Yesterday, songwriting great Jim Steinman — known for his hugely successful collaborations with everyone from Meatloaf to Celine Dion — died at the age of 73. Steinman’s career often brushed up against motion pictures, providing songs for Footloose (“Holding out for a Hero”) and 1984’s Streets of Fire. The latter showcases Steinman’s musical majeesty in director Walter Hill‘s futuristic, song-filled adventure starring Diane Lane as Ellen Aim, the beautiful lead singer of the rock band Ellen Aim and the Attackers. When she’s kidnapped by a savage motorcycle gang led by the ruthless Raven Shaddock (Willem Dafoe), it falls to Ellen’s mercenary ex-lover Tom Cody (Michael Paré), her manager and current beau Billy Fish (Rick Moranis), and tomboy mechanic McCoy (Amy Madigan) to rescue her. We’ve included the trailer to Streets of Fire above to pay tribute not only to Steinman, but to one of the 1980s most visceral movie experiences. If for some reason you haven’t seen this noirish musical event, give a shot and discover how “Tonight is What It Means to Be Young.”
