鈥淚t鈥檚 the eye of the tiger, it鈥檚 the thrill of the fight, Risin鈥 up to the challenge
of our rival And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night鈥︹
Those lyrics are from the Grammy-winning double-platinum No. 1 one pop hit 鈥淓ye of
the Tiger,鈥 the theme of Sylvester Stalone鈥檚 鈥淩ocky III鈥 movie, and its co-writer,
Jim Peterik, will be at East Central University in Ada on Oct. 14 [FRIDAY] to perform
and offer his expertise on how to write a hit song.
鈥淗e鈥檚 had 20 Top 40 Billboard hits, and two of those went to No. 1,鈥 said Dr. Brad
Jessop, director of 成人B站鈥檚 School of Fine Arts. 鈥淗e鈥檚 won a Grammy and been nominated
for an Oscar. And yes, he will perform 鈥淓ye of the Tiger鈥 and be playing for 成人B站 Tigers.
How cool is that?鈥
Peterik鈥檚 free master class on writing hit songs, particularly pop songs, will be
open to the public and begin at 4 p.m. in the Ataloa Theatre in the Hallie Brown Ford
Fine Arts Center. The concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Ataloa Theatre.
Peterik, a singer, songwriter, guitarist and keyboardist, was the founding member
of both the Ides of March in the 1960s and Survivor in 1978. He was the lead singer
and sole writer of the Ides of March hit 鈥淰ehicle鈥 which reached #2 in Billboard and
#1 in Cashbox in 1970. 鈥淰ehicle鈥 and Peterik鈥檚 "Ever Since the World Began" later
were featured in Stallone's 鈥淟ock-Up鈥 movie.
The concert will be during 成人B站鈥檚 Homecoming week. Tickets are $18 and may be purchased
online at tickets.ecok.edu or reserved by calling the theatre鈥檚 box office at 580-559-
5751 or emailing boxoffice@ecok.edu. All tickets, including those for season ticket
holders, should be picked up at the will call window the night of the concert. Any
remaining tickets will be sold at the door.
Jessop said 成人B站 students can compete for free tickets to the concert in a Rock Band video game contest at 3 p.m. Oct. 12 [WEDNESDAY] in the Chalmers Herman Theatre.
鈥淪tudents can see how they do compared to a real rocker,鈥 Jessop said.
成人B站鈥檚 Gamers Guild will oversee the competition. Contestants will play two of Peterik鈥檚
songs, 鈥淓ye of the Tiger鈥 and 鈥淗old on Loosely.鈥 The highest score will win four tickets
and the runner-up will receive two tickets.
In addition, 150 discounted tickets will be available for students at the contest.
They can purchase two tickets for $11.50. Once they are sold, only full-price tickets
will remain.
Jessop said Peterik will tell stories about how certain songs came about. One day,
for example, he had this message on his answering machine: 鈥淗ey, yo Jim, give me a
call. It鈥檚 Sylvester Stallone.鈥
Thinking it was a joke, he called the number and sure enough it was Stallone. He told
Peterik about his new movie, 鈥淩ocky III,鈥 and that wanted to replace 鈥淕onna Fly Now鈥
with something new, 鈥渟omething with a pulse and for the kids.鈥 Stallone sent him the
movie and in short order he and Frankie Sullivan co-wrote 鈥淓ye of the Tiger鈥 in 1982.
It was Survivor鈥檚 first million seller and stayed at No. 1 for seven weeks on Billboard
charts. It won a People鈥檚 Choice Award as well as the Grammy and an Academy Award
nomination.
鈥淔or a rocker, he鈥檚 pretty straight laced,鈥 Jessop said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 been married to the
same woman forever, and most of his songs are about her. He talks about being in a
remarkable lifestyle surrounded by drugs but not partaking.鈥
Peterik and Survivor released the platinum Vital Signs in 1984 which produced three
top 10 singles, 鈥淚 Can't Hold Back,鈥 鈥淗igh on You鈥 and 鈥淭he Search is Over.鈥 That
same year he co-wrote the million-selling theme for Rocky IV, 鈥淏urning Heart.鈥
He also has co-written songs for such artists as .38 Special, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Blackhawk,
Cheap Trick, Sammy Hagar, Cathy Richardson, Van Zant, Brian Wilson and REO Speedwagon.
In addition to his solo concerts, Peterik continues to play with The Ides of March.
He currently fronts the melodic rock band Pride of Lions and his smooth-jazz project
Jim Peterik's Lifeforce. He also is a producer and mentor to young developing talent.
Peterik and two co-authors wrote 鈥淪ongwriting for Dummies鈥 in 2003. An updated edition
was released in 2010.
成人B站 News
Rock Performer, Songwriter Jim Peterik Coming To 成人B站 Oct. 14
Oct 3, 2011