WXPN's 885 Greatest Songs From Movies And TV, #5: Isaac Hayes -Theme From Shaft (From the Movie Shaft) (1971)

I never held Stax in as high esteem as I did Motown, but they had their great moments too, and "Theme From Shaft," by the late Isaac Hayes is one of them. The single was issued on Enterprise, a short-lived Stax subsidiary, in 1971.

Some people consider "Shaft" to be among the very early disco records, but I've always looked at it as more of a funk-soul production. Regardless of how anyone labels it, you have to admit it's unique and a mighty fine tune to hear coming out of your old transistor radio.

Maybe I love "Shaft" so much because it always conjures up some nice, personal memories for me related to my years as a newsman and disc jockey at my college radio station. Back then, WMSR, 600 AM, Millersville, PA was only a carrier current outlet that could not be heard off campus. My stint there eventually led to a short-lived, professional, radio job after graduation.

Many years have passed since then, and Millersville State College - now Millersville University - eventually replaced WMSR with a low-powered FM station, WIXQ, 91.7 FM, that's also available on the worldwide web.

The reason that little personal story is relevant is because "Shaft" was used as the lead-in to WMSR's newscasts. We used the record's last thirty seconds beginning immediately after Hayes' vocal ended, with a pre-recorded, voice-over announcer introducing the news after two loud blasts by the band over top of some wah-wah guitar that closed out the song. I wish you could hear it. I truly doubt there are any audio clips available that I can post.

The lyrics are controversial. Hayes sings that "Shaft is a bad mother******" before female background singers stop him from saying the rest of the compound word that no one is allowed to say on the radio with "Shut yo' mouth!" Despite the record's popularity some radio stations were reluctant to play it.

"Theme From Shaft" was a massive hit. It went to #2 on the Billboard Soul Singles chart and #1 on the Hot 100. More importantly, it won The Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1972 making Hayes the first African-American to win an Oscar in a category other than acting.

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