Remembering “You Belong to the City” by Don Henley

It all started with two simple words: “MTV cops”. Brandon Tartikoff, the head of programming for NBC had envisioned “MTV cops” as the concept for a TV drama.

Writers with experience on the critically acclaimed and award-winning drama “Hill Street Blues” took it from there.

They created a police drama set in Miami about two detectives doing battle with drug dealers, pimps and other criminals. That was the “cops” part.

The “MTV” part was adding a rock music score as the backdrop to the show, along with a trendy look.

The result was the Friday night series “Miami Vice” which, although remembered by most, was not really ever a ratings smash.

Yet, it was groundbreaking for a number of reasons, primarily for the music that went with the show.

Leading the way was “You Belong to the City”, a song written and performed by Glenn Frey formerly of the Eagles. The song had its debut in the second season premiere of “Miami Vice”.

I heard “You Belong to the City” the other day, and it brought back memories more of that period in time, then any particular episode.

The show
It was the summer of 1984 when I first started seeing commercials on Channel 7 of the peasant vision dial for a show called “Gold Coast”. All I knew was that it was about two cops.

Soon, the name in the commercials changed to “Miami Vice”, but it was the same show.

Back then, I checked out every new show because, in the three channel universe, you actually could do that.

It was a Friday night, at 9 p.m. I think, for the premiere of “Miami Vice”. It focused on a New York City cop named Ricardo Tubbs whose partner is called by a drug lord named Calderon. He pursues him to Miami where he encounters a Miami cop named Sonny Crockett. They team to go after Calderon and, although they do not catch him by the end of the episode, Tubbs stays in South Florida to “pursue a career in law enforcement” there.

Sonny Crocket was played by Don Johnson, who I had seen previously, and liked, in an updated version of “From Here to Eternity”. Philip Michael Thomas played Ricardo Tubbs, and he was brand new to me. Initially, their sergeant was Lou Rodriguez, played by Gregory Sierra, who had done a bunch of television work to that point. He would be replaced by Martin Castillo, played by Edward James Olmos, who would go on to win an Emmy for the role.

It lasted five seasons, from 1984 to 1989.

The culture
“Miami Vice” affected pop culture in many ways. One was the clothing – pastels; off-white blazers worn over t-shirts; no socks; sun glasses; and canvas shoes.

Another thing was Don Johnson’s five o’clock shadow. I even saw a piece on “Entertainment Tonight” where someone had come up with an attachment for a shaver that left just the five o’clock shadow.

The biggest thing was the music.

The music
Early on, it was evident “Miami Vice” would have a different feel than other police shows of the time. It relied heavily on the use of popular music as a backdrop, especially in chase scenes, and non-action scenes when the characters are driving from one place to another or out in a boat on the ocean.

Initially the music had been released previously, such as “Better be Good to Me” by Tina Turner, and “In the Air Tonight” by Phil Collins, which became one of the signature songs. Collins would even appear in an episode of the show.

Another song that gained a lot of traction was “Smuggler’s Blues” by Glenn Frey. It was in that period when his band, the Eagles, had broken up and would not get back together unless hell freezes over. The song appeared in an episode of “Miami Vice” in the first season, which was actually named after the song, with Frey appearing in the episode.

With the show renewed for a second season, it was only a matter of time before a soundtrack would be released.

Season premiere
Maybe a month before the premiere of the second season of “Miami Vice”, I heard the hype.

There would be an original song by Glenn Frey making its world premiere shortly, written and recorded especially for the second season premiere of “Miami Vice”.

That night in August, I tuned into 1090 CHEC. By then I was listening to a request show they ran at 9 p.m. on week nights called “Rock and Roll Your Own”. Almost immediately, someone requested the new song from “Miami Vice”

It was called “You Belong to the City” and fittingly, it was sung by Glenn Frey.

By then, I had moved on from “Miami Vice”. With no VCR, I could only watch one thing, plus I was spending more time going out.

I was out for much of the night “Miami Vice” made its second season premiere. I do recall flipping to Channel 13, because it was one of those shows that migrated to Channel 13 from Channel 7, and seeing the last scene. Crockett walked up to Tubbs and essentially said it’s time to go home. “Do You Believe in Love” by Huey Lewis in the News was playing in the background.

The next day at school, my friend Craig Tanaka filled me in on the show. Crockett and Tubbs went to New York City, to pursue criminals. Craig was big into “Miami Vice”, wearing the blazer and no socks. It was kind of cool.

The soundtrack
“You Belong to the City” was part of the recently released “Miami Vice Soundtrack”, which would go all the way to number one on the Billboard 200 album chart. The soundtrack would also spawn another hit, the instrumental “Miami Vice Theme” by Jan Hammer. It was similar to the music in the opening credits of the show, but slightly different.

“You Belong to the City” went all the way to number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Parting thoughts
It was a time of men wearing pastels, canvas shoes with no socks, and white pants. The mood was brooding and accentuated by a driving rock score.

Nothing punctuated that period in time more than “You Belong to the City”.