Joey Scarbury
Encyclopedia
Joey Scarbury is an adult contemporary singer best known for his hit song
, "Theme from The Greatest American Hero
(Believe It or Not
)", in 1981
.
, Scarbury was continually encouraged in his ambition to sing by his mother. At the age of 14, after being spotted by songwriter
Jimmy Webb
's father, he was signed to a recording contract
with Dunhill Records
. Scarbury's first single
, "She Never Smiles Anymore," flopped, and he was soon without a record label
.
for artists
like country
artist Loretta Lynn
, and occasionally recording
his own material. Although he had a minor chart
single with "Mixed Up Guy" in 1971, real chart success eluded him for the rest of the decade.
and composer
Mike Post
. Post was hired along with Stephen Geyer
to write the theme tune for a new TV series
titled The Greatest American Hero
, about an average high school
teacher
who comes into possession of a superhero
outfit, and, as luck would have it, Scarbury was given the opportunity to record it.
After recording the full-length version of the song, entitled "Believe It or Not
", it was edited down to a minute for broadcast as the theme song for the show. The show's success (along with its catchy theme song) prompted Elektra Records
to first release it as a single, shooting up to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100
in 1981. An album by the same title was also hastily produced and it also sold well.
However, Scarbury could not follow the song's success, and after charting at #49 with a follow-up single "When She Dances", he once again disappeared from the charts. He went on to work with Post again in the mid-1980s to record the song "Back to Back
" for the television series Hardcastle and McCormick
and teamed up with Desiree Goyette
to record "Flashbeagle" for the Peanuts special It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown
. He also performed the opening theme for the television series Jennifer Slept Here
but never released another single in the 1980s.
" was recorded by The Oak Ridge Boys
and was a number one country music hit. His co-writer was Even Stevens, who previously had found success with co-writing songs for country star Eddie Rabbitt
as well as the Kenny Rogers
hit "Love Will Turn You Around
" from the motion picture Six Pack
.
Albums
Hit single
A hit single is a recorded song or instrumental released as a single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio...
, "Theme from The Greatest American Hero
The Greatest American Hero
The Greatest American Hero is an American comedy-drama television series that aired for three seasons from 1981 to 1983 on ABC. Created by producer Stephen J. Cannell, it premiered as a two-hour movie pilot on March 18, 1981...
(Believe It or Not
Believe It or Not (song)
"Believe It or Not" is a song composed by Mike Post and Stephen Geyer and sung by American singer Joey Scarbury. It serves as the theme song for the television series The Greatest American Hero...
)", in 1981
1981 in music
See also:* Timeline of musical eventsThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1981.-January–April:*January 10 – A revival of the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Pirates of Penzance opens at Broadway's Uris Theatre, starring Linda Ronstadt and Rex Smith.*January 24 –...
.
Childhood and early music career
Growing up in Thousand Oaks, CaliforniaThousand Oaks, California
Thousand Oaks is a city in southeastern Ventura County, California, in the United States. It was named after the many oak trees that grace the area, and the city seal is adorned with an oak....
, Scarbury was continually encouraged in his ambition to sing by his mother. At the age of 14, after being spotted by songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
Jimmy Webb
Jimmy Webb
Jimmy Webb is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He wrote numerous platinum selling classics, including "Up, Up and Away", "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "Wichita Lineman", "Galveston", "The Worst That Could Happen", "All I Know", and "MacArthur Park"...
's father, he was signed to a recording contract
Recording contract
A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...
with Dunhill Records
Dunhill Records
Dunhill Records was started by Lou Adler, Al Bennett, Pierre Cossette and Bobby Roberts in 1964 as Dunhill Productions, originally for the purpose of releasing Johnny Rivers recordings on Imperial Records. It became a record label in 1965 and was distributed by ABC Records...
. Scarbury's first single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
, "She Never Smiles Anymore," flopped, and he was soon without a record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
.
1970s
He stayed around the music business throughout the 1970s, first as a backupBacking vocalist
A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
for artists
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
like country
Country
A country is a region legally identified as a distinct entity in political geography. A country may be an independent sovereign state or one that is occupied by another state, as a non-sovereign or formerly sovereign political division, or a geographic region associated with a previously...
artist Loretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn is an American country music singer-songwriter, author and philanthropist. Born in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky to a coal miner father, Lynn married at 13 years old, was a mother soon after, and moved to Washington with her husband, Oliver Lynn. Their marriage was sometimes tumultuous; he...
, and occasionally recording
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
his own material. Although he had a minor chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
single with "Mixed Up Guy" in 1971, real chart success eluded him for the rest of the decade.
1980s and 'The Greatest American Hero'
In the late 1970s he started working for record producerRecord producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
Mike Post
Mike Post
Mike Post is an American multi-Grammy and Emmy Award winning composer best known for scoring some of the most popular TV theme songs in the United States, for primetime series such as Law & Order, NYPD Blue, The Rockford Files, LA Law, Quantum Leap, Magnum, P.I., Hill Street Blues, among numerous...
