Let's Talk - Cobra Kai

Survivor - The Moment of Truth (1984)

October 09, 2020 Just Curious Media Episode 25
Let's Talk - Cobra Kai
Survivor - The Moment of Truth (1984)
Let's Talk - Cobra Kai +
Help us continue making great content for listeners everywhere.
Starting at $3/month
Support
Show Notes Transcript

Let's Talk - Cobra Kai
Episode 25: Survivor - The Moment of Truth (1984)

Jason Connell and Sal Rodriguez break down the classic music video and talk about 80's special effects, Survivor's lead singers, and Mr. Miyagi's baseball career.

Survivor
"The Moment Of Truth"
The Karate Kid - Soundtrack Album
Polygram International

Original Episode: S02E14

Recorded: 10-07-20
Studio: Just Curious Media
https://www.JustCuriousMedia.com/

Listen:
https://LetsTalkCobraKai.buzzsprout.com/

Watch:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNfekAT0gN4to-6j2iKhGQw/

Follow:
https://www.facebook.com/LetsTalkCobraKai/
https://www.instagram.com/LetsTalkCobraKai/
https://twitter.com/TalkCobraKai/

Hosts:
https://www.instagram.com/MrJasonConnell/
https://www.instagram.com/SalvadorLosAngeles/

Support:
https://www.patreon.com/LetsTalkCobraKai/

#justcuriousmedia #letstalkcobrakai #mrjasonconnell #salvadorlosangeles #cobrakai #thekaratekid #daniellarusso #johnnylawrence #mrmiyagi #senseikreese #ralphmacchio #williamzabka #patmorita #martinkove #allvalleykaratechampionships #martialarts

Support the show
Jason Connell:

Welcome to Just Curious Media. This is Let's Talk - Cobra Kai. I'm Jason Connell.

Sal Rodriguez:

And I'm Sal Rodriguez.

Jason Connell:

All right, so here we are with another fun and special episode, we're going to break down the classic survivor moment of truth. Music Video.

Sal Rodriguez:

You know what's interesting is talking about the Karate Kid doesn't make me feel old. But talking about the rock group survivor kind of makes me feel old. Because when you talk about the Karate Kid, or Cobra Kai, you're talking about just one single universe. But when you talk about survivor, I feel like you're talking about an entire decade.

Jason Connell:

It's a good point, because survivor is best known for the eye of the tiger, right? Yes, the classic song from Rocky three. And that is really how I always looked at them. In fact, I had forgotten they had a song and the Karate Kid, and not just a song, but the song was in the trailer. The song had a music video. And it's also in the closing credits of the film. So for all intents and purposes, this is the movies quote unquote, theme song.

Sal Rodriguez:

Yeah, I think that if you're a fan, or a listener of our show, at least, I think you can deduce that from everything that we've thought about and talked about and looked at. This would be considered the theme song unofficially. I mean, I don't know if we've ever been told, here is the Karate Kid theme song.

Jason Connell:

Well, I would say is the theme song, or at least it was intended to be the theme song. But sometimes, like in movies, they may say, hey, this actor is going to blow up here, and then someone else catches everyone's eye. And I would say, the tie in here would be, I would think that most people walk away loving remembering, singing the year the best song from the movie, which is in the all Valley fight sequence, not really Johnny and Daniel, but it's a big fighting montage, and the Joe Esposito song is playing. And that's like, come on Assad. Like that's the song that really that song embodies the Karate Kid for me and so many others.

Sal Rodriguez:

Well, that's why I'm sure that I speak for a lot of Karate Kid fans and Cobra Kai fans. And up until recently, I thought you're the best around was the theme song of the Karate Kid. So us now talking about moment of truth being the theme song. I mean, this, this is the fork in the road here.

Jason Connell:

It is true. And the reason we're breaking it down is because we're looking for new material to talk about and stay in this space. As Cobra Kai has blown up thanks in large parts Netflix, and season three is a long way away. And as we try to line up interviews and do fun things, we've gotten back to the well of our DVD and it was one of the special features that caught my eye. And after last week's episode where we explored no more kings Sweep the leg, the 2007 music video, I just thought hey, let's explore this because I don't think I ever saw this music video until I watched it the other day. And then I forgotten that this song was the song playing in the whole trailer but obviously it was something they were publicizing. And you know survivor was a big band thanks in large part to the eye of the tiger from Rocky three and I guess we could just give you a little backstory as well because we've talked about this on our The Karate Kid special episode where sound I go beat by beat scene by scene to the entire film, highly recommend it. We also did the sequel. I'm sure we'll do karate kid three, The Next Karate Kid and probably the Jackie Chan remake.

