The Best Song Podcast

The final episode of The Best Song Podcast sort of comes full circle to the first Original Song Oscar nominees of 1934, with a big song-and-dance number among the 2023 nominees and of course, a sentimental love song. Mixed in with that is yet another nomination from Diane Warren, and the first song to be nominated using lyrics from a Native American language. Find out more about these nominees on episode 91! A big thank you to everyone who tuned in to the show and learned something about movie music that will enhance your movie-watching experience.

The crop of Oscar-nominated songs from 2022 come from two sequels, one little-seen film about female empowerment, one big-budget musical from India, and the eventual Best Picture Oscar winner. All of them beat out a song from Taylor Swift for the Oscar nomination, and before the nominations, all five had an equal shot at winning. Which one eventually took home the prize? Find out on this episode!

The five Oscar-nominated songs of 2021 feature Beyonce earning her first nomination for writing the anthemic song giving tribute to the famous tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams, as well as the chart-topping theme song to Danie Craig's final movie as James Bond. Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas O'Connell wrote that song and released it in February 2020, giving "No Time to Die" 20 months to earn the public's praise as the Bond film suffered two COVID release delays. Did the extended runway for the song help it take off and earn an Oscar for the O'Connell siblings? Find out on this episode of The Best Song Podcast!

The COVID pandemic forced film studios to adjust release dates of their big movies, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences followed suit by adjusting the eligibility dates for their 2021 ceremony. The result meant some songs nominated for the Oscar came from films released in January and February 2021. Diane Warren was the only nominated songwriter who had previous Oscar experience, earning nomination 12 for a song that was translated into Italian for Sophia Loren's latest film. Would Warren win over three songs about political and social upheaval, or one about an Icelandic town performed in the finale of a comedy film?

For the third year in a row, a woman was Oscar nominated for acting and songwriting in the same year. In 2019, that was Cynthia Erivo, the Tony Award-winning actress from The Color Purple who played abolitionist Harriet Tubman in the movie Harriet and wrote the song "Stand Up" with Joshuah Brian Campell. Their Oscar competition included previous Oscar winners Randy Newman, Elton John, Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez. Did Erivo win her first Oscar, or did an Oscar veteran pick up another statuette? Find out on this episode of The Best Song Podcast!

The much-anticipated arrival of Bradley Cooper's directorial debut, the remake of A Star Is Born, gave us an Oscar-nominated song from Lady Gaga that kept the streak alive of all the remakes at least getting a nominated song. In this episode, you'll hear the nominated song from the 2018 version, "Shallow," and learn about the four songs that battled with it for the year's Academy Award. That includes Kendrick Lamar's entry into the movie song game, and one from Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman for the Mary Poppins sequel.

Diane Warren earned Oscar nomination number nine for her song "Stand Up for Something," a song that highlights the motto of future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and the subject of the 2017 film Marshall. On this episode of The Best Song Podcast, you'll hear her nominated song that she co-wrote with Oscar winner Common, and the four songs competing for the big prize. That includes a song of empowerment written by the reigning Oscar champs and a multi-use by the husband-and-wife team that brought us "Let It Go."

The live-action musical La La Land was primed to take over the 89th Academy Awards as the frontrunner for Best Picture, and its chances of winning multiple awards included Best Original Song, where two tunes from the movie were nominated. On this episode, learn more about the men who created those songs -- Justin Hurwitz, Benj Pasek, and Justin Paul -- and the writers of the other three nominated songs. Lin-Manuel Miranda earned his first Oscar nomination that year, as did Justin Timberlake for the most popular song of 2016.

Pulitzer Prize winner David Lang joins the show to talk about earning his first Oscar nomination, and the process behind writing the nominated song "Simple Song #3" for the movie Youth. Lang details the journey he and director Paolo Sorrentino took to deliver the song, and how a Google search helped him find the lyrics he needed to tell the song's story. You'll also hear the other nominated songs, written and performed by superstar pop singers Sam Smith, Lady Gaga, and The Weeknd, as well as a message song about dying marine wildlife by the first transgender person to receive an Original Song Oscar nomination.

