Chariots of Fire

Exactly 30 years ago today, composer Evangelos Papathanassiou, who is more commonly known as Vangelis, hit number one on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart as “Chariots of Fire – Titles” rose to the top spot for a one-week stay.  The instrumental piece, from the Oscar-winning film Chariots of Fire, would be Vangelis’ only single to hit the top 100, placing him among the biggest one-hit wonders of all time.

Of course, Vangelis’ status as a one-hit wonder likely says more about popular music charts than about his work, as he has built a successful career as a composer of classical music and cinema scores for over the past five decades.