When it started its chart run on December 12, 1981, on the Billboard Hot 100, the song was simply called "Titles," called that for its usage while it was playing over the titles of a hot new movie called Chariots Of Fire.
And thus began the slow climb up the Hot 100. As 1981 turned to 1982, "Titles" was only at No. 88. Usually, that's not a good sign of a successful chart run.
But something happened. The movie it came from began to get Oscar-worthy buzz. And before long, that movie about two track and field athletes from two different faiths -- a Scottish Christian and an English Jew -- fighting for a spot for Great Britain on the 1924 Summer Olympics team, found itself nominated for seven Oscar nominations, including Best Film.
So, too, was the score composed by a man born Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou in Volos, Greece on March 29, 1943. Spending most of his life in music, Vangelis helped to form a band that was borne from the French student riots of 1968 with another future Greek music star, Demis Roussos, called Aphrodite's Child. The group sold over 20 million copies of a pair of albums, but it was their third album, "666," based off the Bible's last book, Revelations, that turned heads. But it also caused a rift between Vangelis and Roussos and the band broke up in 1971 before the release of "666."
Vangelis went solo and was a part of 14 solo albums and soundtracks between 1970-80. In 1980, Vangelis began a relationship musically with Yes lead singer Jon Anderson and recorded two albums, "Short Stories" and "The Friends Of Mr. Cairo." A pioneer of electronic music, keyboard wiz Vangelis produced the album that combined his work along with Anderson's vocals, the most famous song from either album being "I Hear You Now" in 1980 from "Short Stories."
It was in 1979 when Vangelis put together the soundtrack to a Frederic Rossif documentary titled Opera Sauvage. His work got the attention of film makers and commercial writers, who used his work from Opera Sauvage for commercials for Barilla pasta (in Italy) and for the wines of Ernest and Julio Gallo (in the U.S.).
In 1981, Vangelis was asked to write the soundtrack to Chariots Of Fire, which like most of his previous work, was heavy on synthesizers and electronic music.
Yet the track called "Titles" wasn't exactly enticing anyone to go out and buy the 45-rpm single or the soundtrack from the movie it came from.
But after moving up to No. 85 on January 9, 1982, the song finally earned a star on the Hot 100 chart for the week ending January 16, moving up to No. 78 -- and immediately losing that star by moving up a mere three notches to No. 75 the next week.
That's when the song's fortunes turned around by a simple change of title, For the week of January 30, 1982, "Titles" became "Chariots Of Fire" and moved up from No. 75 to No. 68. Then it jumped up nine more notches to land at No. 59. Then the big push took place -- "Chariots Of Fire" jumped up from No. 59 to No. 44 on February 13. It was inevitable that "Chariots Of Fire" was going to be a Top 40 hit.
And on the week of February 20, it leaped into the Top 40 at No. 34, the 11th week the song was on the Hot 100. After a four-notch climb to No. 30, it bolted up 10 notches to No. 20 on March 6, 1982.
Three weeks later and in its 16th week on the Hot 100, "Chariots Of Fire" had landed in the Top 10 at No. 8, moving up six notches from No. 14.
This was all in time for the 54th annual Academy Awards ceremony at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. On the night of March 29, 1982, Chariots Of Fire won four Academy Awards and stunned the Best Film field led by 12-time nominee Reds by winning. And for his 39th birthday that night, Vangelis won the Academy Award for Best Original Score for his work on the movie.
How did that translate? Very well, thank you. Suddenly, people who wouldn't buy a song called "Titles" were certainly wanting to get their hands on a small little vinyl disc called "Chariots Of Fire." Two weeks after crashing the Top 10, "Chariots Of Fire" had climbed to No. 3. But it got stuck in that position for three straight weeks, just about giving up on its long run up the countdown.
Then came the final push -- on the week of May 1, "Chariots Of Fire" displaced the Go-Go's "We Got The Beat" from the No. 2 spot. Now only one song stood in the way -- Joan Jett & The Blackhearts' "I Love Rock 'n Roll," which was now in its seventh straight week at the top.
Would "Chariots Of Fire" finish the race and get to No. 1?
That would be answered the very next week -- the week of May 8, 1982, when "Chariots Of Fire," the song that once started off as simply "Titles" and struggled on the Hot 100 in December and most of January, pushed up one more notch to land at No. 1, the first and only No. 1 hit for Vangelis and the first time that a Greek native hit the top.
And by getting to No. 1 in its 22nd week on the Hot 100, "Chariots Of Fire" became the new champion for slow rides to the top, breaking the previous record of 21 weeks held by Nick Gilder's "Hot Child In The City" in 1978 and Robert John's "Sad Eyes" in 1979.
Unfortunately for Vangelis, who continued to make soundtracks and albums and CDs, he would never have another Top 40 hit. But while his career on the charts didn't last, his composition more than has stood the test of time. Anytime there's a long running race, chances are that runners will be sent off at the starter's pistol to this song. And in 2012, the song was played (and parodied) at the Olympic Games of London thanks to Mr. Bean himself, Rowan Atkinson.
"Chariots Of Fire" made it big on the chart. "Titles" would never have seen the light of Top 40 day the way the chart run was going.
That's how important the song became: A simple title change that didn't sound generic.
If not for that, Vangelis may not have had a No. 1 hit and may never have been praised for one of the greatest movie songs and instrumentals of all time.
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