.”
I called the number and sure enough it was Stallone. He tells me about this new movie and that he doesn’t want to use “Gonna Fly Now” anymore. He wanted something new, “something with a pulse and for the kids.” Stallone said, “I’m going to send you the movie.”
Frankie came over and we watched the film. Frankie said, “This is going to be enormous.” I had my electric guitar in my hand, the punches were being thrown in the movie, and I was feeling the pulse. I just started doing that bap bap bap bap on the guitar, not knowing that riff would become pretty much etched in American consciousness to this day.
I sent the demo of the song to Stallone and he goes, “Oh yeah, that’s it. You got it. Just write me a third verse. You got a little lazy there.” So we did and the rest is history. It’s an amazing story that really put us on the map. What amazes me is it’s still so popular. We’re still on the Billboard charts under downloads. We’re like #22 or something.
Melissa Parker (Smashing Interviews Magazine): Colleges that have tiger mascots play the song during football games.
Jim Peterik: I’ve been asked to do halftime at LSU in November. I’ll be singing that song with the band. That’ll be a real thrill.
You can read the entire interview here.
Sly & Family @ the Hollywood Awards
The Examiner had the photo above and many others of celebs in attendance at the Hollywood Awards.
Sly Speaks to the BBC News
The BBC News has a short little video of Sly and family on the red carpet at the Hollywood Awards.
Sly: Original Casting Choice for…
On October 26, 2010, Moviehole posted the first part of Clint Morris’ article titled 50 Original Casting Choices. Sly made the list twice so far:
- 50. The Terminator (1984) – Sylvester Stallone as ‘The Terminator’
We’ve all heard the stories of O.J Simpson (James Cameron’s favourite to take on the role before coming to the humorous conclusion that America wouldn’t believe such a ‘nice guy’ could be a killer) and Lance Henriksen (He did a great screen test, arriving to the office in character, but wasn’t quite Terminator material. Instead, Cameron cast him as a cop in the film) being up for the T-800, but did you know Sylvester Stallone was actually offered the role of the time-travelling assassin? Sly passed not long before Cameron got wind of Arnold Schwarzenegger, actually.
- 40. Beverly Hills Cop (1984) – Sylvester Stallone as ‘Axel Foley’
You all know this one, right? Sly was originally cast as Axel Foley in a more action-centric, less-comical “Beverly Hills Cop” movie. Sly ultimately abandoned the project (all the tinkering with the script turned him off) and the project was later rewritten for “48 Hours” and “Trading Places” funnyman Eddie Murphy.
Holy Moly! It’s Sly and the Family
That’s Sly, Jennifer and two of their girls at the Hollywood Awards. You can see this photo and those of other celebs in attendance thanks to the good folks at Holy Moly!
Sly Gets Hollywood Lifetime Achievement Award
Sylvester Stallone, center, hides behind his ‘Hollywood Career Achievement Award’ as he poses with actor Bruce Willis, left, and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger backstage at the 14th Annual Hollywood Awards Gala in Beverly Hills, Calif., Monday, Oct. 25, 2010.
AP Photo/Chris Pizzello
- Hitflix has a larger version of the photo and many some of other celebs at the event.
Alex Owens: Rocky
Alex Owens‘ art has appeared on the StalloneZone before. He did a cool Rambo piece that I posted here. This time Alex is back with his take on Sly as Rocky. I discovered Alex’s art through his Deviant Art site. [link] I commissioned this and a few other pieces last year.
Vintage Paradise Alley Interview
SZ, Didier sent in this link to this vintage interview with Sly during the time he was filming Paradise Alley!
Sly a Great Choice to Direct…
Film School Rejects posted their choices for who should direct the movie adaptation of Halo. Guess who is listed as their first choice? Here’s what they had to say…
The Pitch: It’s really quite simple. Does Halo have guns? Is Halo a “Mature” rated video game? Is there the equivalent of military personnel? Well, then who better to helm what should be a considerably violent picture than the man who would arm his actors with tank cannons that produce Tom Savini-esque destructive results?
Truth be told this pick is based on my experience with the multi-player aspect of the first game, as that is the extent of my exposure with the Halo series. I never played through the single player mode and therefore cannot justify Sly’s selection on any kind of storytelling match. What I do know is that the game has blood, brutes and bullets, and no active director does the combination of the three with as much gratuitous enthusiasm as Stallone. Any writing issues you may have with Rambo or The Expendables are irrelevant as the Halo script has already been written by someone else. Sly would just need to come in and do what he does best, which is to paint the town red. – Adam Charles