Sal Rodriguez:

While we're at it, Jason I would like to visit the animated series that was the Karate Kid animated series, right? And hey, since we're talking we might as well check that out too.

Jason Connell:

You know what we might as well The point being that we have read and we talked about this before, but Stallone Sylvester Stallone really wanted Queens Another One Bites the Dust to be the theme song for Rocky three. Wow. And for whatever reason Queen past so Stallone had survivor do i The Tiger? He was going for that kinda Another One Bites the Dust feel and listen, I the tiger Come on. So how good is it i The

Sal Rodriguez:

tiger is iconic and fantastic. And I I'm embarrassed to say just as a disclaimer, I only learned in the last few years that a lamb is a baby sheep. Alright, I I just learned this so I'm maybe I'm not the brightest bulb in the back. Okay, so survivor. They started in Chicago in 1978. They had Dave bickler as the lead singer from 1978 to 1983. He sang I have the tiger. And then from 1984 to 1988. They had Jimmy Jameson, and he sang the moment of truth now to the casual listener. You'll just hear songs by survivor and let me tell you something Dave and Jimmy. have a say Miller sound bands

Jason Connell:

do this though. Van Halen went from David Lee Roth to Sammy Hagar, although this sounded different, but they were both making great albums. So perhaps it was, hey, the Karate Kid. We're gonna get survivor in here. They're still hot, you know, two years later, but you're the best is dislike the superior song for the movie, in my opinion. And I think it just worked in that sequence. And it's the one that I always would say, oh, that's the song from Karate Kid. Now, I've just alone passed on it. It was then slated to be in another classic 80s film. Do you know what that one was? Yeah, that'd be

Sal Rodriguez:

Flashdance. And that's where the female welder is going to fight the Russian.

Jason Connell:

That's right. And instead, they went with maniac, which a great choice as well. So here's Joe Esposito just pushed down the road to classic movies didn't make it into until the Karate Kid. So it got its do. I think it still works today, as we've talked about, but yet they promoted survivor because survivor was this hot property at the time. And I just want to point out that Bill Conti, who can post incredible music for the Karate Kid, as well as subsequent sequels wrote, both moment of truth, and you are the best?

Sal Rodriguez:

Well, how about that? Well, so it makes me wonder, did the Karate Kid camp setup survivor with Bill Conti that they have some sort of relationship before that? I wonder if I wonder what the background is regarding Bill Conti and survivor and how they got connected with the Karate Kid universe?

Jason Connell:

Things we'll have to find out in our subsequent episodes,

Sal Rodriguez:

I think what happens is that the music industry will sort of have a stable of songs and they'll kind of shop around to try to get them into a movie. And what happens is, as you look at different movies, you're going to see that songs we're going to be in this movie that I said there and that movie. In this instance, we have a lot of times with the Karate Kid and Rocky, if you look at other movie franchises, you're gonna probably see some cross pollination, if you will.

Jason Connell:

Yeah, it's a good point. And the 80s are seem to be an embarrassment of riches with these great songs. You know, I mean, how many songs was Kenny Loggins shopping around that popped up in every great 80s movie? Yeah, it's just yeah, it was a different time. But that may still go on for all I know.

Sal Rodriguez:

Well, an interesting bit of trivia. Speaking of survivor and Dave bickler, the singer of I have the tiger. Later on, he got into commercial jingles. Some of us may be familiar with Bud Light, real man of Jean years. That is none other than Dave bickler from survivor.

Jason Connell:

How about that. Alright, so before we get into the baby breakdown of this music video, this classic 80s music video, which is like three and a half minutes long. I want to point something out a mistake that I had made. that dates back to our initial episode on the Karate Kid. What? And I've I'm sure it's come up over other episodes in our timeline of doing let's talk Cobra Kai. And you even mentioned it last week and corrected me. But I was so steadfast in my belief that I was like, no, no, no, no, no, surely it's not. It's this is what it is. And that is this and the Karate Kid, Daniel Russo and his mother moved to an apartment complex and receita named What Sal

Sal Rodriguez:

the south sees. This is correct.