Three of the five Oscar-nominated songs from 2014 come from movies about musicians, including a documentary about the final tour of country music legend Glen Campbell. And then there's a comedic song about using teamwork to make things awesome, and a message song about equal rights for "every man, woman, and child." Learn more about these songs, and the men and women who created them on episode 82 of The Best Song Podcast.

A major scandal hit the Original Song Oscar category for 2013, as a song was deemed ineligible for the award after the nominations announcement. Learn more about that song and what caused it to be disqualified on this episode, plus the two hit songs that made a big impression on the worldwide public and fought for the Oscar.

The 50th anniversary of the first James Bond movie brought the 23rd Bond film, introducing superstar pop singer Adele into the movie songwriting world. Her title song for Skyfall was a big hit, and helped the movie make a mint worldwide. Would Adele and the fanfare around Bond's 50th anniversary help end the drought for Bond songs, or would Seth McFarlane win the award for a song about a friendship between a boy and his teddy bear? Or would a new song for Les Miserables take the win? Host Jeff Commings brings you the stories of all five Oscar-nominated songs of 2012 on this episode.

For the first time in Academy Awards history, only two songs were picked by the music branch as worthy of Oscar consideration. A few other songs by big names in the music industry missed out on the coveted nominations this year, including one by Madonna. You'll hear the two nominated songs on this episode, and learn why Madonna was once again shunned by the Academy.

Only four songs were nominated for the Original Song Oscar for 2010, and three of them were written by previous Oscar winners. learn more about these four songs, and the ones that Diane Warren had hoped would get her back in the Oscar race, but were shut out.

The Academy increased its number of Best Picture nominees from five to 10 for the 2009 movie year, but the minimum of Best Original Song nominees dropped from three to two. Was this a signal that maybe the music branch was worried about getting at least three quality songs nominated? That wasn't a problem in 2009, when Randy Newman got two nominations for his songs from the musical The Princess and the Frog and a little-known movie from France got one of its songs named as an Oscar nominee, thanks to the Academy's nomination system for movie songs.

Only three songs were nominated for the Academy Award in 2008, the first time that had happened in 20 years. In this episode, we learn about the three songs, including two from prolific Bollywood composer A.R. Rahman that gave us some new sounds that had not been presented in Hollywood films. The other song gave Thomas Newman another chance to end his Oscar losing streak, thanks to his work on his second animated Pixar movie.

Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz monopolized the Original Song Oscar nominees for 2007, giving us three songs from their Disney musical Enchanted that paid homage to previous Disney classic songs and paid homage to them at the same time. Also nominated was a poignant song from a movie drawing from the Oliver Twist story, and a love song from a very low-budget Irish movie about two lost souls finding love through music. Learn more about these five songs and the people who created them on this episode!

Another film earned three Oscar nominations for original song, and this time it was the film adaptation of the Broadway smash musical Dreamgirls. Henry Krieger, the original composer of the stage show, enlisted new lyricists to work with him on the songs that impressed the Academy enough to get three into the list of five. Melissa Etheridge's history-making nomination as the first song to come from a documentary, and another nomination from Randy Newman made 2006 a very competitive year for the Original Song Oscar.

Only three songs were nominated by the Academy's music branch from 2005, perhaps signaling that the quality of songs was going downward sharply. But, maybe this marked just a blip in the movie music industry. Take a listen to the nominated songs and why the Academy only picked three in 2005.

Andrew Lloyd Webber finally got the movie version of The Phantom of the Opera into movie theaters, and got an Oscar nomination for putting an original song into the film. The other nominees for the 2004 Original Song Oscar included two songs not performed in English, the first time that had happened. But, more memorable about the year was who performed the majority of the songs at the Oscar ceremony. Learn all about it on this episode!

The Oscar nominees for 2003 featured a toe-tapping song from a groundbreaking animated movie, a sincere love song from a very funny mockumentary, and a song that closed out one of the most popular trilogies of all time. Two songs from the Civil War drama Cold Mountain were also in the mix, written by Sting and Elvis Costello. A year removed from the Oscar-winning "Lose Yourself," none of these songs were commercial hits, but they still made a big impact for their movies.

