"Mighty Wings" is a song by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

rock band

Cheap Trick Cheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. The current lineup of the band consists of Zander, Nielsen ...

, which was released in 1986 as the third single from the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...

of the film '' Top Gun''. It was written by

Harold Faltermeyer Hans Hugo Harold Faltermeier (born 5 October 1952) is a German musician, composer and record producer. Faltermeyer is best known for composing the "Axel F" theme for the feature film ''Beverly Hills Cop'', an influential synth-pop hit in the 1 ...

and Mark Spiro, and produced by Faltermeyer. Despite the commercial success of the ''Top Gun'' soundtrack, and unlike the four other singles culled from the album, "Mighty Wings" failed to make an appearance in the ''Billboard'' chart. It was the third of five singles to be released from the soundtrack, following " Danger Zone" by

Kenny Loggins Kenneth Clark Loggins (born January 7, 1948) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. His early songs were recorded with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1970, which led to seven albums recorded as Loggins and Messina from 1972 to 1977. His ...

and "

Take My Breath Away "Take My Breath Away" is a song written by Giorgio Moroder and Tom Whitlock for the 1986 film ''Top Gun'', performed by American new wave band Berlin. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best ...

" by

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

. In the film '' Top Gun'', the music (without vocals) is played in the first training session at Miramar, while the full version with vocals is played in the end credits.

Background

Shortly prior to the song's release, guitarist Rick Nielsen said in an interview with MTV's Alan Hunter: "We just finished a song in the studio last night with Harold Faltermeyer, recording a song for his movie called "Top Gun" which has

Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Go ...

in it, and so the song we did was called "Mighty Wings". We didn't write it but we did it, and it sounds pretty cool. That's coming out this summer."

Release

"Mighty Wings" was originally due to be released as the second single from ''Top Gun''. However, it was announced in '' Billboard'' that it had been pushed back in favour of "Take My Breath Away". "Mighty Wings" was released by Columbia in late June and issued on 7" vinyl in the US, Canada, Japan and South Africa. The B-side, "Dog Fight #3", is an instrumental written and performed by Faltermeyer.

Critical reception

Upon release, '' Billboard'' listed the song as a pop pick and stated: "Feverish fast-pulse rock from ''Top Gun''; inclusion in the smash soundtrack should push the band towards its strongest chart bid in years." In his 2017 book ''Still Competition: The Listener's Guide to Cheap Trick'', Robert Lawson described the song as "a piece of soulless, synth-driven corporate rock". In a 2022 retrospective, Brian Truitt of ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...

'' ranked "Mighty Wings" as the sixth best song on the ''Top Gun'' soundtrack. He described the song as a "synth-rocker" which, despite providing a "very different outing" for Cheap Trick, still "manages to showcase some of the band's signature sound even with lyrics about fighter jets".

In popular culture

The song has been credited as an influence on

Ken Ken or KEN may refer to: Entertainment * ''Ken'' (album), a 2017 album by Canadian indie rock band Destroyer. * ''Ken'' (film), 1964 Japanese film. * ''Ken'' (magazine), a large-format political magazine. * Ken Masters, a main character in ...

's theme music from the '' Street Fighter II'' videogame. Composer

Yoko Shimomura is a Japanese composer and pianist primarily known for her work in video games. She graduated from the Osaka College of Music in 1988 and began working in the video game industry by joining Capcom the same year. She wrote music for several game ...

stated: "I watched the movie before I composed the song, so I can't deny I may have been inspired subconsciously. But I didn't go into it thinking, 'OK I'm gonna make this song sound like Mighty Wings'."

Track listing

;7" single #"Mighty Wings" – 3:50 #"Dog Fight #3" – 2:39 ;7" single (Japanese one-sided release) #"Mighty Wings" – 3:50 ;7" single (US promo) #"Mighty Wings" – 3:50 #"Mighty Wings" – 3:50 ;12" single (US promo) #"Mighty Wings" – 3:50 #"Mighty Wings" – 3:50

Personnel

;Cheap Trick *

Robin Zander Robin Wayne Zander (born January 23, 1953) is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the rock band Cheap Trick, but is also a solo artist. Zander was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016 as a ...

– lead vocals, rhythm guitar *

Rick Nielsen Richard Alan Nielsen (born December 22, 1948) is an American musician best known as the lead guitarist, primary songwriter, and leader of the rock band Cheap Trick. He is well-known for his numerous custom-made guitars from Hamer Guitars, inclu ...

– lead guitar, backing vocals *

Jon Brant Jonathan Edward "Jon" Brant (born February 20, 1955 in Chicago) is an American musician and business owner, best known as the bass guitar, bass player for the band Cheap Trick from 1982 to 1987. Brant was a founding member of the Chicago band D' ...

– bass, backing vocals *

Bun E. Carlos Brad M. Carlson, better known by the stage name Bun E. Carlos, is the original drummer for American rock band Cheap Trick. He recorded and performed with the band from 1973 to 2010. Carlos was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016 ...

– drums, percussion ;Additional personnel *

– producer * Brian Reeves – engineer * Michael Dilbeck – executive producer

References

{{authority control 1986 songs 1986 singles Cheap Trick songs Songs from Top Gun Columbia Records singles Songs written by Harold Faltermeyer Songs written by Mark Spiro Song recordings produced by Harold Faltermeyer