Jason Connell:

This is where Mr. Miyagi worked as we know and he could have owned it, which could have funded his amazing Miyagi home and the collection of classic cars. But I've actually been there visited went up look to the fence where Daniel kicked in the door knocked over Friday, but the doors different now you can see through it not wooden door like it was in the movie. But the font is really funky and kind of cool. And I quickly dismissed it and just saw in my mind as seven seas. I was thinking about this because after we wrap last week, and you sent me the photo, and I saw it clearly now it said South seas i was like oh my gosh, where did I get that from? It could have been from the Eurythmics song sweet dreams are made of this. Where they go ahead. You're a karaoke here.

Sal Rodriguez:

I travel the world and the seven seas. Everybody is looking for something.

Jason Connell:

Yeah, some of them are looking for the South Seas. But anyway, it is South Seas and receita. What is it? saticoy

Sal Rodriguez:

saticoy off Tampa, I think right. So look, Jason, I want to I want to let you off the hook. They both have five letters. You had me convinced for a long time the font is similar. I had to rub my eyes and look again to really see. That's right. It is and the only way I learned recently is because I watched a YouTube video of fanmade v2 video where he referenced the South Seas and I did it doubletake instead. What? And yeah, it is the south season I one thing I have to mention is something called the Mandela effect you can Google at the Mandela Effect is where you kind of create a false memory. And they got it from a lot of people believing that at one point in time, Nelson Mandela was dead, but he wasn't dead, but they thought he was dead. So it's about creating false memories, we created the seven seas. So I'm gonna definitely let you and I off the hook on this one.

Jason Connell:

Well, I appreciate that. Thanks for letting me off the hook. Moving forward. I will call it the South Seas, although I think Seven Seas has a really nice ring to it. So there you have it. And now, onto the video, we open with a keyboardist and a Japanese garden with an ad strobing effect. This

Sal Rodriguez:

is such a dichotomy. You have a rock band, in a Japanese Zen Garden, two things you would never put together or imagine being together. And yet here we are, in this video, I do enjoy that as the word. The only word I would know to describe it is the dichotomy things that don't really belong, yet you mash them together. And then you have this interesting outcome.

Jason Connell:

And that was the 80s in so many ways. So then we cut to Daniel at the South Seas, and he's meeting Mr. Miyagi, for the first time. And so what's he doing?

Sal Rodriguez:

This is Mr. Miyagi doing the classic catch a fly with chopsticks, which we will see again later on, attempted by Daniel.

Jason Connell:

Yes. And so this music video, which you saw a lot of music videos when they're made for a movie is they're intercut with scenes from the movie, of course. And I like the way they've done this. It's a very fast pace, little bitty montages to them are cutting back and forth between a guitarist with 80s hair, and then Daniel Miyagi. And then now we're the lead singer, who seems quite focused as he stares off screen

Sal Rodriguez:

that is Jimi Jamison, he kind of has a sort of a staring off into the distance delivery. And yes, this is a different singer, than who's saying I have the tiger. This is not Dave bickler. This is Jimmy Jamison, they're looking pretty cool. This video especially reminded me of something God would do, especially the era you look at what music videos were doing at the time, the guy's almost didn't really know what to do in a video because videos were so new. So they just played their music rocked out and did a lot of cool walking. Well then walk in this one. You're right, I have the tiger they did the walking. They didn't walk in this one. They just stayed in the garden the whole time, I believe stay in

Jason Connell:

the garden. So next we see Daniel meets alley at the beach, which is quickly foiled by Daniel meets Johnny. So again, fast beats to the movie, just broad strokes. And but now things start to get artistic as we have the lead singer in the foreground style with the guitarist on a rock and the bases on the bridge in this meticulous garden, of which Mr. Miyagi would be proud. And so you're right, just seeing this band and the positioning. And, you know, it's hilarious. Like, let's just do this. Let's let's have you over here. It's just hilarious. The way they've staged this one, I just I get a kick out of it.

