Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack album to the movie of the same name, starring Mel Gibson and Tina Turner. The album was originally released in 1985 on the Capitol Records label and reissued numerous times on different labels.
The musical score for Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome was composed by Maurice Jarre, replacing Brian May, who composed the music for the previous two films. The film also features two songs performed by Tina Turner, "We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)" and "One of the Living," with the latter replacing Jarre's opening titles music. A soundtrack album was originally released by Capitol Records in 1985. It includes Turner's "We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)", which reached #1 in Canada, #2 in the U.S. and #3 in the British single charts; it plays over the end credits. "One of the Living" was rerecorded for single release, and reached #15 in both Canada and the U.S., but only #55 in Britain. A double CD containing only Jarre's original music was issued in 2010 on Tadlow Music/Silva Screen Records.
BACKGROUND
In addition to 26 minutes of the original orchestral score composed by Maurice Jarre and performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the album includes Tina Turner's US #2 and UK #3 single "We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)", which played over the end titles of the film. The single was released the year after Turner's comeback with the Private Dancer album and its series of hit singles. "We Don't Need Another Hero" was written and produced by Terry Britten and Graham Lyle (who also wrote "What's Love Got to Do with It") and appears on the album both as an extended vocal version and an extended instrumental, tracks originally released as the A- and B-sides of the 12" single. The vocal 7" mix has since appeared on the hits compilations Simply The Best in 1991 and All the Best in 2004. The alternate 7" instrumental mix remains unreleased on CD. The song received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song in 1986 and a 1986 Grammy nomination for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female.
The second Tina Turner track on the album, "One of the Living" (U.S. #15), was the film's opening titles song, produced by Mike Chapman and composed by Holly Knight - the team behind "Better Be Good To Me" - and also credited to Knight's band Device on both the film's end titles and the original vinyl album. Released as the follow-up single to "We Don't Need Another Hero", "One of the Living" was also remixed for both the 7" and 12" singles. Aside from the 7" Remix appearing on The Platinum Collection three-disc CD set in 2009, the 7" Dub, 12" Special Remix, 12" Dub and 12" Instrumental versions, co-produced and mixed by Steve Thompson and Michael Barbiero, all remain unreleased on CD. "One of the Living" won Turner a Grammy Award in 1985 for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female.