Happy Birthday, Giorgio Moroder
Sunday, April 26, 2015 at 9:55AM 
Tim here. Today's the 75th birthday of Giorgio Moroder, pioneering electronic-dance-pop mastermind, and winner of four Grammys. But this being a film site, what we're interested in is his work in movie scoring, for which he won three Oscars. And what stellar work it is!
Moroder's soundtracks - and even more than that, his songs - are absolutely definitive. Any child of the '70s or '80s can't help but associate Moroder's compositions with a certain kind of glossy, high-concept spectacle. Moroder's sleek, borderline-campy music brought pop-art grandeur to everything from the political drama Midnight Express (his Best Score Oscar) to the smutty musical Flashdance and from the kitschy Superman III to the sparkling black fantasy The NeverEnding Story. His compositions for these films are the opposite of timeless; they are emphatically and proudly mired in a specific period of pop culture history.
But for the same reason, his scores and songs are the best imaginable fit for the giddy, playfully shallow cinema of that decade, bringing the energy and dazzle of the first years of the Blockbuster Era to life with style and flair whose period-specific artificiality is their greatest strength, not any kind of weakness. But let's allow the man's music to speak for itself. Here are my three personal favorite from his 80s soundscapes.
From Cat People (1982): "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)", later used to magnificent effect in Inglourious Basterds
From Flashdance (1983): "Flashdance... What a Feeling" (his second Oscar, the first for Best Song)
From Top Gun (1986): "Danger Zone" (he won his third Oscar for "Take My Breath Away" from the same movie)
What are your favorite Moroder film scores and songs?
Reader Comments (9)
What a great subject for a post. Talk about someone who's had impact on music & culture. My favorites ares I Feel Love and Call Me, but Danger Zone is on my slightly longer short list, along with Last Dance and Giorgio by Moroder.
Thank you for this post. I always say that Pop music wouldn't be the same without Giorgio. I have all of his work with Donna Summer. My favourite is Macarthur Park which is one of the best cover versions ever. Other amazing tracks are Love's Unkind, Now I Need You, Working the Midnight Shift, Our Love, Lucky and On The Radio.
Other Giorgio tracks I love are Electric Dreams, The Neverending story and Take My Breath Away.
now whenever DANGER ZONE comes up, i can only think of Sterling Archer. and Kenny Loggins for being a good sport about it.
My favorite Moroder might be... wait for it "ELECTRIC DREAMS" (speaking of A.I. week)
Flashdance as a "smutty musical" made me LOL. I suppose the wet T-shirt chair dance for "Maniac" is a little, um, racy?...but nothing compared to the multiorgasmic simulation Moroder put Donna Summer through in "Love to Love You Baby". The dancefloor is where Moroder's real sexy genius blew up.
I think "Danger Zone" is awful, but I have a soft spot for "Take My Breath Away."
Outside of his film work … I love his work with Donna Summer, and I also like his contribution to the last Daft Punk album.
He has a new album coming out this year, with guest vocals from Sia, Britney Spears (covering "Tom's Diner" of all things!) and others.
75 and just last month giorgio was resident dj on kylie minogue's tour of australia
[i'm a lot younger than 75 and i'm already telling the young people to turn their music down]
Irene. Cara, Bowie and Loggins. I remembered them before I remembered GM. I still play all those old Donna Summer hits. Happy music.
American Gigilo. Windows down, open road and Call Me blasting. Good times.
JJ: Really? Okay, both Take My Breath Away and Danger Zone are definitely 80s cheese, and the former is probably a slightly better song stripped of context, but IN context, Danger Zone is WAY better and, BECAUSE it's way better in context, should have won Original Song.