Sal Rodriguez:

Now this wasn't Miyagi his actual backyard, was it?

Jason Connell:

No, I don't believe so. In fact, I tried to find out where this was.

Sal Rodriguez:

And no luck yet could have been the Japanese Zen Garden in Venice.

Jason Connell:

If anyone out there knows, worked on it, saw them doing this. Please let Sal and I know because it could easily have been there. So I don't know. So now we see Daniel spotting a karate dojo, which is across the street from his mother's restaurant, the Orient Express. We all know the scene. That scene took place on Wilshire Boulevard and South Cloverdale Avenue and Los Angeles. And of course out I used to live on fourth and Cloverdale. And when I revisited the Karate Kid, like 10 years ago, I just put it on wanted to see how it held up. I saw that scene and it said Cloverdale and I could spot wilsher And I literally pause the movie and went down the street four blocks of my dog at the time, Brody and just peeked in because you know, it's hard to see what the exterior of Cobra Kai look like. I didn't know at that point in time that the interior was not there. It was just that exterior shot because the interior was where Sal

Sal Rodriguez:

the interior of the Cobra Kai dojo was on Lankershim in North Hollywood. So when you're inside the Cobra Kai Dojo looking outward, you're looking at Lankershim. But in this scene, when you're outside looking in, you're on Wilshire,

Jason Connell:

that's exactly right. 5223 Lankershim to be exact, and both of those buildings are still there. They're just no longer dojos so sounds we come back in the lead singers now on the bridge? So this is one of those videos where like, we need you, you're the lead we're gonna put you in like 10 places and we're gonna sprinkle in the other guys in this garden and then, you know, was intercut it with Crytek a clip so I'm just I'm loving that production. Probably done in a couple of hours. And so yeah, he's almost like singing a ballad. Now we see the drummer who's almost appears to be air drumming, followed by a guitarist who's playing with the serene waterfall behind him. And then back to the opening shot of the singer. The looking off in a distance, and now it's the Daniel training section. The next shot I also love how we're in the midst of Mr. Miyagi doing the Crane Kick like he's practicing on the on the beach there. And then there's this amazing superimposed effect of a close up of the guitar we just saw being played, which is just hilarious to me. And then that's out done by a dolly shot, and you have the lead singer. Now he superimposed Mr. Miyagi and his catcher's mask on the screen, as he's teaching Daniel a punch. I mean, they spent all the money on this shot, this was their money shot. So that was

Sal Rodriguez:

an interesting choice. Because I think, unless you're familiar with the Karate Kid, you're thinking, why is this guy wearing an umpire's mask rather than a Ken a catcher's bib?

Jason Connell:

That's true. That's true. You know, the Miyagi play baseball, or did he just go pick that up and said, hey, I'll get this at a garage sale or at a sporting goods store, because it'd be good to train with Daniel,

Sal Rodriguez:

look, if they ever go back into the youth of Miyagi. Maybe we're gonna see that he played baseball when he was young. Wouldn't that be interesting? That's where that equipment is from that equipment is a remnant of yesteryear. He used to use that equipment when he was an actual catcher in Japan on the baseball team. Fantastic. Fantastic, incredible.

Jason Connell:

Cat like reflexes and hand eye coordination. He thought it was a fantastic catcher. And you know, baseball is really big in Japan. So who knows maybe Mr. Miyagi was a fan of the game. It's an hour back to the lead singer staring off in the distance that initial shot, but it's in the opposite direction this time, which I noticed right away. I was like, that's interesting. He's like in the other direction, but that reveal that he's missing a tooth? What is that was pretty interesting. Yeah. And it gives him like this hockey player kind of, you know, look and feel, which Sal, this is so either ironic, or serendipitous, or both. But the very next scene in the video is a cut to a scene from the movie, which there are golf and stuff. And it's a classic USA Russia hockey game. I mean, literally, from him to Daniel scoring with USA against Ali, who I guess was Russia, and putting it in the net. So I just thought, wow, it's hilarious. And just a quick note, I know we talked about this on the Karate Kid episode, but that game sow one of my all time favorite arcade games,

Sal Rodriguez:

was that a quarter a game or a 50 cent game?

