Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Chuck Mangione - "Give it All You Got"

Give It All You Got - Chuck Mangione: Greatest Hits

(Debuted January 19, 1980, Peaked #18, 16 Weeks on the Chart)  

This is only the third single featured on 80s Music Mayhem that is an instrumental and the second this week. In fact, all three of the singles peaked on the chart in 1980. Granted, the instrumental was becoming a dying art form among hit singles since the mid 1970s, but TV and movie themes were able to keep them afloat for a short time. However, after MTV helped introduce the music video as a movie element and TV shows began dropping theme music in favor of credits that played over the opening scenes, the end was getting near.

"Give it All You Got" was a theme song as well. It was commissioned as a theme for the 1980 Winter Olympics, which were held in the Adirondack Mountain town of Lake Placid in upstate New York. Chuck Mangione -- who is a resident of upstate New York -- came up with a jazz-inspired tune that was both upbeat and motivational to fit the spirit of international competition.

In any case, it's one of the few hits of the decade that featured a flugelhorn on it.

Without any doubt, Chuck Mangione will be known to most music fans for his 1978 hit "Feels So Good." However, it's worth noting that he has done much more work that the one song that has defined his career.



1 comment:

  1. Wow, another song that I thought only me and my sister remember! Fine taste in tunage, my man.

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