Danger Zone (Kenny Loggins song)

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This article is about the Kenny Loggins song. For other songs with the same title, see Danger Zone (disambiguation).
"Danger Zone"
Loggins - Danger Zone single cover.png
Single by Kenny Loggins
from the album Top Gun
B-side "I'm Gonna Do It Right"
Released May 13, 1986
Recorded January 1986
Genre Rock
Length 3:36
Label Columbia
Composer(s) Giorgio Moroder
Lyricist(s) Tom Whitlock
Producer(s) Giorgio Moroder
Script error: The function "ucfirst" does not exist. singles chronology
"I'll Be There"
(1985)		 "Danger Zone"
(1986)		 "Playing with the Boys"
(1986)
Music video
"Danger Zone" on YouTube

"Danger Zone" is a song, with music composed by Giorgio Moroder and lyrics written by Tom Whitlock, which American singer-songwriter Kenny Loggins recorded and released in 1986. The song was one of the hit singles from the soundtrack to the 1986 American motion picture Top Gun, the best-selling soundtrack of 1986, and one of the best-selling of all time.[1][2] According to Allmusic.com, the album "remains a quintessential artifact of the mid-'80s" and the album's hits "still define the bombastic, melodramatic sound that dominated the pop charts of the era."[2]

Background

File:Kenny Loggins - Danger Zone.ogg
A Yamaha DX7 "BASS 1" preset is used on the beginning of the song.

Film producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson, along with music supervisor Michael Dilbeck, had over 300 songs to employ on Top Gun. Testing compositions against the dailies of the opening scenes at the aircraft carrier, nothing satisfied them, and Bruckheimer asked soundtrack producer Giorgio Moroder to write something. With the help of songwriter Tom Whitlock, he composed "Danger Zone" and had Joe Pizzulo record a demo. With the approval of the producers, soundtrack distributor Columbia Records requested Moroder to have "Danger Zone" performed by an artist signed by the label.[3]

The band Toto was originally intended to perform the track, but legal conflicts between the producers of Top Gun and the band's lawyers prevented this.[4]

Corey Hart was also approached to perform "Danger Zone," which he declined, preferring to write and perform his own compositions.[5]

Eventually, the film producers offered the song to Kenny Loggins, who would recall his assent to recording "Danger Zone" as "a very snap judgement".[4][6] Whitlock went to Loggins' Encino home, and once shown the lyrics, the singer added his own improvisations.[3] Reaching number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, "Danger Zone" was kept out of the number 1 spot by Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer". It became Loggins' second-highest chart hit, bested only by his 1984 number 1 hit "Footloose". In a 2008 interview, Loggins said that the song does not represent himself as an artist.[6]

In 2018, Loggins told TMZ that he was having discussions with the film's lead actor Tom Cruise about having a new version of the song featured in the upcoming Top Gun: Maverick.[7]

Overview

Dann Huff, lead singer and guitarist of the 1980s hard rock group Giant, played guitar on the song. The bass line is performed on a Yamaha DX7 synthesizer. A tenor saxophone is added near the end of the song.

The song peaked at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 for the week of July 26, 1986.

Music video

A music video was released in May 1986 to promote the single. The video was directed by Tony Scott and featured footage of Loggins singing, as well as clips from the film Top Gun, which Scott also directed.

Personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1986-1987) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[8] 14
Canada (RPM) 7
Germany (GfK Entertainment Charts)[9] 12
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[10] 12
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[11] 6
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[12] 45
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[13] 2
U.S. Cashbox Top 100 4
U.S. Billboard Album Rock Tracks[14] 7

Year-end charts

Chart (1986) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[15] 62
US Top Pop Singles (Billboard)[16] 42

Sales and certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[17] Gold 5,000
Japan (RIAJ)[18]
Digital single		 Platinum 250,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[19] Platinum 600,000

*sales figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone
double-daggersales/streaming figures based on certification alone

Sampling

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Back to the 80s: Interview with Tom Whitlock, co-writer of 'Take My Breath Away' & more – Kickin' it Old School
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Springfield News-Sun "Kenny Loggins Will Cut Footloose at Kuss: singer's adaptability has kept career going since '70s" 9 October 2008 p.B1
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. N.B. The Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA from mid-1983 until June 12, 1988.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Kenny Loggins – Danger Zone". Top 40 Singles.
  11. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Kenny Loggins – Danger Zone". Swiss Singles Chart.
  12. ↑ "Archive Chart: 19861207" UK Singles Chart.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Click on næste to go to page 9909 if certification from official website
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Select 2016年4月 on the drop-down menu
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Enter Danger Zone in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select single in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
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