The song, “St. Elmo’s Fire”, was originally recorded by John Parr in 1985

You’ve seen the film and heard the song on the Virgin TV ad, but did you know that British singer John Parr (b.1952) and producer David Foster (b.1949) wrote “St. Elmo’s Fire (Man In Motion)”? The track was produced for the 1985 film of the same name that starred Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe and Demi Moore and went to No.1 in America and Canada, and No.6 in the UK that Summer-Autumn. The song was a top ten hit in a further twelve countries worldwide and became John’s biggest and best known hit.

In 2006, British producers Dan Bewick and Simon Paul, calling themselves ‘Tommyknockers’, remixed the track into a Dance/club anthem with the new title of “New Horizon” and released it as ‘John Parr vs Tommyknockers’. This new version reached No.43 on the UK singles chart and had only limited appeal elsewhere. John recorded a new live version of the original in 2020 during lockdown at his home, the 35th anniversary of the songs release. This was produced by Brother In Rhythm Steve Anderson. Make sure you check it out on John’s YouTube page!

But which version of “St. Elmo’s Fire” is the best? THE ORIGINAL or THE REMIX?