Eminem made history with his hit song "Lose Yourself," writing the first rap song to be nominated for the Oscar. The controversial rapper wasn't the first choice for producer Brian Grazer's film about a wannabe rapper, but Grazer couldn't take his eyes off the superstar, and 8 Mile gave Eminem the opportunity to act and give us one of his signature songs. His competition for the Oscar was stiff, with compositions by Paul Simon and U2 in the mix. With the Miramax machine behind them, U2 looked like they had the best chances of winning the 2002 Original Song Oscar. Find out who won on this episode!

Randy Newman was still winless in the Original Song Oscar category after seven losses, and his song "If I Didn't Have You" for the Pixar movie Monsters, Inc. was going to put him in rare company if it didn't nab him the Oscar. The song didn't get much recognition before the Academy Awards, so Newman was looking like song nomination number eight was not going to turn into a win. Check out his competition on this episode, as well as the two songs with "dream" in the title that missed out on an Oscar nomination.

Randy Newman was looking for his first Oscar win with his seventh songwriting nomination, this time for the comedic song "A Fool In Love." He had some competition from three great singer-songwriters, as Bob Dylan, Bjork, and Sting earned their first nominations for writing movie music. Find out which music superstar took home the 2000 Original Song Oscar on this episode, and learn more about the process of bringing these songs to the screen.

The five Oscar-nominated songs from 1999 were all worthy of winning the big award, including the latest song from a Disney animated movie, one from Pixar's sequel to Toy Story, a raunchy song about parental anger, and a song by *NSYNC praising a teacher's love. Host Jeff Commings talks about the songwriters responsible for these songs, and why Madonna missed out on yet another chance to get an Oscar nomination.

The year after the juggernaut Oscar-winning song "My Heart Will Go On," songwriters had a high standard to reach for the songs featured in films released in 1998. From Stephen Schwartz and Randy Newman to Diane Warren and Carole Bayer Sager, the nominated tunesmiths offered the Academy five nominees that gave us no frontrunner status for the big award.

The juggernaut song "My Heart Will Go On" was crowned an Oscar winner the second that Titanic made its theatrical debut, but the other four songs nominated with it for the 1997 Original Song Oscar were no duds. Host Jeff Commings brings you the stories behind these songs, and the songwriters who created them.

Host Jeff Commings talks with songwriters Jud Friedman and Allan Rich about almost not having their song "For the First Time" appear in the movie One Fine Day (thanks to Rod Stewart), and learns from Tim Rice the process behind putting a new song into the iconic Evita score and getting an Oscar nomination for it. Space Jam featured many songs that made for a popular soundtrack, including the R. Kelly tune "I Believe I Can Fly," which was a big hit in 1996 when all the world knew about R. Kelly was that he was a great singer.

The members of the music branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences split the original score category in two in 1995, but the rules for original song stayed the same. Pop songs and traditional movie songs were still in the running for the biggest movie award, including a chance for Alan Menken to earn a record-tying fourth Original Song Oscar. His competition included Oscar winners John Williams, Alan and Marilyn Bergman, and Bruce Springsteen, all of whom wrote some compelling movie songs.

Tim Rice returns to the show to offer a masterclass in songwriting as he talks about writing the lyrics for the three Oscar-nominated songs from the animated movie The Lion King. He details how the song "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" changed and why writing a song for a warthog shouldn't feel much different from writing for "the wife of an Argentinian dictator."

The pop music world invaded the Academy Awards honoring films from 1993, with Janet Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, and James Ingram among the nominees for the Best Original Song Oscar. Host Jeff Commings has many stories to share about the creation of the five Oscar-nominated songs, and why Danny Elfman couldn't join the roster for his songs from The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Host Jeff Commings invited not one, not two, but THREE Oscar-nominated songwriters to this episode to share their behind-the-scenes tales of creating two of the five Oscar nominees for original song of 1992. Jud Friedman and Allan Rich talk about writing "Run to You" for Whitney Houston and creating a guerilla campaign for an Oscar nomination. Tim Rice discusses his detour into writing songs for Aladdin and how Alan Menken's melody for "A Whole New World" helped shape the lyrics.

