Giorgio Moroder

Giorgio Moroder
Background information
Birth name Hansjörg Moroder
Also known as Giorgio
Born 26 April 1940 (1940-04-26) (age 71)
Urtijëi, Italy
Genres Dance, disco, electronic, electronic dance, Hi-NRG, Italo disco, pop, rock
Occupations Singer, songwriter, record producer
Instruments Synthesizers
Years active 1965–present
Labels Oasis
Website www.moroder.net

Hansjörg "Giorgio" Moroder (on record sleeves often only Giorgio) (born 26 April 1940, Urtijëi, Italy)[1] is an Italian record producer, songwriter and performer based in Los Angeles. When in Munich in the 1970s, he started his own record label called Oasis Records, which several years later became a subdivision of Casablanca Records. His work with synthesizers during the 1970s and 1980s had a significant influence on New Wave, house, techno and electronic music in general.[2] Particularly well known for his work with Donna Summer during the era of disco (including "Love to Love You Baby" and "I Feel Love"), Moroder is the founder of the former Musicland Studios in Munich, which was used as a recording studio for artists including Electric Light Orchestra, Led Zeppelin, Queen and Elton John.

In addition to producing several hits with Donna Summer, Moroder also produced a number of electronic disco hits for The Three Degrees, two albums for Sparks, a handful of songs on Bonnie Tyler's album Bitterblue as well as her 1985 single Here She Comes and a score of songs for a variety of others including David Bowie, Irene Cara, Madleen Kane, Melissa Manchester, Blondie, Japan, and France Joli.

Contents

Music career

Moroder made his first steps in music in Berlin, Germany by releasing a few singles under the name "Giorgio" beginning in 1966, singing in Italian (as George, to explain his German accent),[3] Spanish, English, and German. He came to prominence in 1969, when his recording "Looky Looky", released on Ariola Records, was awarded a gold disc in October 1970.[4] He then began making a name for himself in studios around Germany in the early 1970s. Often collaborating with lyricist Pete Bellotte, Moroder had a number of hits in his own name including "Son of My Father" in 1972 before releasing the synthesizer-driven From Here to Eternity, a notable chartbuster in 1977, and in the following year releasing "Chase", the theme from the film Midnight Express. These songs achieved some chart success in the United Kingdom, the United States, and across Europe, and everywhere disco-mania was spreading. The full film score for Midnight Express won him his first Academy Award for best film score in 1978. In 1979, Moroder released his album E=MC². Text on the album's cover stated that it was the "first electronic live-to-digital album." He also released three albums between 1977–1979 under the name Munich Machine.

In 1984, Moroder worked with Philip Oakey of The Human League to make the album Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder; which was a UK singles chart hit with "Together in Electric Dreams", title track to the 1984 film Electric Dreams. In 1986, Moroder collaborated with his protégé Harold Faltermeyer (of "Axel F." fame) and lyricist Tom Whitlock to create the score for the film Top Gun (1986), with the most noteworthy hit being Berlin's "Take My Breath Away". "Chase" was also used as an entrance theme for wrestling's group The Midnight Express. In 1987, Moroder produced Falco's song "Body Next to Body".

In 1997, Moroder and Donna Summer won the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording for the song "Carry On".

On 20 September 2004 Moroder was honored at the Dance Music Hall of Fame ceremony, held in New York, when he was inducted for his many outstanding achievements and contributions as producer. In 2005, he was given the title of Commendatore by the then President of the Italian Republic, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. On September 5, 2010 Moroder received the Great Order of Merit of the South Tyrol.

Film work

Moroder won three Academy Awards: Best Original Score for Midnight Express (1978); Best Song for "Flashdance...What a Feeling", from the film Flashdance (1983); and Best Song for "Take My Breath Away", from Top Gun (1986).

Moroder also won two of his three Grammy Awards for "Flashdance": Best Album Of Original Score Written For A Motion Picture Or A Television Special and Best Instrumental Composition, for the track "Love Theme from Flashdance".

In 1984, Moroder compiled a new restoration and edit of the famous silent film Metropolis and provided a contemporary soundtrack to the film. This soundtrack includes seven pop music tracks from Pat Benatar, Jon Anderson, Adam Ant, Billy Squier, Loverboy, Bonnie Tyler and Freddie Mercury. He also integrated the old-fashioned intertitles into the film as subtitles as a means of improving continuity, and he also played the film at a rate of 24 frames per second. Since the original speed was unknown this choice was controversial. Known as the "Moroder version", it sparked debate among film buffs, with outspoken critics and supporters of the film falling into equal camps.[5]

He also scored other popular films in the 1970s and 1980s including Midnight Express, American Gigolo, Flashdance, The Never Ending Story, Thief of Hearts, Electric Dreams, Cat People, Over the Top and Scarface.