. Post was hired along with Stephen Geyer
Stephen Geyer
Stephen Geyer , a songwriter, moved to Los Angeles in 1972 after attending Towson State College , in Maryland, as an art major. Since coming to L.A., Stephen has made a name for himself as the writer of hit songs, popular TV themes, TV and film scripts, a non-fiction author, and studio and...
to write the theme tune for a new TV series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
titled The Greatest American Hero
The Greatest American Hero
The Greatest American Hero is an American comedy-drama television series that aired for three seasons from 1981 to 1983 on ABC. Created by producer Stephen J. Cannell, it premiered as a two-hour movie pilot on March 18, 1981...
, about an average high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
who comes into possession of a superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
outfit, and, as luck would have it, Scarbury was given the opportunity to record it.
After recording the full-length version of the song, entitled "Believe It or Not
Believe It or Not (song)
"Believe It or Not" is a song composed by Mike Post and Stephen Geyer and sung by American singer Joey Scarbury. It serves as the theme song for the television series The Greatest American Hero...
", it was edited down to a minute for broadcast as the theme song for the show. The show's success (along with its catchy theme song) prompted Elektra Records
Elektra Records
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
to first release it as a single, shooting up to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
in 1981. An album by the same title was also hastily produced and it also sold well.
However, Scarbury could not follow the song's success, and after charting at #49 with a follow-up single "When She Dances", he once again disappeared from the charts. He went on to work with Post again in the mid-1980s to record the song "Back to Back
Back to Back
-Music:*Back to Back , 1983 album*Back to Back , 1967*Back to Back, a 1976 album by Brecker Brothers*Back to Back, a 1996 album by Lee Greenwood...
" for the television series Hardcastle and McCormick
Hardcastle and McCormick
Hardcastle and McCormick is a 1980s action/drama television series from Stephen J. Cannell Productions, shown on ABC from 1983–1986, starring Brian Keith as Judge Milton C. Hardcastle and Daniel Hugh Kelly as ex-con and race car driver Mark "Skid" McCormick.The show's premise involves the...
and teamed up with Desiree Goyette
Desirée Goyette
Desirée Goyette is a singer, composer, lyricist and voice-over artist. She has been nominated for two Grammy Awards and has voiced such characters as Betty Boop, Barbie, Nermal, Petunia Pig, Honey Bunny and numerous others for radio, television and toys...
to record "Flashbeagle" for the Peanuts special It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown
It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown
It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown is the 27th prime-time animated television special based upon the comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. The show is presented as an original musical which features parodies of the early 1980s breakdancing craze, the movies Saturday Night Fever and Flashdance,...
. He also performed the opening theme for the television series Jennifer Slept Here
Jennifer Slept Here
Jennifer Slept Here is an American fantasy sitcom series that ran for one season on NBC from October 21, 1983 to September 5, 1984.-Overview:...
but never released another single in the 1980s.
The 1990s and songwriting
In 1990, Scarbury found success again as a songwriter. This time his co-written song "No Matter How HighNo Matter How High
"No Matter How High" is a 1990 single by The Oak Ridge Boys from their 1989 album American Dreams. "No Matter How High" was The Oak Ridge Boys' seventeenth and final number one on the country chart...
" was recorded by The Oak Ridge Boys
The Oak Ridge Boys
The Oak Ridge Boys are an American country and gospel vocal quartet.The group was founded in the 1940s as the Oak Ridge Quartet. They became popular in southern gospel during the 1950s...
and was a number one country music hit. His co-writer was Even Stevens, who previously had found success with co-writing songs for country star Eddie Rabbitt
Eddie Rabbitt
Edward Thomas "Eddie" Rabbitt was an American singer-songwriter and musician. His career began as a songwriter in the late 1960s, springboarding to a recording career after composing hits such as "Kentucky Rain" for Elvis Presley in 1970 and "Pure Love" for Ronnie Milsap in 1974...
as well as the Kenny Rogers
Kenny Rogers
Kenneth Donald "Kenny" Rogers is an American singer-songwriter, photographer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur...
hit "Love Will Turn You Around
Love Will Turn You Around (song)
"Love Will Turn You Around" is the title of a song performed and co-written by American country music singer Kenny Rogers. The song was released as a single in 1982 from Rogers' album of the same name. It is also the theme song to Rogers' 1982 film Six Pack....
" from the motion picture Six Pack
Six Pack (film)
Six Pack is a 1982 American comedy-drama film directed by Daniel Petrie and starring Kenny Rogers, Diane Lane, Erin Gray, Anthony Michael Hall, and Barry Corbin-Plot:...
.
The 2000s
Scarbury returned to the charts in 2008 with his single "How Do You Sleep at Night", released on Golden Records.Discography
Scarbury has released several singles starting in 1969 on Dunhill, followed by releases on Reena, Playboy, Bell, Columbia, RCA, Big Tree, Lionel, and Elektra labels.Albums
- America's Greatest HeroAmerica's Greatest HeroAmerica's Greatest Hero is the first and only album by Joey Scarbury, released by Elektra Records in 1981 on vinyl LP and Cassette; and was reissued on CD by Collectables Records in 2005....
- Released: 1981