Man (still) in Motion

Not by the Playbook

Content provided by BBC and BBC World Service. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by BBC and BBC World Service or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

8d ago 50:58

MP3•Episode home

Every Hollywood box office success needs a great title track, and that's certainly true of hit 1980's coming of age film St Elmo's Fire. Demi Moore, Rob Lowe, Andie MacDowell and the rest of the "Brat Pack" all gave suitably good performances, but the most memorable part of the film was undoubtably the title track, St Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion) It reached the top of the US billboard charts in September 1985 and represented singer songwriter John Parr's most successful track. Forty years later people are still singing the song, but most people don't know about the hidden and surprising inspiration behind the song. And it has nothing to do with the film!

We hear from both performer John Parr and the man who inspired the song, Canadian para athlete Rick Hansen.

Plus other remarkable "Men in Motion" including Olympic medalist Matt Richardson who has just broken the record to become the fastest man on a bike.

Janet Guthrie became the first woman to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 - the biggest race in American motorsport. Guthrie, a former aerospace engineer, had faced opposition and scepticism from male drivers and some sections of the press.

Photo: A view of the Original Motion Picture title track of Columbia Pictures movie "St. Elmo's Fire" in 1985. (Credit: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

540 episodes

#BBC #Sports #BBC World Service #Society #Conversations #Super Bowl