To mark the film’s 30th anniversary, we got in touch with rock singer Stan Bush to talk about The Transformers: The Movie‘s iconic theme song “The Touch”, and why it wasn’t used in the Michael Bay live-action movies.
Bush had re-recorded “The Touch”, and it looks like it very nearly made it into the final movie.
“I never found out what happened,” he told us. “It was pulled at the last minute. Like, a couple of weeks before the movie came out. There was going to be a little clip of it played by Bumblebee. It would have been a cool thing for the fans, but I don’t know. I got conflicting stories that Michael Bay was trying to distance himself from the original film. It was all speculation, but I never found out what happened.”
For Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Bush re-recorded “The Touch” again and titled it “Sam’s Theme”, but Bay didn’t use it and instead opted for a Linkin Park track. “It seems like he could have done it for the fans if nothing else,” Bush argues. “I like Linkin Park and think they’re a great band, but I cannot hum one of their songs and remember it. Part of it is a style thing. The 80s had big anthems that you sang along with. You’d remember it.”
You can read more from Stan Bush as well as director Nelson Shin and composer Vince DiCola about the making of the film in ‘Till All Are One: A Production History of The Transformers: The Movie.
The Transformers: The Movie – 30th Anniversary Edition is available now on Blu-Ray.
Originally published August 8, 2016. Updated October 29, 2022.
