Since 1935, many musicians ranging from Oscar Hammerstein and Henry Mancini to Lady Gaga and Billie Ellish have won Oscars for writing and composing some of the most memorable songs ever heard on the silver screen. Here are my picks the five best years for the Best Original Song Oscar category:

5. 1986 

Winner: “Take My Breath Away”, music by Giorgio Morodor and lyrics by Tom Whitlock, performed by Berlin (from Top Gun)
Nominees: “Somewhere Out There” (An American Tail), “Glory of Love” (The Karate Kid Part II), “Mean Green Mother from Outer Space” (Little Shop of Horrors)

The Father of Disco won his second Oscar in three years (winning for “Flashdance… What A Feeling” from the 1983 dancing drama Flashdance) for a slow yet soaring love ballad that quickly became a staple for The Delilah Show aficionados, prom dances, and those Valentine’s Day cards that play 10-second loops of songs when the guy forgot to get a meaningful gift. For millennials, the tear jerker “Somewhere Out There” from An American Tail unlocks the traumatic experience of Fievel being separated from his family when they make the treacherous journey to America. Also in the category is the sharp “Mean Green Mother from Outer Space” from Little Shop of Horrors, Peter Cetera’s “Glory of Love” from the first sequel to The Karate Kid and Henry Mancini’s 10th career nomination for a forgettable song from a forgotten movie starring Julie Andrews (That’s Life!)

4. 1980

Winner: “Fame”, music by Michael Gore and lyrics by Dean Pitchford, performed by Irene Cara (from Fame)
Nominees: “9 to 5” by Dolly Parton (9 To 5), “On The Road Again” by Willie Nelson (Honeysuckle Rose), “Out Here On My Own” (Fame), “People Alone” (The Competition)

Two country titans wrote and performed songs for their respective film debuts, with Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5” becoming an instant hit and the movie becoming a cultural juggernaut and Willie Nelson’s “On The Road Again” becoming one of his signature songs. Both were nominated the same year that Sissy Spacek won the Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of country legend Loretta Lynn in The Coal Miner’s Daughter, further cementing country music in the mainstream and Hollywood thanks to numerous movies of country singers released throughout the 1980s. The theme from Fame won over another song from the musical drama, making Irene Cara an instant star thanks to her performance in the film and song. Cara won her own Oscar three years later for co-writing “Flashdance…What A Feeling”

3. 1999

Winner: “You’ll Be In My Heart”, music and lyrics and performed by Phil Collins (from Tarzan)
Nominees: “Blame Canada” (South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut), “Save Me” by Aimee Mann (Magnolia), “When She Loved Me” by Randy Newman (Toy Story 2), “Music of My Heart” (Music of the Heart)

Phil Collins’ best work in this category. A love song that can stand on its own, partly due to the fact that Collins never phones it in, and also, I think there weren’t enough voters who were fans of the humor of South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (or comedy in general, as it is still one of the most underrepresented genres to be acknowledged by the Academy). Robin Williams performed “Blame Canada” at the ceremony with a chorus to help bleep out some of the profanities that led to the war in the movie. Tears were shed thanks to “When She Loved Me” performed by Sarah MacLachlan (cue the animal shelter PSA as Jessie the Cowgirl is left behind…) and perennial nominee Diane Warren wrote a mid-tempo (and mid AF) ballad for Gloria Estefan and N*Sync to sing in their sleep in a middling musical drama starring Oscar favorite Meryl Streep. The best nominee of the bunch: Aimee Mann’s most melancholic tune (and first real hit single) accompanied what is probably feels like the longest feature film ever made (Paul Thomas Anderson’s epically flawed yet emotionally fulfilling Magnolia). She beautifully captures the journey of the lives of the “freaks that suspect they could never love anyone.”  

2. 2004

Winner: “Al Otro Lado del rio”, music and lyrics and performed by Jorge Drexler (from The Motorcycle Diaries)
Nominees: “Accidentally In Love” (Shrek 2), “Believe” (The Polar Express), “Look to Your Path” (The Chorus), “Learn To Be Lonely” (The Phantom of the Opera)

Five songs in three languages (plus opera!) made up one of the most eclectic lists of nominees for Best Original Song at the 77th Academy Awards. My first introduction to Counting Crows was their upbeat light rock hit “Accidentally In Love”, which accompanied the best animated sequel ever, Shrek 2. In a make-believe world filled with snark and cynicism, “Accidentally In Love” gives the viewers a break as the earnest love song writer only a man who has dated several TV actresses could nurture. The surprise winner of this Oscar went to another earnest love ballad. Uruguay’s Jorge Drexler became the first musician to win the Oscar for writing a song in Spanish for “A Otro Lado Del Rio” (The Other Side of the River) for the Che Guevara biopic The Motorcycle Diaries.

1. 1984

Winner: “I Just Called To Say I Love You”, music and lyrics and performed by Stevie Wonder (from The Woman in Red)
Nominees: “Footloose” and “Let’s Hear for the Boy” (Footloose), The Ghostbusters theme, “Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)” (Against All Odds)

This is the only time that each song nominated was also a hit single that peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Two songs from Footloose, “Let’s Hear for the Boy” and Kenny Loggins’s title track/theme, probably cancelled each other out in the voting. The 1980s in movie soundtracks are best represented here. It’s filled with new wave, big waves of emotion, plenty of lovey-dovey lyrics to serenade something with a boombox outside their window. Stevie Wonder’s “I Just Called To Say I Love You” became his biggest hit internationally, peaking at #1 in 28 countries (and spending three weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100). All five nominees spent a total of 14 weeks at #1 on the Hot 100 chart.