Question 1

Did Survivor write their own songs, and who wrote "Eye of the Tiger"?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Guitarist Frankie Sullivan and keyboardist Jim Peterik wrote "Eye of the Tiger" in 1982 and produced it themselves, and the same pair wrote or co-wrote nearly the whole Survivor catalog from the 1979 debut through 1988's Too Hot to Sleep. Peterik has said the riff came to him in the car, along with the idea of timing the chord changes to the punches in the Rocky III fight scenes. Sullivan started the lyric with "Back on the street, doing time, taking chances", and the hook came out of Apollo Creed's line in the film: "You had that eye of the tiger, man, the edge."

Question 2

Did Dave Bickler write Survivor songs?

Accepted Answer

Rarely. Bickler sang lead on the first four albums without taking writing credits on them. He co-wrote "Hungry Years" for the 1993 Greatest Hits package, and two songs on Reach, "One More Chance" and "I Don't", are credited to Bickler and Sullivan.

Question 3

Did Jimi Jamison write Survivor songs?

Accepted Answer

On some of them. Jamison joined the Peterik and Sullivan credit on four When Seconds Count tracks, "Keep It Right Here", "Man Against the World", "Rebel Son" and "In Good Faith", then on "Too Hot to Sleep" and "Rhythm of the City" from the 1988 album. His biggest writing role came on Reach, where he co-wrote four songs with Todd Smallwood and Sullivan.

Question 4

Who produced Survivor's albums?

Accepted Answer

Mostly the band. Peterik and Sullivan share the production credit on Premonition, and Sullivan produced Eye of the Tiger, Caught in the Game and Reach on his own. Ron Nevison produced Vital Signs and shared When Seconds Count with Sullivan. Frank Filipetti co-produced Too Hot to Sleep with Sullivan.

Question 5

Is "Burning Heart" on a Survivor album?

Accepted Answer

Not a studio one. Peterik and Sullivan wrote it for Rocky IV at Stallone's request, and it came out in October 1985 on the Rocky IV soundtrack, peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. Rock Candy's CD reissue of When Seconds Count adds it as a bonus track, but the original 1986 album does not carry it.

Question 6

Who wrote "The Search Is Over"?

Accepted Answer

Peterik and Sullivan. Vital Signs credits every one of its nine original tracks to the two of them, including "I Can't Hold Back", "High on You" and "First Night".

Question 7

Did Jim Peterik write hits for other artists?

Accepted Answer

He did, on both sides of Survivor. "Vehicle", the 1970 hit by his earlier band the Ides of March, is his alone. In the early 1980s he co-wrote 38 Special's "Rockin' into the Night", "Hold On Loosely" and "Caught Up in You", and he wrote three more for their 1991 album Bone Against Steel.

Question 8

Who wrote the songs on Reach, Survivor's last album?

Accepted Answer

Frankie Sullivan has a hand in all twelve. Peterik had quit the band a decade earlier, but two old Peterik and Sullivan co-writes surfaced here as "Fire Makes Steel" and "Nevertheless", with a third, "Rhythm of Your Heart", adding Curt Cuomo. The rest of the writing is split among Jamison, Todd Smallwood, Bickler, Adrian Gurvitz, Mary Beth Derry and keyboardist Chris Grove.

Question 9

Did Survivor write "The Moment of Truth" from The Karate Kid?

Accepted Answer

No. It was Jamison's first recording as the band's singer in 1984, but the song is credited to Bill Conti, Dennis Lambert and Peter Beckett. It was released on The Karate Kid soundtrack and later turned up as a bonus track on CD pressings of Vital Signs.

Question 10

Why did Peterik and Sullivan stop writing together?

Accepted Answer

They drifted apart musically and personally through the mid-90s, with Sullivan pushing the band toward a bluesier sound. Peterik walked out in July 1996 after a show in Lisle, Illinois, then went back to the Ides of March and started Pride of Lions. Too Hot to Sleep in 1988 was their last studio album written together as bandmates.