Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure opened in theaters on this day in 1989, and “I Can’t Break Away” by Big Pig is one of my favorite songs from the soundtrack. It was featured in the opening credits of the film.
The song itself was originally released on November 2, 1987 in the United Kingdom, and was released on February 15, 1988, as the third single from the Australian band’s debut album Bonk. It was released as “Breakaway”, but is listed as “I Can’t Break Away on the soundtrack album. This was a cover of the 1973 Chuck Jackson song.
Big Pig’s version became the band’s most successful single, reaching number one in New Zealand in May 1988. It also reached number eight in their native Australia and managed to chart in North America, reaching number 60 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 10 on Canada’s RPM Top Singles chart.
Big Pig released only one more album, 1990s You Lucky People. They disbanded shortly afterwards, in March 1991.

Lead singer, Sherine Abeyratne along with her twin sister (and also a pop star) Zan, were guests just this week on the podcast, A Journey Through Aussie Pop.

Here is the official music video

Here are the opening credits of Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure