The Soundtrack
of Your Life

“You scored my childhood.” It is the sentence Vince DiCola hears more than any other — from generations of fans who grew up with his music. Few composers have left a mark on popular culture as deep as the man behind the sound of Rocky IV and The Transformers: The Movie.

Born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Vince and his wife Beth — married for only a week (!) — moved to Los Angeles in 1981. Vince decided to make this move in order to advance his career and expand his exposure to greater opportunities in the music business. His goal at that time was to try and break into the Los Angeles session musician scene. At that point he had no thought at all of writing music for films. That would all change within a relatively short amount of time!

Vince became one of the first composers in Hollywood to build a major film score using a Synclavier II (courtesy of synthesizer programmer extraordinaire Casey Young). His work on Staying Alive earned him a Grammy nomination and a Golden Globe nomination for “Far from Over” — before Sylvester Stallone and the Rocky IV music supervisor, Robin Garb, handed him the score that defined an era.

Forty years later, his music has never left the culture: platinum records, sold-out concerts, symphony tributes — and a new home, built for the fans who kept it alive.