Shelby Conti, Bill Conti's
wife, is the talented co-writer of the ballad "All of
My Life." In developing the song, the Contis
pooled their creative efforts in shaping and reshaping each
line of the ballad which was recorded by DeEtta Little and
Nelson Pigford, who also appeared on the original Rocky
soundtrack. Interestingly, this particular track was
never heard in the film itself for reasons unknown, although
a romantic instrumental version of it was used for Rocky and
Adrian's wedding night. It combines their original
love theme, "You Take My Heart Away", and their
new one, "All of My Life", and is the only time
this melody is used.
Bill Conti added a new
piece for this film, an extremely dramatic theme used for
the climactic last-half of Super Fight II. Titled
"Conquest", it proves to be one of the most impressive
songs on the album. Conti also added a lengthy,
emotional melody, "Vigil", which is used for the poignant
period during Adrian's coma.
The songwriting team of
Carol Connors and Ayn Robbins, nicknamed "George and
Ira", were the first major female songwriting team to
emerge on the music scene in the 1970s. Connors and
Robbins penned the love song "You Take My Heart
Away" (vocalized in Rocky), as well as Rocky's
Theme, "Gonna Fly Now". The two songs have
been recorded by over twenty major artists including Steve
Lawrence, Shirley Bassey, and Ferrante and Teicher.
Connors and Robins' "Gonna
Fly Now" got an updated treatment in Rocky II -
as did most of the tracks from the original Rocky,
which were recycled here but tinged with an faint disco
flair. "Gonna Fly Now" on this soundtrack
features a vocalization by a chorus of children representing
those who run with Rocky during his training in the streets.
Frank Stallone's talents
can be heard in "Street Scat" and "Two Kinds
of Love", the song he serenades Rocky and Adrian with
on their wedding night. Stallone wrote both the words
and music to both songs.