The Musical Heart Of 'The Transformers The Movie' (1986) Soundtrack

TV & Film

Sep 7

As much as John Williams’ iconic scores for Star Wars could be considered integral parts of the film, if not “characters” themselves, so too was the case for the soundtrack for The Transformers The Movie (1986).

Although not the only contributors to the 1980s heavy metal rock-oriented soundtrack, credit for much of the success of the film’s iconic soundtrack rests on its film score composer, Vince Dicola, as well as little known adult-oriented-rock star Stan Bush, who sang the two most iconic vocal songs featured in the film, The Touch and Dare.

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Vince DiCola

Pennsylvania-born Vince Dicola (b. 1957) cut his teeth co-writing songs for the soundtrack for the film, Staying Alive (1983) with Frank Stallone (Far From Over). He was later recruited by Sylvester Stallone to compose the synthesizer-driven electronic score for his blockbuster film, Rocky IV (1985). DiCola has stated that his musical style is heavily influenced by bands such as Yes and Emerson, Lake & Palmer.

His audition piece, Legacy, as well as his work on Rocky IV, ultimately helped win him the job of scoring The Transformers The Movie. What DiCola came up with was an extremely unique synthesizer/rock score that still remains unique in the world of original film scores, as well as extremely well-suited for a film featuring transforming robots and their galaxy-spanning adventures. Here is a supercut of his score and other music from the film:

Vince has gone on to score several Transformers-related projects, including providing scores for games such as Angry Birds Transformers and, most notably, Transformers Devastation, a Transformers-based videogame. He also released an album featuring demos of his music for the film,The Protoform Sessions, an album of solo piano interpretations of his score, Artistic Transformations, Transformers Suite 2006, and Transformers Medley (released as part of a Turrican soundtrack album).

Despite the brilliance of the score, only a small portion from the film score made it onto the first two official film soundtrack album releases. These tracks included Death of Optimus Prime, Escape, Autobot/Decepticon Battle, Megatron Must Be Stopped (Pts. 1 & 2), Moon Base 2-Shuttle Launch, and Unicron Medley. Two full-length albums, Til All Are One (1997) and Lighting Their Darkest Hour (2001), featuring DiCola’s complete score from the films were made available exclusively at Botcon conventions.

The full-length score for the film has since been released on CD and digital download. As of this writing, Vince DiCola has not been hired to score any other Transformers-related films and/or series. He and his songwriting partner, Kenny Meriedeth, submitted a track, Bound and Gagged, for consideration for use in Michael Bay’s second live-action Transformers film, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009), though it was ultimately not selected for the film. DiCola’s work on the score for The Transformers The Movie still remains highly sought after by fans. DiCola occasionally appears at Botcon conventions to perform his music from the film, sometimes alongside fellow songwriter, Stan Bush. Many of his past and present music projects can downloaded and streamed on various music platforms.

Stan Bush

American singer and songwriter Stan Bush (b. 1953) contributed memorable vocal performances for The Transformer The Movie’s most iconic songs, Dare and The Touch. Dare introduced the film’s young free-spirited protagonist, Hot Rod, and his young human sidekick, Daniel. The Touch is prominently featured in the film as a melodic rock anthem for the heroic Autobot Leader, Optimus Prime. The song is also returns later in the film, heralding the rise of the new Autobot leader, Rodimus Prime.

The Touch was included in Stan Bush’s most successful album to date, Stan Bush & Barrage (1987), and Bush has re-recorded several versions of the hit song over the years, starting with an updated version that he submitted for consideration for the Michael Bay’s live-action film, Transformers (2007). It was not selected for the film, however it was included on his album, In This Life (2007).

He also wrote a heavy guitar version of the song for the videogame, Guitar Hero World Tour (available as a downloadable track in the game). Dare, which was co-written with Vince DiCola, has not been featured as prominently outside of The Transformers the Movie, but it was updated and re-released on one of Bush’s later solo albums, Change the World (2017). Much of Stan Bush’s past and newer albums can be found at his online official website and downloaded and streamed on various platforms.

The Touch has become so ubiquitous in pop culture that it has been featured in several television series and movies over the years, most notably, in the third season finale of the original Transformers series, The Return of Optimus Prime Part 2 (1987). The song has also appeared in several television series, American Dad (s6e14), Chuck (s2e5), The Regular Show (s4e22), and several episodes of The Goldbergs. The song was featured in the film, Boogie Nights (1997) badly sung by Mark Wahlberg.

Wahlberg, coincidentally, would go on to star in two live-action Transformers films, Age of Extinction (2014) and The Last Knight (2017). The song was also featured in the live-action Transformers film, Bumblebee (2018). Stan Bush continues to write adult-oriented rock songs and release new solo albums. However, like with Vince DiCola, remains best known for his songs for The Transformers The Movie, which he occasionally performs for fans at Botcon conventions.

Source(s): Wikipedia, WhatSong, Wikipedia, Stan Bush

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