History was made with the Original Song Oscar nominees from 1991, as three songs from one movie made the list. Those songs came from the Disney animated film Beauty and the Beast, which was a landmark film in more ways than its song nominations. Host Jeff Commings guides you through this major year for movie songs, highlighting a worldwide hit by Bryan Adams and one of the two songs to survive a major retooling of Steven Spielberg's movie about a grown-up Peter Pan.

Broadway legend Stephen Sondheim earned his first Oscar nomination for writing a song for the action film Dick Tracy, pitting himself for the industry's highest award against a number-one song by Jon Bon Jovi, and a rare song composition by John Williams. Host Jeff Commings also details the hit songs that missed out on a nomination, including others that Sondheim wrote for Dick Tracy, and an Alan Menken song performed by Elton John for Rocky V.

Dean Pitchford returns to the show to talk about achieving his fourth Oscar nomination, this time for the love ballad "After All." He discusses writing a more "mature" song than he had written for previous films, why Cher and Peter Cetera didn't record their vocals at the same time, and why he felt his song had little chance to win the Original Song Oscar. After listening to all five nominated songs on this episode, you can decide for yourself which song deserved to win the Academy Award for 1989.

Only three songs were nominated for the Academy Award in 1988, the first time the list of nominees was that low since the 1930s. An Academy rule forced the list to be cut to three in that year, and the ones that made the final list gave Oscar voters a tough choice over which should be picked as the best of the year. Host Jeff Commings details those three songs, and mentions a comeback song from The Beach Boys that might have finished in fourth place in nominations voting.

Only one of the Oscar-nominated songwriters for 1987 had previously been invited to the Academy Awards, giving us 10 men and women getting their first chances to win an Oscar. They all gave us a list of five nominated songs -- many of which have become classics -- that made the competition for the Academy Award very tight that year. The public loved many of the songs as well, with three of the five Oscar nominees earning a spot at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Host Jeff Commings introduces the songwriters of all five songs, and lists a few songs that just missed the cut.

Academy voters increasingly became aware of the synergy between Hollywood and the music industry, voting for a Billboard #1 song for its Oscar for the past five years. Would that continue with the nominated songs from 1986? Two number-one songs were in contention, including a song performed by two mice and another for a sultry love scene for an action movie. Host Jeff Commings tells the stories behind the five nominated songs on this episode of The Best Song Podcast.

After the historic list of Oscar-nominated songs of 1984, the five nominees for 1985 had a lot to live up to. On this episode of The Best Song Podcast, host Jeff Commings tells of Lionel Richie's double nomination in the same year as his successful "We Are the World" composition, and the popular movie songs that missed out on a nomination.

Dean Pitchford returns to The Best Song Podcast to talk about bringing the 1984 movie Footloose to the big screen, and finding the best collaborators to write the songs from the hit soundtrack. That includes working with Kenny Loggins, who wrote and recorded the title song under very interesting circumstances. Host Jeff Commings talks with Pitchford about that Oscar-nominated song as well as "Let's Hear It for the Boy" and working with Deniece Williams. The lives of many of the nominated songs after the Academy Awards were tainted by lawsuits, but others were boosted by new lives on the Broadway stage.

The 50th anniversary of the Original Song Academy Award featured two songs from the mega-popular movie Flashdance, which re-ignited the movie soundtrack craze, and two songs from Barbra Streisand's directorial debut Yentl. The other nominated song really did feel like a fifth wheel alongside these four songs, and we'll learn more about the journeys the songwriters took to get them out into the world on this episode.

Alan and Marilyn Bergman made history with their Oscar nominations for original song of 1982, becoming the first people to earn three song nominations in one year. Their work came in three different films, including Luciano Pavarotti's first (and last) movie role and a love song for the biggest comedy of 1982. Learn more about these nominated songs, and the other two that offered some tight competition for the Academy Award.