Jason Connell:

I want to say it's a quarter game, but it came along a little bit later. And it was a great game and it lasted a long time. So it very well could have been two quarters kind of like air hockey. I mean, it's a game that could last several minutes.

Sal Rodriguez:

Okay, because those games the 50 cent games aside from Meraki to me, that was a whole nother thing. But video games that charge the two quarters. I stayed away from those I was a cheapskate stick to the quarter games. By the way, Jason, speaking of you mentioned USA, Russia and hockey. If Jimmy Jamison's voice sounds familiar, it's because once he took over as lead singer of Survivor, of course sing our song today the moment of truth, but saying burning heart from Rocky for

Jason Connell:

nice. So now it's back to the lead singer shot but he's staring at the camera. So this is it. This is when things start to kind of pick up. And he belts out the choruses, Daniel faces the Cobra Kai skeletons as he flees from the Halloween dance. And I'm not going to sing it but here's just a snippet of the course. It's the moment of truth. It's all on the line. This is the place this is the time waited forever. It's now our it's never nothing can stop you now.

Sal Rodriguez:

Well, you know, that's so motivational when when you listen to a lot of these survivor songs. Probably a lot of other 80s rock songs. They're very motivational like they make you want to get up and achieve is there any music where they're like you know what? I want to kick some butt today after listen to the song do they do they have that? Is there any motivational rock? Yeah, there's no motivational rock today. I don't think

Jason Connell:

I now and Bill Conti. I mean the lyrics are great. And now here he is. He's living and breathing this Karate Kid universe having been the composer and his music is incredible in the film. So great lyrics right on the nose. This wasn't a song being shopped around. This was a song made for created for this movie and it works really well

Sal Rodriguez:

talk about lyrics talk about motivational lyrics inspiring is definitely the word they inspire. They make me want to make me want to go for whatever that is. I want to go for it.

Jason Connell:

Yes, I grew up a product of MTV. I remember the day it dropped and I would consume of videos and they could be super cheesy. And then they evolved into telling more stories and those were great too because early on in that phase I still get a kick out of it and we're almost done Believe it or not moving right along Do you know that fight sequence when they're at the I guess they're at the chain link fence and Mr. Miyagi is jumping over to save the day, if you will. Yeah. Did you know sow what it says on the sign? There's this big sign there and I think aren't even does like a kick and hits the sign it breaks in half and it says, Help exclamation point, stop vandalism and theft protect school grounds Los Angeles City Schools.

Sal Rodriguez:

Interesting is your theory that the South Seas and his high school share the same fence.

Jason Connell:

My theory is This sign says that yes to make sense of that scene, because how could he have outrun them that long and all of them would have been wet. He's gonna run for a mile and a half and they're all chasing him. They don't have their motorcycles. I think they struggle with that and that's how they made sense of it. So there you have

Sal Rodriguez:

it, I like it. I like it a lot. And you know what, I've never heard that in any of the fan message boards or any of the YouTube videos and I like that a lot. I think that they put those two things together. It doesn't make sense as far as the timeline when he runs when he's caught makes total sense. I like it

Jason Connell:

it's funny how watching the music video made me recognize the sign missed it when we did the Karate Kid episode, but we had a million other things to talk about. So now as we see, the hazy Mr. Miyagi from Daniels POV on the ground after Miyagi, hit bested the cobra, guys, the song sounds like it's oversell. It's like perfect ending of the song. Miyagi is doing, you know, kind of stance looking around for any other people coming out of any of their attackers. And but Sal, it's not over. No, it's like the song kinda just resets and they have another chorus in them. And I love it because just when he thought it was over survivor is back and now the lead singer is standing up and he is fired up, Sal. And it goes into this hyperfast montage of wax on wax off, paint the fence, cod is on the boat. And when he's doing the cod on the boat, it's superimpose a lead singer. So another one of our high end effects here, the lead singer and Daniel on the boat doing his thing, and then crank it practice, all leading up to the valley. And so we've got quick shots to the tournament. And then we see the classic Daniel Crane Kick set up as the credits come back on because as you remember music videos credits in the beginning credits at the end, I love that music videos did that. But the credits when they came up there was only a little bit longer. And so now you see the drummer for a quick rapid drum riff. And then we go into these tight shots out from the movie of the main characters, and even a close shot of Daniels still on the crank. So you see in all these tighter shots back to the lead singer in the foreground. This time he's got a keyboardist on a grassy knoll behind him really amazing stuff, guys. And Sal this all leads to what the iconic

Sal Rodriguez:

image of Daniel on the beach during the Crane Kick practicing the crane kick on the beach, which he learned from Mr. Miyagi, Mr. Miyagi did it earlier, now Daniels doing it, but it ends with him doing it. And that's what I love is that it doesn't give the movie away. It doesn't show the ending of the movie, in this video, and I really appreciate that.

