<P> The musical material ostensibly performed by the characters Marty McFly, Marvin Berry and the Starlighters in the film, was recorded by Harry Waters, Jr. as Marvin Berry and Mark Campbell as Marty McFly, and the guitar solo by Tim May . (Campbell and May received a "Special Thanks" acknowledgment in the film's end credits, with the recording credit going to the fictional characters .) Berry's group also plays the song "Night Train", first recorded by Jimmy Forrest in 1951 . </P> <P> In the film, Marvin Berry, a fictitious cousin of Chuck Berry, phones Chuck and lets him listen to the music . The real Johnny B. Goode was released only three years after the time it is played in the film . </P> <P> The film's musical score was composed and conducted by Alan Silvestri, who later wrote music for Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Forrest Gump and numerous other films, many of them directed by Robert Zemeckis . The memorable themes in his "Back to the Future Overture" have since been heard in the film's sequels (also scored by Silvestri), in Back to the Future: The Ride, and as ambient music at the Universal Studios theme parks . A remix of the main theme was heard in the opening sequence for MCA - Universal Home Video from 1990 to 1997 . The upbeat soundtrack, featuring two new songs by Huey Lewis and the News, also contributed to the film's popularity . "The Power of Love" became the band's first song to hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and was nominated for an Academy Award . Huey Lewis portrayed the high - school band audition judge who rejects Marty McFly's band, the Pinheads, as they perform the short instrumental hard - rock version of "The Power of Love". </P> <P> There is also another album version of the soundtrack, with only the original score by Silvestri . The only legitimate release was by independent label Intrada, but another so - called "DeLorean" version released in the 1990s was an unauthorized bootleg . </P>

Who wrote back to the future theme song