The AT40 Blog/September 7, 1985: The "real" story of "The Man In Motion"

If you ask most people what the song "St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)" is all about, chances are those people will tell you it's the theme song from a Brat Pack movie starring Emilio Estevez, Demi Moore, Mare Winningham, Ally Sheedy, Andrew McCarthy, Judd Nelson and Rob Lowe as college graduates trying to make it on their own after receiving their diplomas.

But what if I told you that this was not the original premise of writing the song whatsoever? Yeah, you'd be shocked, too.

And, yes, it's true. The song was co-written by the song's producer, David Foster, and the singer, John Parr, about a man trying to accomplish something amazing. In other words, it had nothing to do with the Brat Pack whatsoever.



The man this song was meant for was a Canadian native named Rick Hansen. Hansen, born August 26, 1957, in Port Alberni, British Columbia, was involved in an truck accident at the age of 15 when he was thrown from the back of the truck he was a passenger in that swerved out of control and into a tree. The spinal cord injury he suffered made him a paraplegic. Hansen worked hard to get himself into some kind of working shape, finish school, graduate, then become the first person with a physical disability to earn a degree from the University of British Columbia.

After school, Hansen worked on being an outstanding wheelchair athlete. He won as a member of the national championship wheelchair basketball team and became a wheelchair marathoner. In the 1980 and 1984 Summer Paraplegic Olympics, Hansen earned three gold medals, two silvers and a bronze. And on top of that, Hansen was a three-time world championship marathoner.

Hansen had seen and done enough in his life, but just as he ran out of challenges to conquer, he thought back to the spring of 1980. An amputee and former star athlete named Terry Fox began a venture called the "Marathon Of Hope" to raise cancer awareness while running through Canada, the insidious disease that led to him being amputated. Sadly, though, a recurrence of the cancer he was fighting came back and Fox had to end his run. Fox would die on June 28, 1981 from cancer at the age of 23.

Hansen thought about the 5,373 kilometers Fox ran on one leg in 143 days. Fox's efforts raised $600 million Canadian and Hansen had an idea that would be similar.

The idea would have Hansen not just going through Canada, but all around the world. It would turn out to be four continents. And so on March 21, 1985, Hansen set out from the Oakridge Mall in Vancouver to little fanfare. But Hansen was persistent and the more kilometers he amassed, the more media coverage he garnered. Hansen went down the west coast through Washington, Oregon and California, then went to Europe. Then he got to Asia. Next was Australia. And when he was finished his journey, Hansen had wheeled 40,000 kilometers in 34 countries and raised $26 million for spinal cord research and quality of life initiatives. He landed back in Vancouver's BC Place Stadium on May 22, 1987, two years, two months and one day after he started or 792 days later.

Like Fox, Hansen was lauded a hero among fellow Canadians and like Fox, Hansen was awarded both the Order of British Columbia and the Order of Canada, the second highest honor of merit in the country.

But let's back up: Just as Hansen had begun his venture to take on the world in his wheelchair, Foster, a fellow Canadian, had begun putting the words and music together to a song in Hansen's honor in the fall of 1984. The song was originally titled "Man In Motion" in honor of the name of Hansen's venture. And as Foster was in the middle of writing this tribute, he got a phone call from Lauren Shuler Donner. She was the producer of the movie St. Elmo's Fire (which, by the way, is named after an electrical phenomenon) and she knew of Foster's work as a producer, mostly for the comeback of the group Chicago. She wanted Foster to put together the movie's soundtrack.

So Foster went right to work, going nonstop to get the project done in a matter of months. But he found a way to advertise his ode to Rick Hansen. And so the first person he called was a 30-year-old unknown Brit named John Parr, who was on tour at the time as the opening act for Foster's buddies from the band Toto. He had a little familiarity with Parr, but not much. Still, he asked Parr if he could help him co-write the song.

So Parr and Foster finished the song up with one major thing added in it -- the title be changed to "St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)" so that people would recognize that the song was the main theme from the movie and that the title of the movie be put into the lyrics.

Mission accomplished. Not only was the movie title put into the song, but "Man In Motion" was going to serve its purpose for Hansen's cause once the song would be released. The song, which featured members of Toto on background, would be put on the British version of Parr's self-titled debut album, but not on the American version. Parr did score his first Top 40 hit in this country with the raucous No. 23 hit "Naughty Naughty" in the winter of 1985 from that album.

And as Hansen was winding his way down the west coast of the U.S., the movie was released on June 28, 1985 -- the fourth anniversary of Fox's passing. The week before the movie's release, the song debuted on the Hot 100 at No. 90. But as the movie continued to become a smash that summer, the title song got plenty of radio airplay and attention. Three weeks later, the song was sitting at No. 42.

Then on the week of July 20, 1985, it debuted in the Top 40 at No. 30, the highest-debuting record of the week. Two weeks later, it became Parr's biggest hit as it got to No. 18. Two more weeks later on August 17, 1985, the song had entered the Top 10, moving from No. 11 to No. 7. From there, it jumped to No. 4, then No. 2 and finally, on the week of September 7, 1985, "St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)" became Parr's first No. 1 hit, staying at the top for two weeks.

Unfortunately for Parr, his career didn't have the same kind of mojo as the movie (even as critics blistered and panned the movie and its director, Joel Schumacher), the theme song or even Foster's handiwork had. Two ensuing singles -- "Love Grammar" and "Blame It On The Radio" -- failed to even get past No. 88 on the chart. And it wasn't until 2011 that "St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)" landed on any of Parr's albums or CDs in this country, eventually placed on his "Letter To America" CD. Parr still keeps busy and does work where needed. He recently teamed up with the remaining members of The Who, Mick Hucknall, Jeff Beck and other musicians to play at the Kenney Jones Rock & Horsepower concert in London, raising money and awareness for prostate cancer. And he also teamed up with Guns 'N Roses producer Mike Clink, ex-GNR guitarist Slash and Motley Crue's Nikki Sixx to work on a Pete Way album.

Hansen, meanwhile, started his own foundation in 1988 and is the CEO, where his organization has reportedly raised $200 million for spinal-cord injury-related issues and keeps bringing awareness to the subject. In 2010, Hansen was a torch bearer for the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games where he spoke to the audience and participants in the Games that night.

So the next time someone says that "St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)" is from a movie starring a bunch of Brat Pack actors and actresses, tell that person they are half right.

And then tell them the whole story. They may even be fascinated.