In 2002, he wrote the score for Leni Riefenstahl's final film, Impressionen unter Wasser, a marine documentary.[6]

Video games

His score for "Scarface" has recently regained popularity due to its use in the popular video game Grand Theft Auto III (and Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories). Moroder's "From Here to Eternity" and "Chase" were also used in the Sony PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 2 game Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories. "Together In Electric Dreams", a collaborative effort of Giorgio Moroder and Philip Oakey (of The Human League) features in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories.

Sporting events and other media

Moroder wrote the official theme songs, "Reach Out", for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, and "Hand in Hand", for the 1988 Seoul Olympics and "Un'estate italiana" for the 1990 Football World Cup. "The Chase" is now also used as the theme bumper-music for the US AM talk radio program Coast to Coast AM. Ivory Tower was used for the starting grid line up on Grand Prix in the late 1980s to the early 1990s (a BBC television Formula one program ). He also composed the song "Forever Friends" for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Other

In the late 1980s Moroder collaborated with Claudio Zampolli to create the Cizeta supercar. Moroder currently resides in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, with his wife Francesca and his son Alessandro, who was born in 1989.

Notable collaborations

Discography

Giorgio Moroder discography
Releases
↙Studio albums 13
↙Soundtracks 10

The discography of Giorgio Moroder includes thirteen studio albums and ten soundtracks. This list is only partially representative of the entirety of Moroder's work.

Studio albums

Year Title
1969 That's Bubblegum - That's Giorgio
  • Labels: Fermata, Discos Belter
1972 Son of My Father
  • Labels: Hansa, Dunhill
1974 Giorgio's Music
  • Labels: Philips
1975 Einzelgänger
  • Labels: Oasis[7]
1976 Knights in White Satin
  • Labels: Oasis, GTO, Durium
1977 From Here to Eternity
  • Labels: Oasis, Casablanca Records, Atlantic
1978 Love's in You, Love's in Me (Giorgio and Chris)
  • Labels: Oasis, Casablanca Records, Atlantic
1980 E=MC²
  • Labels: Oasis, Casablanca Records, Atlantic
1983 Solitary Men (with Joe "Bean" Esposito)
  • Labels: RCA Victor, Cotillion, TELDEC
1985 Innovisions
  • Labels: Oasis
1990 To Be Number One
  • Labels: Virgin
1992 Forever Dancing
  • Labels: Virgin
1998 Moroder and Moroder Art Show (limited to 100 copies)

Singles

Soundtracks

Year Title
1978 Midnight Express- Music From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Music From "Battlestar Galactica" And Other Original Compositions
1980 American Gigolo - Original Soundtrack
1982 Cat People - Original Soundtrack
1983 Scarface (Music From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Superman III (Music From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
1984 Electric Dreams
The NeverEnding Story (Giorgio Moroder and Klaus Doldinger)
Metropolis: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
1990 The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter (Joe Milner and Giorgio Moroder)

Sampling and other uses

See also

References

  1. ^ Disco Museum Giorgio Moroder
  2. ^ Giorgio Moroder at Allmusic
  3. ^ "Giorgio Moroder credited as George on Italian language releases". Discogs.com. http://www.discogs.com/artist/Giorgio+Moroder?anv=George&filter_anv=1. Retrieved 2011-10-15. 
  4. ^ Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 259. ISBN 0-214-20512-6. 
  5. ^ "New Metropolis Sparks Controversy at Cannes." Variety. May 16, 1984. For an analysis of both sides, with critics mostly supporting Moroder's version, see: Michael Minden and Holger Bachmann. (2002) Fritz Lang's Metropolis: Cinematic Visions of Technology and Fear. Boydell & Brewer. ISBN 1-57113-146-9. "Moroder's reissue...was bound to offend the purists if only because it smacked of such crass commercialism and seemed so evidently calculated to jump the culture barrier." Thomas Elsaesser, p. 124. Most critics agree that the opinion of the film purists aside, Moroder's version was a welcome addition: "Although harshly criticized for its synthesized rock score, Moroder's reconstruction does have the virtue of clarifying a muddled plotline...Moroder's new version provides some illuminating changes in narrative continuity and character motivation, while still preserving the integrity of Lang's extravagant satiric vision." Jurkiewicz, Kenneth. (March 1990). "Using Film in the Humanities Classroom: The Case of Metropolis." The English Journal. (79):3 p. 47. For a brief but in-depth analysis of Moroder's restoration, see: Bertellini, Giorgio (Autumn, 1995) "Restoration, Genealogy and Palimpsests". Film History (7):3 pp. 277-290.
  6. ^ a b "Hitler's filmmaker to release new film". BBC. 7 January 2002. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1745806.stm. 
  7. ^ Einzelgänger discography at Discogs
  8. ^ Lil Wayne's 'On Fire' Inspired By 'Scarface,' Producer Dre Says - MTV.com

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