"Evergreen (Love Theme From `A Star Is Born')," "A Star Is Born," 1976.ġ7. "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend," "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," 1953.ġ4. "The Man That Got Away," "A Star Is Born," 1954.ġ2. "The Sound of Music," "The Sound of Music," 1965.ġ1. "Stayin' Alive," "Saturday Night Fever," 1977.ġ0. "The Way We Were," "The Way We Were," 1973.ĩ. "When You Wish Upon a Star," "Pinocchio," 1940.Ĩ. "White Christmas," "Holiday Inn," 1942.Ħ. "Moon River," "Breakfast at Tiffany's," 1961.ĥ. "Singin' in the Rain," "Singin' in the Rain," 1952.Ĥ. "Over the Rainbow," "The Wizard of Oz," 1939.Ģ. movies, with film title and year of release:ġ. The American Film Institute's list of top 100 songs From U.S. I still hear `Up Where We Belong' when I'm at the store buying frozen peas, and it makes me happier to be buying frozen peas." "The reason why my songs made it there is that they're used. 75) from "An Officer and a Gentleman" and "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" (No. "I think this list is about music that has made its way into daily lives, rather than an assessment of what's great," said Jennifer Warnes, who sang two duets that made the list, "Up Where We Belong" (No. 27) and from counterculture flicks ("Born to Be Wild" from "Easy Rider" at No. 14 and "Unchained Melody" from "Ghost" at No. Songs came from blockbusters ("My Heart Will Go On" from "Titanic" at No. 80) from Mel Brooks' "The Producers" and Gene Wilder and Peter Boyle's wacky rendition of "Puttin' on the Ritz" (No. Louis" to the goofy with "Springtime for Hitler" (No. 24) from the 1936 version of "Show Boat" and Garland's "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (No. Other tunes ranged from sublime with Paul Robeson's "Ol' Man River (No. 60) from "When Harry Met Sally." and "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" (No. Unlike the Academy Awards, which honors songs written specifically for new movies, the AFI list allowed any tune integral to a movie. 98) from "Chicago" and Eminem's "Lose Yourself" (No. 73), sung by Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald in 1932's "Love Me Tonight." The newest came from 2002 with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Renee Zellweger's rendition of "All That Jazz" (No. The earliest song to make the list was "Isn't It Romantic" (No. Even before sound came to films, there were songs that went with silent pictures, as well." "Movies and music are so obviously linked at the heart, really.
"It's an idea we've had floating around since the beginning," said Bob Gazzale, who produces the AFI specials. AFI leaders had been mulling a list of best movie songs for years. Past specials presented such lists as the best 100 American movies, comedies, screen legends and love stories. "It's about older generations revisiting them and younger generations finding them for the first time." "A list like this really drives people back to rediscover or discover these movies," said Jean Picker Firstenburg, the institute's director. The show's host was John Travolta, star of "Saturday Night Fever" and "Grease," whose "Summer Nights" came in at No. 100 Songs," the institute's latest countdown to promote U.S. 59).Ĭhosen from 400 nominees, the list was announced in the CBS special "AFI's 100 Years. "West Side Story" also landed three songs: "Somewhere" (No. 88) and "Singin' in the Rain" ("Make 'Em Laugh" at No. Two other songs made the list from both "The Sound of Music" ("My Favorite Things" at No. "The Sound of Music" from "The Sound of Music." "Stayin' Alive" from "Saturday Night Fever" 10. "The Way We Were" from "The Way We Were" 9. "When You Wish Upon a Star" from "Pinocchio" 8. "Moon River" from "Breakfast at Tiffany's" 5. In 2001, Garland's "Over the Rainbow" (and Bing Crosby's "White Christmas") also topped the 365 "Songs of the Century" selected by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Recording Industry Association of America.