Playing with the Boys - From "Top Gun" Original Soundtrack

This was the first song Kenny Loggins did for the film Top Gun before he was given "Danger Zone," his big hit song from the film. Loggins co-wrote it with Starship producer Peter Wolf. The song is heard during the volleyball scene with Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer.

Loggins credits the Synclavier, an early digital synthesizer, for producing the distinct drum sounds: "It had a way of processing the sounds and the math that was really... everything came out beautiful. You could really hear Synclavier drums different from all the other drums."

The film producers did a cattle call for top songwriters and performers to pitch their ideas for songs for the movie. Loggins and Wolf, along with many others, went to a screening of an early cut of the film to get a feel for the scenes. Loggins said he and Wolf decided to write a tune for the beach volleyball scene because they figured everyone else would be scrambling for a shot at the main theme. While it was hardly central to the film's plot, the sequence was famous for its homoerotic display of the actors' oiled-up physiques and gratuitous flexing, soundtracked by a tune about cavorting with members of the same sex. It has been parodied often on TV shows like Family Guy ("Veteran Guy" - 2018), Future Man ("Operation: Fatal Attraction" - 2017), Hawaii Five-0("Poniu I Ke Aloha (Crazy in Love)" - 2017), It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia ("The Gang Makes Lethal Weapon 6" - 2013"), and Cougar Town ("Here Comes My Girl" - 2009).