The week of March 16, 1985, saw REO Speedwagon hanging on to the #1 spot of the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Can’t Fight This Feeling.‘
In the #2 spot that week was Glenn Frey’s ‘The Heat is On,’ the lead single from the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack.
Frey was a gun for hire on this track, paid $15,000 to play guitar and provide all vocals for the song, which was written by Harold Faltermeyer and Keith Forsey. Faltermeyer also penned the iconic ‘Axel F’ theme.
This is the highest charting single by any former Eagle, and came a year before another #2 soundtrack hit for Frey — ‘You Belong to the City,’ written for the TV show Miami Vice.
Keeping the Miami connection going, today’s SOTD has been used in promos by the Miami Heat basketball team for years.
The heat is on
On the street
Inside your head
On every beat
And the beat’s so loud
Deep inside
The pressure’s high
Just to stay alive
‘Coz the heat is on
[Pre-Chorus]
Oh-wo-ho
Oh-wo-ho
Caught up in the action
I’ve been looking out for you
Oh-wo-ho
Oh-wo-ho
Tell me can you feel it
Tell me can you feel it
Tell me can you feel it
[Chorus]
The heat is on
The heat is on
The heat is on
Oh! It’s on the street
The heat is on
[Pre-Chorus]
Oh-wo-ho
Oh-wo-ho
Caught up in the action
I’ve been looking out for you
Oh-wo-ho
Oh-wo-ho
Tell me can you feel it
Tell me can you feel it
Tell me can you feel it
[Chorus]
The heat is on
The heat is on
The heat is on
Oh! It’s on the street
The heat is on
[Verse 2]
The shadows high
On the darker side
Behind those doors
It’s a wilder ride
You can make a break
You can win or lose
That’s a chance you take?
And the heat’s on you
And the heat is on
[Pre-Chorus]
Oh-wo-ho
Oh-wo-ho
Caught up in the action
I’ve been looking out for you
Oh-wo-ho
Oh-wo-ho
Tell me can you feel it
Tell me can you feel it
Tell me can you feel it
[Chorus]
The heat is on
The heat is on
The heat is on
Oh! It’s on the street
The heat is on
[Outro]
It’s on the street
The heat is on
The heat is on
The heat is on
Yeah! It’s on the street
The heat is on
Meet Me In Montauk 
While I became a huge fan of Don Henley post-Eagles solo work, the same cannot be said for Frey. I also generally far preferred Henley’s Eagles’ songs over Frey’s. Henley had that edge and a more interesting voice while Frey seemed to favor softer commercial fare.
Today’s song may be the best of Frey’s 80s output, but I didn’t know he hadn’t written it. The low point for me was “Smuggler’s Blues,” which he did write. “It’s the politics f contraband” may be one of the dumbest, least musical lines ever written.
Love this theme!