Movie Songs: Danger Zone (Top Gun 1986)

A Look at The '80s Song Danger Zone From the Movie Top Gun

Apr 21, 2009

There are few movies in 80's with a better cast of young stars than Top Gun, but a quick look at the movie's title track "Danger Zone" will reveal an interesting pairing

There are few movies in 1986 that brought together a better cast of young stars than Top Gun with a 24-year old, Tom Cruise teamed with an equally youthful Val Kilmer taking top billing. But lost amidst buzzing the tower and Goose’s impending doom is a lesser known tandem that produced the movie’s title track “Danger Zone.”

Welcome to the Danger Zone

When Columbia released “Top Gun-Original Motion Picture Soundtrack” on May 16, 1986, the album’s title track “Danger Zone” would be one of two to achieve commercial success comparable to its companion on the silver screen.

The hard driving rhythm and Kenny Loggin’s breathy declaration “Highway to the Danger Zone,” made “Danger Zone” a song a relic of the 1980’s, but also a hit on the pop charts. “Danger Zone” cracked The Billboard top 100 for 21 weeks in 1986 going as high as number two on the charts.

Kenny Loggins in the Movies

For Loggins “Danger Zone,” is just one in a slew of hit movie tracks in the ‘80s and ‘90s. He won a pair of Grammy awards in 1980 for the song “Minute by Minute” and “This is it” in 1981 in addition to a slew of Billboard Top 40 hits that include:

Giorgio Morodoer's Academy Awards

The lesser known name behind “Danger Zone” is Italian composer Giorgio Moroder. The native of Val Gardena-Dolomiti, Italy actually helped produce one other track on the Top Gun sound track. Moroder wrote “Take My Breathe Away,” which achieved just as much large scale commercial success as “Danger Zone” and helped net Moroder his third Academy Award in 1986. Moroder's first two academy awards include:

Loggins and Moroder after Top Gun

Both Moroder and Loggins found commercial success away from the silver screen after “Danger Zone.”. Loggins’ latest Album “How about now” in 2007 is his tenth after “Danger Zone” came out. As for Moroder, he continued to compose music after "Danger Zone." His latest project is a Musical rendition of Flashdance.

The copyright of the article Movie Songs: Danger Zone (Top Gun 1986) in 80s Pop Music is owned by Jose San Mateo. Permission to republish Movie Songs: Danger Zone (Top Gun 1986) in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.