Read on to find out the greatest Kenny Rogers songs throughout the history of science fiction television. On March 20, 2020, in Sandy Springs, Georgia, U.S. Kenny Rogers died at 81. Rogers has had 120 hit singles and sold more than 100 million records over a 50-year career. Kenny Rogers started out as a country music artist but crossed over into many genres.
With a career that ran over multiple decades and generations, his music influenced everything from music, movies, and television. Here are the greatest times Rogers’s music influenced the world of science fiction.
1. Knight Rider – “Love Will Turn You Around”
Kenny Rogers’s music career started in the 1950s. Rogers moved from teenage rock and roll before becoming a country music star. He was the frontman of the rock band “The First Edition” before his breakout country hit “Lucille”. Through the 1970s and 80s, he had many other hits including several duets with Country Music legend Dottie West, Wonder Woman star Lynda Carter, and others.
In 1982, Rogers released the album Love Will Turn You Around. The title track was a hit and reached No. 13 on the Billboard Hit 100 and topped the Country and Adult Contemporary charts. That same year the song was used in the Knight Rider’s first season episode 11 named “The Final Verdict”. For those who don’t know Knight Rider was about a former police officer who travels the country stopping crimes with a modified self-driving Pontiac Trans Am. The show was a huge hit and featured many popular contemporary songs of its time.
2. Chuck – “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)”
During Kenny Roger’s time with the psychedelic rock group “The First Edition”, he recorded
“Just Dropped In …” in 1967. The song was written by Mickey Newbury and meant to be a warning against the use of the popular recreational drug LCD. It was Rogers’ first top ten hit and peaked at number five on the Billboard charts.
The popular series Chuck starring Shazam star Zachary Levi cast him as Chuck Bartowski. He played an “average computer-whiz-next-door” who joins the CIA as a spy. In the season three premiere, named “Chuck versus the Pink Slip” he’s failed spy school and his relationship with Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski) has broken down. In a malaise, he slumps around his apartment in the morning as the song plays.
3. Street Hawk – “What About Me?”
In 1984 Kenny Rogers scored another Adult Contemporary hit with “What About Me?” The love song was sung in trio with R&B singer James Ingram and Kim Carnes. It was written by Rogers, producer David Foster, and singer-songwriter Richard Marx. It rocketed to number one on the Billboard adult contemporary chart. It stayed there for two weeks.
The short-lived Knight Rider knockoff about a guy who rides a high tech motorcycle called Street Hawk also featured a Kenny Rogers song. “What About Me?” was featured in the seventh episode of it’s first and only season titled “Chinatown Memories” in 1985.
4. Supergirl – “Islands in the Stream”
In 1983 Kenny Rogers was a platinum-selling artist who sold over $250,000,000 worth of records and decided to team up with Barry Gibb on a song. Barry was part of the group the Bee Gees and insisted on doing an album together. The song “Islands in the Stream” was originally written for Marv in Gaye in an R&B style. The duet with Dolly Parton quickly went to No. 1 in the Billboard Hot 100.
The song was featured in a 2016 episode of Supergirl, which follows Superman’s cousin’s adventures. The episode called “Welcome to Earth” features the love song.
5. Watchmen – “Islands in the Stream”
Kenny Rogers had a warm deep baritone that, combined with Dolly Parton’s folksy singing style, pushed “Islands in the Stream” to massive sales. It was certified Platinum by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) for selling over two million physical records in the US. When it was made available in digital format it sold more than 834,000 digital copies in the US as of January 2019. She released a touching tribute to the singing star on Twitter saying, “You never know how much you love somebody until they’re gone. I’ve had so many wonderful years and wonderful times with my friend Kenny, but above all the music and the success I loved him as a wonderful man and a true friend.”
You never know how much you love somebody until they’re gone. I’ve had so many wonderful years and wonderful times with my friend Kenny, but above all the music and the success I loved him as a wonderful man and a true friend. pic.twitter.com/hIQLIvt8pr
— Dolly Parton (@DollyParton) March 21, 2020
The superhero television show Watchmen is based on the classic graphic novel of the same name by Grant Morrison and Dave Gibbons. It used the song to good effect. In the 2019 season one episode “If You Don’t Like My Story, Write Your Own” the song played as Jon ( Robert Pralgo) and Katy Clark (Christine Weatherup) go about their mundane day. That is until Lady Trieu (Hong Chau) shows up and offers them the choice of a lifetime.
6. Stranger Things – “Islands in the Stream”
The perky song “Islands in the Stream” was another hit for Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. “Barry Gibb had written some things I’d thought were really country-based songs, with Bee Gees harmony,” he later explains. “And the Bee Gees sang background on all the stuff I did. It was hard for me because Barry writes very melody–specific songs. I think it’s a great album, but there’s very little of me in there. I sound like a deep-throated Bee Gee – and that’s not necessarily bad, just me tempering my sound to their sound, as opposed to him producing me to get the most out of me.”
On the retro Netflix series Stranger Things there are a ton of pop culture references. In the season two episode “Trick or Treat, Freak” lovable dork Bob Newby (Sean Astin) says that he loves Kenny Rogers. Later he and Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) slow dance to a record (remember those?) playing “Islands in the Stream”.
Kenny Rogers’s music and legacy will live on. Although we’ve lost the man his music will last forever.
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About the Author Maurice Mitchell has been a passionate science-fiction fan of movies, television, books, and comics since age five. He and his twin brother Nigel created the site “The Geek Twins” to share that passion. Maurice has written and created infographics for sites like The Geek Twins and About.com. His work has been featured on sites like Business Insider, io9 Slashfilm and more. Read more of his posts | Follow him on Twitter @Mauricem1972 |
What’s your favorite Kenny Rogers song? Let us know in the comments below!
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