Jason Connell:

But they also did a very Karate Kid style and the fact that they, as he does the grandkid. And the practice, they freeze frame on the leg up. And they don't zoom in like the Karate Kid, but they do a freeze frame song fades out, and then we fade to black. So no, they didn't show us kicking Johnny in the face. But they did show you Hey, wait as I just saw that crank kick on practice. And they essentially showed you the end by not showing you the end

Sal Rodriguez:

and I liked that we didn't have to see Johnny lose in order to know that Daniel wins if that makes sense. We didn't have to see that that kick. We do not see the Crane Kick in his video. And I liked that.

Jason Connell:

I totally agree with you. And so after I saw this, I put on the original trailer as well which is also a special feature on the DVD. And of course as we said earlier, the song is the music in the trailer. No other music. It's really this mighty middle song. But the trailer ends with Crane Kick go into motion Johnny gets closer we cut out so we show a little bit more of it in the trailer at the very end.

Sal Rodriguez:

Well, I I don't want to end on a down note Jason, but we lost Jimi Jamison in 2014 Jimi Jamison died in 2014 in Memphis, Tennessee, so I'm happy to have experienced his music, happy to have experienced his vocals. He is no longer with us recipes.

Jason Connell:

And he was great in the video. I mean, as cheesy as it was. It's cheesy in a good way. We love the 80s we love the videos and I did not know that so thanks for pointing that out. Did we lose any other band members from survivor any other survivors

Sal Rodriguez:

I'd ironic Well, Dave bickler went back with survivor later on. So I believe it was after the demise of Jimmy Jameson. Then we have Dave bickler Come back and Dave bickler Did some touring then was survivor much later. So Dave Bigler was there then was gone, then came back.

Jason Connell:

Thanks for pointing that out. I'll just say this. They put on the movie earlier, and just kind of ran through all the scenes listen to for the music and couldn't spot this song anywhere until the closing credits and it's a great fitting way to end this movie. You'll never here at the same and this thing people were leaving the theaters, with survivor moment of truth playing. Yeah, what a great way for the Karate Kid to end and that the franchise

Sal Rodriguez:

begin. And then what two weeks later they're shooting or two?

Jason Connell:

Yeah, wine tribes got him in production of Karate Kid part two. Yeah.

Sal Rodriguez:

Fantastic. I love all the way these roads criss cross all these artists who do interlink. I really do like it a lot. Yeah,

Jason Connell:

so hey, that's it. We did a deep dive on a classic music video and a classic band gave me some great trivia some references to how the song came to be eroded the other songs in the film and it's out a pretty good time.

Sal Rodriguez:

Yeah, I had a real good time I you know, I'm really am enjoying the nostalgia that we're delving into. And I just I just want to be clear. For the record. I'm not really from the 80s. I consider myself more of a late 80s and early 90s. As far as my main bulk of my childhood, I think,

Jason Connell:

well, I like the 80s and the 90s. I'm climbing them both. Well, hey, that's all we got on this episode. We greatly appreciate the emails or direct messages we've gotten from various fan some really great reviews and just people asking us questions or pointing things out. So please keep that coming. We love it. And we just want to encourage you to please listen, subscribe, rate and review the show. It helps us out immensely. And sell anything you want to add.

Sal Rodriguez:

Yeah, just want to encourage all of our listeners to get in touch with us. Drop us a line. Hey, if you got an idea about a special episode, let us know if there's something you want us to cover. Please let us know and we may consider covering it for a future episode.

Jason Connell:

Again. Thank you so much and we'll see you next time.

Sal Rodriguez:

No Mercy

Podcasts we love