James Michael "Jim" Peterik

Did not see this one get voted up. I call my house and studio "The place that Sylvester Stallone built." I have been blessed by the song and rarely does a week go by when a request does not come in for a usage of the song for TV, commercial, or movie placement. So yes, it has been the gift that keeps on giving.

I knew Michael through Bruce Swedien - who was Michael's long-time engineer. When Michael heard my song - "Gift of Song" - he said to Bruce "He is writing about me."

When Michael gave Weird Al permission to "Beat It" as the template for "Eat It" - he convinced me that this was a cool thing to do. Never regretted it for a minute.

This is a great question. Probably "God Only Knows" by the Beach Boys. Brilliant both lyrically and musically.

I found the commercial funny. And an effective campaign - and I don't mind the residual checks showing up in my mailbox either!

Deb! She never rubs me the wrong way and is an amazing massage therapist. Will do.

Haha! I think it is a combination of the beat, heart and soul of the song that makes people invincible.

Haha. I am big fan of his parody of Eye of the Tiger. Especially like the line "Stay away from the tuna, it smells fishy today." Almost did not grant a license to Al for this song but I am glad that Michael Jackson changed my mind.

Haha. This is just a common rumor. Two human eyes as far as I know.

I think that from an impact and popularity view - EOTT is the greatest. It seems that different generations can attach to the song and make it part of their own DNA.

Most underrated song - probably the ballad we wrote for Rocky III but it was never used in the film. "Ever Since the World Began" is the name of the song and it is on the Eye of the Tiger album by Survivor. Special meaning for me since it was the last song I played for my father before he passed.

Thanks for the questions.

Songwriting is still the best place to make money in the music industry. But the royalties from downloads are not the same as the royalties from albums and CDs. That said - airplay monitored by ASCAP and BMI still pay a full rate. So this is where you can still make money "like the 80s."

For poets - most songwriters have different skill sets. Elton John without Bernie Taupin, his lyricist, would not have been the Elton John we know. I like doing both lyrics and music but still think that collaboration is powerful.

To be a good songwriter - you really need to be a piece of blotter paper to all that is around you. Just soak up headlines, current events, one-line comments, and situations that you are part of. This is the most important thing for me - and where most of my songs come from!