Survivor's Frankie Sullivan talks making 'Eye of the TigeR'

It was the kick-off to summer in 1982. The theaters were packed back in the early days of multiplexes for one of the most anticipated movies of the year – Rocky III.

The movie, which opened Memorial Day weekend in 1982, started like the other two in the franchise — a scrolling ROCKY III and we see the climax of the previous movie with Rocky Balboa getting up one second before his nemesis, Apollo Creed, to win the heavyweight championship of the world.

And then fireworks were set off - not only on the screen - but for a small Chicago band who saw their career mimic that of Rocky author Sylvester Stallone, as they took "a million to one shot" and turned it into platinum success.

The song that played over the fireworks, "Eye of the Tiger," became the song of the summer and saw everyone who came out of the theater rushing to the nearest record store to buy that 45 rpm single and relive that guitar-driven melody.

"That was wild," said Frankie Sullivan, guitarist and founder of the band Survivor, during a recent interview with Sinclair Broadcast Group. "We had no idea at the time the impact it being in the movie would have. It just exploded and we went along for the ride." 

Before their breakthrough hit, Survivor, which were made up of guitarist Frankie Sullivan, keyboardist Jim Peterik, singer Dave Bickler, drummer Marc Droubay and bass player Stephan Ellis, were an up-and-coming band from Chicago that were paying their dues playing clubs and as opening acts for other bands.

Their first two albums, Survivor and Premonition, were met with marginal success, mainly in the Midwest. The song "Somewhere In America" was a hit in the band's hometown and "Poor Man's Son" hit No. 33 on the Billboard singles chart. And album cuts like "Take You On A Saturday" still bring fans to their feet when its played live.

 But the band and it's label, Scotti Bros., needed a break and that break would come from one of the biggest box office stars of the day. 

"It is the Scotti Brothers that deserve all of the credit," Frankie said. "Sylvester Stallone, Tony and Ben Scotti are all really great friends. Tony and Sly were out to dinner and Sly was saying he wasn't happy with the music. Tony said that he had a band and they're really good songwriters. Why don't you let them submit some stuff to you. It was that simple. It was just perfect timing. That was the beauty of it. " 

Stallone took Tony's advice and did give Frankie Sullivan and Jim Peterik their "one in a million shot" to come up with a song for his upcoming blockbuster. And Frankie said that Stallone had one request - he insisted the song had “a pulse.” 

To give the songwriters some inspiration, Stallone sent over the first 10 minutes of the movie. That didn't sit well with Frankie, who not only wanted to see more of the film for inspiration, but he wanted to see what happened in the movie.

"Sly Stallone is very particular on who he sends tapes to," he said. "We're watching the movie and then it ends after 10 minutes. So I called Sly up on the phone and told him that I'm not going to make bootleg copies in my garage. I need to see the whole film."

Frankie said the next day he received a copy of the full movie hand delivered to him. And that is all he and Jim needed to come up with the signature tune.

"I think we came up with the music in 10 minutes for 'Eye of the Tiger,'" Frankie said. "The lyrics took us a day or two. We were done with the song in 3 days and that was because the title didn't come to us until the third day."  

One of the little known facts is that the original copy of Rocky III that Frankie says he still has actually had Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust" in the places where "Eye of the Tiger" would be later on. Stallone had initially tried to get the rights to that recent No. 1 hit by Queen, but they refused to license the song to him.

Frankie said when he heard the Queen tune during the scenes of the movie, he understood why it wasn't exactly right for the film.

"I love Queen. They are an unbelievable band, but I understood right away what Sly wanted," he said.

The song title would come from one of the key scenes early in the movie between Rocky and Apollo and how Rocky had lost the "eye of the tiger" and lost his edge gave the lyrics the punch they needed. But the signature guitar riff that kicks off the track and became the "pulse" that millions of fans around the world still shadow box to didn't come until much later.

