For this week’s article, I’m really going in a totally different direction. I’m devoting my energy to my favorite obscure cheesy 70’s movie anthem, “Our Time Is Now”. I’m sure you’ve seen The Bad News Bears, but have you ever seen the sequels? The third movie entitled The Bad News Bears Go To Japan may be one of the top 5 worst movies of all time and is totally unwatchable. But I will admit that I really love the second movie, The Bad News Bears: Breaking Training. It’s total cheese, but I never get tired of watching it for all it’s campiness. William Devane shines as Kelly Leak’s estranged dad who vows to coach the Bears in their big game at the Houson Astrodome. The movie includes many classic scenes such as the crowd vowing to let the kids play, Kelly Leak getting so upset at his dad that the only thing he can do is run for five minutes, Scott Baio’s brother as Carmine the stereotypical Brooklyn kid who thinks he’s a real man and distributes porn to the team, and Tanner Boyle running away from the umpires at the Astrodome. You probably have to have seen the movie to know what I’m referring to, but just memorable cinematic moments of my childhood. But the one key ingredient that makes the movie so great is the theme song that is played throughout the movie. It’s a song that may be cheesy and generic, but for some reason it’s also a bit inspirational. “Life is looking good for you and me!”
The song was written by Craig Safan (music only; I wonder if he is related to Marc Safan who sang “Win In The End from Teen Wolf”, hmmm!) and Norman Gimbel (lyrics) of TV songwriting fame. The vocals were contributed by James Rolleston. I wonder if Mister Rolleston wakes up every day knowing he sang such a gem! I would give anything to meet him today and hear an acoustic version of the tune played for an audience of me and my brother. The song combines funk and disco, but sounds like something you would never hear on Top 40 Radio. It has a great piano melody, and featues the ominpresent 70’s funk sound that reminds me of Charlie Brown’s teacher. You’ve probably figured out that this song was never released as a single and was never nominated for an Academy Award. Also, finding the song is near impossible. Other than on a P2P server or ripping the audio from youtube, you aren’t going to find this song anywhere. If the soundtrack actually was released, it was only available on vinyl or 8-track; both of which went out of print pretty quickly. I couldn’t find out much about James Rolleston other than he was a session musician who played on Pure Prairie League’s second album which featured Amie. Does anybody else out there have some facts about this guy?
I’m not ashamed to admit I’m a fan of the song. Look, the song isn’t a bona fide classic in terms of musical integrity, but it’s fun. And isn’t that what music should be about, fun? I have a soft spot in my heart for this great song, and it evokes memories when I was a young fella watching the movie and enjoying this song over the end credits. Check it out below, if anything it will give you a good laugh!
