performances (their second gig, according to Peterik's autobiography Through the Eye of the Tiger), at Haymakers Rock Club in Wheeling, Illinois on September 15, 1978, has appeared as a bootleg recording in trader's circles in recent years. The group's first album, the self-titled Survivor, was recorded in 1979 and released on the Atlantic subsidiary Scotti Bros. in February 1980. The album produced no Top 40 singles ("Somewhere in America" only managed to make number 70) and did not achieve the level of success that the band had hoped for. On Survivor's first album, Peterik played rhythm guitar. All keyboards were performed by lead singer Dave Bickler (who plays several instruments), but Peterik's role quickly became backing vocals, keyboards and co-songwriter by 1981, with some keyboard parts being performed on records by session players per the producers. In 1981 it was decided to let Johnson and Smith go as they had schedule conflicts with their other projects and were a bit "too jazzy" in their approach, according to Peterik. They were replaced by Sullivan's friend and drummer Marc Droubay and bassist Stephan Ellis, whom Peterik and Sullivan had spotted playing in a band at Flipper's Roller Boogie Palace in the Los Angeles, CA area. Both Droubay and Ellis came aboard in time for the recording of the band's follow-up album, Premonition (August 1981). It charted higher, achieving popularity with American audiences, and gave the band its first Top 40 single, "Poor Man's Son". The album also showed off Bickler's range as a vocalist with its second single, "Summer Nights" and fan favorite non-singles, like "Heart's A Lonely Hunter", "Take You On A Saturday", "Runway Lights" and "Love Is On My Side". Eye of the Tiger In 1982, Survivor's breakthrough arrived when actor Sylvester Stallone asked them to provide the theme song for his movie Rocky III. Stallone had heard "Poor Man's Son" and wanted a song similar to it and to Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust". The band agreed to his request and soon came up with "Eye of the Tiger". The new song featured a faster tempo than "Poor Man's Son" while still incorporating the stylish, nearly identical power chords. It reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, remaining there for six weeks, and was in the Top 40 for a total of eighteen weeks. It also topped the British charts and was Australia's number 1 single