" We didn't have the (signature guitar riff) until the end while we were recording in the studio," Frankie said. "I was listening to the cadence and how the words in the song were moving. I thought it was empty. I said we needed something at the beginning to drive this song. So we recorded a low C on the piano and a symbol crash backwards and that's when either Jim or I came up with that guitar riff to go over it. That guitar was the last thing we recorded. You never know when you're creating what is going to happen. " 

Once they finished recording, Frankie and Jim sent over "Eye of the Tiger" and "Ever Since the World Began," which was a ballad that appears on the band's "Eye of the Tiger" album, to Stallone for consideration for Rocky III.

And then the waiting game begins.

Frankie said he waited like a month and he still didn't know if Stallone liked the songs or not until he finally asked Stallone's brother Frank while at a Los Angeles guitar shop.

"I was with Frank (Stallone) at Norm's Rare Guitars when he was on Reseda and I flat out asked him if his brother liked the song," Frankie said. "Frank said that the last time he was at his brother's house he was head bangin' and sweating his ass off to the song. Yeah, its in the movie."

The song that is featured in the movie is actually the demo version of the song, not the final version that would appear on Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger" album. Frankie said "Sylvester didn't care. He didn't know what a demo version was. He just liked the song."

Frankie was there when Stallone put the music in the film and couldn't believe how much love "Eye of the Tiger" was getting from this box office star.

And it wasn't like the song was buried in a mountain of exposition and you'd barely remember hearing it. "Eye of the Tiger" was featured in a beautifully edited montage in the beginning of the film, not to mention playing through the ending credits. Even the signature guitar riff is used during key training scenes in the movie. You couldn't escape that guitar riff.

"You couldn't buy that kind of air time," Frankie said. "This was the biggest music video you could ask for. I always joke that we had a $200 million music video."

And when Frankie saw the movie with an audience, it was a moment he'll likely never forget.

"I never had a moment like that when I saw it in the theater that first time," he said. "People stood up and cheered before the movie really began. I had goosebumps on my arm. I knew this kind of experience wasn't going to happen again. But once is enough."
 

Frankie said another of those "moments in time" he'll never forget was on a drive home from the theater watching Rocky III back in 1982.

"I switched on my radio in this 1973 (Volkswagen) Beetle I had. And all three stations in Chicago were playing 'Eye of the Tiger' at the same time. I pulled the car over to the side of the road. I thought my radio was broke and wasn't switching stations. I mean that's not normal. It's almost like lightning in a bottle. You have to stop and cherish a moment like that."   

"Eye of the Tiger" was an immediate success upon its release, topping the Billboard singles charts for six weeks, 15 weeks in the Top 10 and was the No. 2 single of the year. It garnered Survivor a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by Duo or Group with Vocal, earned the band a People's Choice Award for Best New Song and an Academy Award nomination.

And that was just in the song's first year.

The song has continued to sell through the decades and is one of the most played songs on the streaming services, with 797,435,068 views on YouTube as of Monday. It has sold over 8 million in digital downloads through 2018, according to Recording Industry Association of America database. The single was certified 2 times multiplatinum which is over 2 million copies sold on its initial release back in 1982.

The song was even featured in a Starbucks commercial back in 2006 with some rewritten lyrics and the band singing as a man is getting ready and going to work. Who wouldn't want Survivor singing "Eye of the Tiger" while you're waiting for the bus?

It just goes to show you the power and impact that the song has had, and how its passed on through the generations. Anyone who's ever heard the song or watched Rocky III or IV, can't escape its grasp on them. You can just imagine on how many Spotify playlists "Eye of the Tiger" is on right now.

When asked about the song's impact and longevity, Frankie is humbled by its success and all the hard work he and Jim put in to make this song something to remember. 

" I think it's a phenomenon," he said. "It is kind of surreal. I think it happens only once in a lifetime and it doesn't happen to everyone. I don't know what happened. I think it just worked. We're not geniuses. We're not Lennon and McCartney. Everything worked in that moment. You just can't explain it."