The star power among the Oscar-nominated songwriters for 1981 was very high. Lionel Richie, Christopher Cross, Carole Bayer Sager, and Randy Newman were just a few of the top names looking to become Oscar winners for their work writing songs for the movies. Host Jeff Commings tells the stories behind creating these hit songs, including Lionel Richie's tale of trying to get Diana Ross into the studio to sing "Endless Love."

Dean Pitchford joins the show to talk about writing the Oscar-nominated title song from the 1980 movie Fame. In addition to his recollections of the process he and composer Michael Gore took to arrive at the global hit song, Pitchford talks about the future recording star who helped add a "hook" to the song, and why Dolly Parton was his song's biggest competition.

Kermit the Frog's film debut brought Oscar winner Paul Williams his final Oscar nomination, writing the classic song "The Rainbow Connection" with Kenny Ascher. Host Jeff Commings shares Williams' thoughts about the meaning of the wistful lyrics and why Paul Williams was not able to continue his work in the 1980s. Other Oscar winners in contention for the 1979 Original Song Oscar were Henry Mancini and Marvin Hamlisch, both supplying sentimental love ballads that didn't hold a candle to another popular movie song that was ineligible for the award, thanks to the songwriter's honesty.

The pressure of creating a hit song after the success of "Evergreen" and "You Light Up My Life" was felt in 1978, though the Oscar-nominated songs did not really reach that bar. But not for lack of trying. The musical Grease became the highest-grossing musical of the time, cemented Olivia Newton-John as a movie star and gave her a great love song that was new to the musical and a requirement in her contract. Host Jeff Commings shares more stories about Grease, and the competition for the Oscar that included Donna Summer's first foray into movie songs and Debby Boone's attempt to capture lightning in a bottle two years in a row.

One of the most popular songs of the 1970s found its way onto the list of Academy Award nominees for 1977, and the story of the song's rise to fame is just a small part of the legacy of "You Light Up My Life." Host Jeff Commings talks about the song's history and its post-Oscars aftermath, as well as the two songs nominated from Disney movies that year, a retelling of the Cinderella story, and the second Bond song to receive an Oscar nomination.

Horror, comedy, romance, and action are all represented in the five songs nominated for the Academy Award from 1976. Host Jeff Commings tells the stories of the creation of Barbra Streisand's first songwriting effort, Bill Conti's on-the-cheap recording of the Rocky theme song, and how Peter Sellers made an earnest love song laugh-out-loud funny.

The first guest of The Best Song Podcast is Keith Carradine, who talks with host Jeff Commings about writing the Oscar-nominated song "I'm Easy" for the 1975 Robert Altman film Nashville. Carradine tells of the origins of the film's concept, including having actors write and perform their own songs, and how he handled the sudden award attention for his song. You'll also learn about the other four songs nominated for the 1975 Academy Award and why Carradine thought "the Motown machine" made one song a likely Oscar winner.

The list of five songs nominated for the 1974 Academy Award were about as diverse as you could get. Not only did Mel Brooks give us a comedy song about the fake sheriff at the center of his movie Blazing Saddles, but an unknown songwriting duo offered up a jaunty song about a loveable dog. There's also the conventional love ballad and a sweet tribute to a fictional child in a musical that marked the return of legendary songwriters Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe. Host Jeff Commings offers up a somber piece of history regarding the five nominated songs and how their unpopularity made this year seemingly forgettable in the list of Oscar-nominated tunes.

After many years of trying, a theme song from a James Bond movie finally broke through and received an Oscar nomination! Paul and Linda McCartney made history with "Live and Let Die," not only ushering in a new chapter for James Bond songs, but showing that rock music can be a part of Academy history two years after "Theme From Shaft" won the Academy Award. Host Jeff Commings talks more about the story to bring "Live and Let Die" to the screen, and the extremely popular Barbra Streisand song that brought her back into global popularity and made her songwriters the talk of Hollywood.