In 1980, Kenny Loggins released “I’m Alright”, a song that became his second Top 10 single. “I’m Alright” is one of several songs Loggins contributed to the comedic Caddyshack film, starring Chevy Chase and Rodney Dangerfield.
Written solely by Loggins, the song gave Loggins a Grammy Award nomination. It remains one of his most notable tunes. The uptempo song says, “I’m alright / Nobody worry ’bout me / Why you got to gimme a fight / Can’t you just let it be.”
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A fan favorite, at least one person spent years upset about this song, namely Eddie Money. Money, who had numerous hits from the late 70s to the early 90s, sings prominent backing vocals on the song. Unfortunately, Loggins allegedly never gave him the credit he deserved for his part in making the song a success.
“I’m not a big Kenny Loggins fan,” Money tells CleveScene.com. “And I never have been because you know what? We were label mates on Columbia Records and the guy never even gave me credit for doing the middle part of that song. That’s what I call a scumbag.”
The Story Behind “I’m Alright” by Kenny Loggins
Loggins has his work on the 1976 film A Star Is Born to thank for being part of Caddyshack. Jon Peters was part of both A Star Is Born and Caddyshack.
“Because of our friendship of working on A Star Is Born, he called me and asked me if I wanted to check it out and write a song for [Caddyshack],” Loggins tells American Songwriter. “I was driving home from LA, stopped at this studio and saw a rough cut. It had no ending and no gopher. I laughed my ass off. It was hilarious.”
Loggins wrote several other songs for Caddyshack, including “Lead The Way” and “Mr. Night”. He went on to write music for several other movie soundtracks, thanks to his success with Caddyshack.
“It was such a good experience for me,” Loggins says. “I’ve talked to other artists who have written for movies and they have not had good experiences. Jon was incredibly cooperative and creatively helpful. It turned into such a great experience. I’m grateful not only that it was a huge hit, but I wanted to do a lot more after that.”
After Caddyshack, Loggins also contributed to films like Footloose and Top Gun, among others. In 1984, Loggins had his first No. 1 single with the title track of Footloose.
Photo by Gary Gershoff/Getty Images
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