Tom Whitlock (1954 - 2023)

[1finemrg]

Tom Whitlock passed away February 17 at the age of 68. No cause of death was given, though Tom had been battling Alzheimer's in recent years.

With Giorgio Moroder, Tom won an Oscar for co-writing Berlin's "Take My Breath Away" for the movie "Top Gun". He also co-wrote with Giorgio the other hit single, Kenny Loggins' "Danger Zone".

The pair reunited with Loggins, creating the hit "Meet Me Halfway" from the movie "Over The Top".

Tom co-wrote the themes to the 1988 Summer Olympics (Hand In Hand) and the 1990 FIFA World Cup (To Be Number One).

In 2012, Tom was honored by the Library of Congress for his songwriting contributions.

Obituary

[rayshae3]

“Make this a new beginning of another life”-From “Meet Me Halfway”

This goes deeper than what John posted above: Tom Whitlock in an interview from the excellent website “Rediscover-the-80s”:
www.rediscoverthe80s.com/2018/03/interview-with-award-winning-top-gun.html

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P.S. This is a side note, but I include it in this thread: Excluding part of Faltermeyer’s “Top Gun Anthem”, the new Top Gun sequel (Top Gun Maverick) has only Whitlock-penned “Danger Zone” shared with the first film’s soundtrack .And It’s been widely reported that Kenny Loggins cut an updated version for the 2022 film. But it was at the insistence of Tom Cruise (who also co-produced the sequel), that the new recording got scrapped and the original 1986 song be used. The new cut might show up later as a bonus track in subsequent re-release of the soundtrack though.