This was the theme, performed by pop singer Cyndi Grecco and her sound-alike Beach Boys sunshine-pop harmonious male backing vocal group, The Ron Hicklin Singers with group members Ron Hicklin himself, Tom Bahler and Jim Haas from the TV series Laverne & Shirley, starring Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams.
It was written by Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox; they wrote a variety of songs together, including the themes from the TV shows Happy Days (Laverne & Shirley was a spin-off from this show) and Angie.
In our interview with Charles Fox, he told us: “Happy Days, one episode had these two young women, Laverne DeFazio and Shirley Feeney. They were kind of brought on as love interests of the Fonz and Ron Howard. ABC had a lot of calls, cards, and letters about these two girls on the show, and they decided to make a quick pilot to see if that could go right behind Happy Days. Happy Days was already a number one show by that time, and our song was climbing up the charts, too. They shot not a whole pilot first; they just made a quick presentation, about 20 minutes that Garry Marshall came up with. Norman Gimbel and I were asked to write the song, but what we knew about the girls was very little. All we knew about them — because there wasn’t even a pilot script yet — we knew that they were blue collar workers, they worked in a factory in Milwaukee in a brewery, and they had hopes and dreams and ambitions about getting out and seeing life and doing things. So we wrote kind of a gentle song that was called ‘Hoping Our Dreams Will Come True.’ And we played it for the producers, and they said, ‘You know, it’s really a nice song, but this is not our characters. Our characters are not going to 'wish and hope.’ They’re going to take the bull by the horns; they’re going to make life happen. It’s two strong-minded girls.‘ So we made a change, and Norman wrote instead of 'hoping our dreams will come true,’ ‘making our dreams come true.’ And that, of course, is a whole different song. It required a different lyric; it turned a different melody, a different characterization. So there’s just one example of something that was so new, the idea of the two girls, that it wasn’t until the producers heard the song that they could tell that it did not personify these girls.”
Brown-eyed soul/pop star and studio backing vocalist Laurie Maitland did a soulful disco remake of that catchy tune, re-titled, “We’re Gonna Make Our Dreams Come True” from that family sitcom in a Donna Summer style, taken from her 1998 self-titled debut album, with the ballad intro that starts off with “Give us any chance, we’ll take it” and picking up the speed to a fascinating ‘70s disco beat with added music and lyrics by herself and Lesley’s Gore’s songwriting friend, Ellen Weston, who wrote “Love Me By Name”.
lyrics
Give us any chance, we'll take it
Read us any rule, we'll break it
We're gonna make our dreams come true
And we'll do it our way, yes, our way
Make all our dreams come true for me and you
We're gonna do it
Give us any chance, we'll take it
Read us any rule, we'll break it
We're gonna make our dreams come true
Doing it our way
No one else will turn us back now
Straight ahead and on the track now
We're gonna make our dreams come true
Doing it our way
There is nothing we won't try
Never heard the word "impossible"
This time there's no stopping us
We're gonna make it
Chorus:
On your mark, get set, and go now
Got a dream and we just know now
We're gonna make that dream come true
And we'll do it our way, yes, our way
Make all our dreams come true
And we'll do it our way, yes, our way
Make all our dreams come true for me and you
We'll paint a picture of Mona Lisa and catch fishes
From the sea as we make wishes
That will eventually come true
We will go out and build a snowman, walk a tightrope
And juggle balls at the circus with hope
We're gonna make our dreams come true, doing it our way
We can give it just one more try
Don't want to hear the word, "impossible"
This time there's no stopping us; we're gonna make it
Repeat Chorus
For me and you
Maybe someday down the road
We're gonna be contestants on "The Price Is Right"
With Bob Barker hosting the show
That is what we desire to be
And if we beat against the devil at the game show
We're gonna win the jackpot
So we will then be wealthy and rich as a millionaire
We're gonna bake some gingerbread in the Dutch oven
With sweet old-fashioned loving
Cause we're gonna make our dreams come true, doing it our way
We'll give it the old college try
It shall be done as soon as possible
This time there's no stopping us; we're gonna make it
Repeat Chorus
credits
from A Night At Studio 54,
track released September 1, 1998
Arranged By [Rhythm Arrangements By] – John Luongo
Arranged By [String & Horn Arrangements By] – David Van DePitte
Backing Vocals – Laurie Maitland, Peter Bice, Timothy Foster
Bass – Dennis Belfield
Drums - Paul Leim
Electric Piano – Joel Bryant, Robbie Buchanan
Glockenspiel – Vincent Montana, Jr.
Gutars – Paul Jackson Jr.
Handclaps – Cathi Leveille, Colleen Heather, Eric Lipman, Frank Simon, Jane Sofman, Janice Kahn, Laurie Maitland, Marina Ebbert, Pam Sindaco, Robert P. Brown, Sonia Lonon, Wally Hayman
Lead Vocals – Laurie Maitland
Percussion – Paulinho Da Costa
Piano – Laurie Maitland
Written-By – Charles Fox & Norman Gimbel, Ellen Weston, Laurie Maitland
Produced by Jim Morgan & Terri Forte
Executive Producer: Debra Forte
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