Today’s classic song of the day is one you probably don’t recall off the top of your head but will remember when you hear it. The song is “Sky High” by a British group called Jigsaw. The single was released in August of 1975 and went all the way to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. (It only went to #9 in the UK.)
“Sky High” was written by Jigsaw singers Clive Scott and Des Dyer as the main title theme to a 1975 movie called The Man from Hong Kong. (In the U.S., the film was retitled The Dragon Flies, for some reason.) Don’t worry, I don’t remember that flick, either. It was a Australian-Chinese action movie that starred, alongside various Australian and Chinese actors, ex-James Bond George Lazenby. It was apparently a spoof of James Bond movies—which is fitting, since “Sky High” sounds a little bit like a majestic James Bond theme song.
Jigsaw came together in Coventry in 1966. Scott was an original member; Dyer joined in 1967. The band was originally known as a blues-rock band with a raucous live show; they changed their style in the early ’70s to more of a pop-rock feel, which led to the hit “Sky High.”
“Sky High” was the band’s only big hit in the U.S., although the follow-up “Love Fire” cracked the top forty in 1976. They had several other hits in Australia, Canada, and the UK, and broke up in 1983.
And here’s your daily bonus video, the opening credits of The Man from Hong Kong, featuring “Sky High” as the theme song. As you can hear for yourself, the version of “Sky High” used in the film is somewhat different from Jigsaw’s single version; it’s longer and has more strings and orchestral sweetening.
