Fists Pump for Vince DiCola and Stan Bush at the WhiskyWay back in 1986, before all of the Michael Bay live action stuff, there was the animated The Transformers: The Movie. To this day, many if not most hardcore fans of the franchise will claim that the '86 film is still the best Transformers movie. They'll die on that hill, much like [SPOILER ALERT] Optimus Prime died in the flick.

One of the big reasons that the film remains firmly in the heart of fans is the killer soundtrack. Scored by synth virtuoso Vince DiCola and with a couple of big rock anthems by AOR hero Stan Bush (plus gems by metal band N.R.G. and, amazingly enough, Weird Al), it really is a tremendous piece of work. Yes, it's as cheesy as almighty fuck in that glorious '80s way, but it's unapologetically so and it stands tall today.

On a warm Saturday night in March, DiCola and Bush came together at the Whisky A Go-Go on the Sunset Strip to, in turn, play a bunch of those Transformers tunes and more. The atmosphere in the iconic venue was one of joy. Transformers tees and even a couple of costumes betrayed the affection with which the toy-turned-cartoon-turned-movie franchise is still held, by adults as well as children.

DiCola's set was incredible. As well as his work on the movie, the man has scored a couple of Transformers video games including the odd coming together of Angry Birds Transformers. He played a quirky ditty off of that, plus some stuff from other games that he's worked on, including Saturday Morning RPG.

Most of the fans in attendance were there for the Transformers music. To be honest though, we were there to hear DiCola's Rocky IV work. His "Training Montage" and "War" pieces from that score have, since this writer was a child, made us feel like we could take on Ivan Drago. Bill Conti may have composed the most famous Rocky themes, but DiCola's work compares favorably when it comes to motivational, hair-raising, instrumental sports score. At the Whisky, backed by a great band, those pieces sounded great. The cherry on top was a rendition of "Hearts on Fire" from the same movie. Originally sung by John Cafferty with synth by DiCola, one of the band took up vocal duties here and did the song proud. A great set, all told.

After a short break, it was time for Stan Bush to break out some hard rock anthems. Like DiCola, Bush also had songs on famous fight movies. In Bush's case, he is well known for his inclusions on the Kickboxer and Bloodsport soundtracks (both Jean-Claude Van Damme flicks). At the Whisky, he busted out a wild "Never Surrender" from Kickboxer.

Bush also wrote the power ballad "Love Don't Lie," later a minor MTV hit for House of Lords. Picking up an acoustic guitar, he lovingly ran through the sweet track in Hollywood.

But again, the crowd was there for the Transformers stuff, and the cheers were deafening for main theme "The Touch." Better still, DiCola joined Bush on stage for the song that they both performed on the Transformers soundtrack -- "Dare." An '80s rock belter, "Dare" is one of the best tunes that either man has put their name to.

With that, it was over and the crowd spilled out onto the Strip, stunned by how great these two musicians still are. More than meets the eye, some might say.The post Fists Pump for Vince DiCola and Stan Bush at the Whisky first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.