INTERVIEW WITH JIM PETERIK FROM TheCelebrityCafe.com ARCHIVES
DM) In my research, I was amazed to find how many articles about you described you as "The Eye of the Tiger" guy, and they barely mentioned Survivor or Ides of March or 38 Special, let alone your most recent project. What has been your reaction to such a bias on your bio towards that one particular song?
JP) Well, everybody's got one major hook, and for me, I thought it was going to be Vehicle, and then Sylvester Stallone commissioned us to write "Eye of the Tiger", and that song, "Eye of the Tiger," really did become bigger than the name of the band itself, Survivor--much to the band's chagrin at the time. We're going, "All right, what's with the attention to the song; what about Survivor?" My first really big success was with the band Ides of March. It's become a bit of a footnote that all the journalists seem to love. Ides of March was technically a one-hit wonder band, with a hit in 1966, called, "You Wouldn't Listen." But it was never top-40 on Billboard, and then the song, "Vehicle" came in 1970, and we were all in high school and college, touring the country with Led Zeppelin and Joplin and Hendrix. It was an amazing time, but in spite of that, what I'm most known for is writing, or co-writing the song, "Eye of the Tiger." I don't resent that, though, because how many people really have one that they can hang their hat on.
DM) It's amazing to me that of all the songs to have that "one hat to hang their hat on," the song, "Eye of the Tiger" is not just a number one, but a number one song that everybody knows. It's played everywhere, and in every movie and television show where somebody is working out.
JP) Well, you hope you write one of those in your career, and you hear it in sports games, and marching bands play it while they take the field. Now there's even a new car commercial that plays it. Even the late shows on television use it when they bring the news on. It's wonderful...
DM) You mean, you get a commission every time anybody does that (hums songs)?
JP) Absolutely.
DM) I better not hum it then, I can't afford to! (both laugh) I read an article that claimed that you could live to the day you die off that song.
JP) I'm not sure. I always think that it could stop tomorrow, but so far the song resonates for people, and I'm very, very fortunate to be a part of it.
DM) Considering the overwhelming success of the song, do you feel that it's a blessing or a curse that it's reached such a level that it overrides everything else?
JP) Well, Survivor had a lot of other hits that are still on the radio. There was "The Search is Over", "High on You", "Can't Hold Back"... but you know, we're lucky, and anybody that begrudges a song like that doesn't have a grip on reality. Look at all the very talented, struggling musicians who would love to have just one. And we're complaining, give me a break.
DM) OK, now to the real question: When you work out, do you listen to the song?
JP) (laughing) No way. I just work out, I don't listen to anything; but a lot of people have told me how inspired they were by it. Whether they were businessmen, traders or athletes... The most inspiring thing to hear about is that so many people in wheelchairs do their therapy by it. Many, many inspiring stories that remind me, "This is why I write songs. This is why I'm in the business." It started out as a boxing movie, but it became much bigger than that.
DM) That would really blow me away if somebody said they go through their wheelchair therapy listening to a song that I wrote.
JP) Well, it's happened time and time again. It's the greatest thing. It really does keep you going.
DM) When you wrote it, did you think it was a really driving song, or was it just another song that you wrote?
JP) Well, we got the call from Stallone, who left a message on my machine, and the message went something like, "Hey, you... Jim." (said with a Sylvester Stallone accent)
DM) No.... (interrupting) You can't be serious.
JP) Honest to God, would I make this up? (laughs, continuing) "Yo, Jim, nice message you got there. This is Sylvester Stallone, call me back." And I called Frankie, my partner, who wrote the song with me. I said, "Are you messing with me?" and he said, "What are you talking about, I got the same message on my machine." Frankie came over to my house and we called the number back and, sure enough, it was Stallone. He was saying how he had this new movie, "Rocky III", and the whole thing was shot, but they needed the title cut. We were just pinching each other like two kids. Anyway, he told us the whole story of how Rocky was getting soft, and Mr. T was going to come up and kick his ass. Then he sent us the first three minutes of the movie. They have this thing called temporary music and scored it with "Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen, but they didn't want to use that. I looked at Frank and thought, "How are we going to beat this!" Once we got that rhythm, and got it a certain amount of the way, and felt that we couldn't go on further without seeing the rest of the movie, Stallone begrudgingly sent it to us. He was real secretive at the time. Anyway, we got the movie and got really pumped, and then we heard the line, "Eye of the Tiger", and we thought, "That phrase has got to be in the song." So we finished the song in about an hour and a half, but we didn't know it would reach that level and be around for almost 20 years. We had no idea.
DM) Well, bringing us from 20 years to the present, your current project has you playing with a lot of different people. What's the story behind your current release, World Party?
JP) Well, I left Survivor in 1996 and felt it was time to move on. "What am I going to do next?" was my biggest thought. I knew I wanted to continue to write for other bands like 38 Special, Cinderella and Sammy Hagar, but I wanted to do something with my own voice. I also wanted to play guitar, because in Survivor I didn't play guitar. I played keys, but I missed playing guitar. I didn't necessarily want to do a solo record and I didn't want to do a band. I wanted to combine the best of both worlds. So, I started calling up the people I had worked with through the years, and I never really sang much in Survivor but had been the lead singer in The Ides of March, so I wanted to try singing again. Well, I started calling all of my old friends like Buddy Guy, Johnny Van Zandt (of Lynrd Skynyrd), Tom Keefe (of Cinderella). We started cutting tracks with each of the artists, and I started calling it World Stage, because I wanted it to be a revolving group where every album might have a slightly different cast of characters. It would always be around my songs and people that have been together. It turned out really great.
DM) Well, it's great that people will be able to hear all of the other songs you did, so now you'll be known for more than just "Eye of the Tiger."
JP) Yeah, I don't regret it at all, but it would be nice for people to know of all of the other work I've done. You know, two years back, I had the thrill of my life when I was asked to co-write a song with Brian Wilson, one of my all time heroes; I had two songs on his latest record. That was a trip!
DM) How did that come about?
JP) Well, I knew his producer, Joe Thomas, and Joe called me and asked if I wanted to write with Brian. Well, I laughed like he had to be kidding. So I got together with Joe and Brian and we wrote two songs. It turned out great and we even performed one of them on David Letterman last year. It was an experience that I treasure. He's an unbelievable genius. A really great guy.
DM) Do you anticipate the World Stage project going on every year or two from now on?
JP) I do think so. And when it runs its course, I'll find the best songs that I can find and do another one. This album's a really personal album. It's one of those albums that I can really hang my hat on. I'm not as concerned about selling platinum as I am about putting across a message and kind of doing what's in my heart. That's what this record is. It rocks too but it definitely has a message as well. I left out any songs without the message.
DM) And what is that message?
JP) Well, it sounds corny, but love is the message. It sounds like an aging hippie, which I guess I am, but it really is a very positive record. That's the kind of person I am, really. Even if it's about losing love, there's some optimistic thing at the end of the song that says you can find love again.