Together in Electric Dreams
| "Together in Electric Dreams" | ||||||||||||||||
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| Single by Giorgio Moroder and Philip Oakey | ||||||||||||||||
| from the album Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder and Electric Dreams soundtrack | ||||||||||||||||
| Released |
September 21, 1984 (UK) January 25, 1988 (US) | |||||||||||||||
| Format | 7", 12", CD single | |||||||||||||||
| Recorded | Musicland Studios Munich & Powerplay Studios Zurich, 1984 | |||||||||||||||
| Genre | Synthpop, new wave | |||||||||||||||
| Length | 3:45 | |||||||||||||||
| Label | Virgin Records | |||||||||||||||
| Producer(s) | Giorgio Moroder | |||||||||||||||
| Philip Oakey singles chronology | ||||||||||||||||
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"Together in Electric Dreams" is a song by the British singer and composer Philip Oakey and Italian composer and producer Giorgio Moroder. It was written by Oakey and Moroder and recorded for the original soundtrack of the 1984 film Electric Dreams.
It later formed part of the joint album Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder, released in 1985. Released as a single in the UK in September 1984 it proved a major commercial success, even eclipsing the original film it was intended to promote. It reached No.3 in the UK Singles Chart, staying in the charts for 13 weeks. It was the only song from the brief Oakey/Moroder partnership that achieved commercial success, and was released as a single in the United States in 1988.
Background
The film Electric Dreams was director Steve Barron's first full feature film. Barron's prior work included conceiving and directing a number of innovative music videos during the early 1980s. His biggest success up to that point had been as director of the music video for The Human League's "Don't You Want Me" in 1981, which helped the single become number one in the UK and US.
For the film Electric Dreams, Barron wanted to emulate the huge success of the film Flashdance a year earlier. Flashdance had used the electronic music of Giorgio Moroder, so Barron enlisted Moroder as director of music, who wrote most of the score. Barron wanted the end credits to roll to "an emotional" song in the same way as Flashdance had done.
Moroder wrote "Together in Electric Dreams" as a male solo vocal, and Barron suggested his former associate Philip Oakey for the part.
After the initial full recording of the song was completed, Moroder told Oakey that the first take was "good enough, as first time is always best". Oakey, who thought he was just rehearsing, insisted on doing another take. Moroder agreed, though Oakey believes that Moroder still used the first take on the final production.
Originally released to advertise the film, "Together in Electric Dreams" quickly overshadowed the original film and became a success in its own right. Oakey stated that it is ironic that a track that took literally ten minutes to record would become a worldwide hit, while some of his Human League material that took over a year to record did not.[1]
Music video
The promotional video was originally designed to promote the film Electric Dreams not the song, and this was how most U.S. viewers would see it. In the UK where the original film was a flop, the promotional video was perceived to be a music video first, and often erroneously a Human League video.
Like many film soundtrack promos, the video splices key scenes from the film with footage of Philip Oakey. In addition, other promotional scenes were created especially for the video: an Electric Dreams signboard is seen behind Oakey twice, the actual movie poster is seen behind him on the freeway and the computer from the film is seen relaxing on the beach. Oakey is seen being driven around what is purportedly San Francisco (but was actually Los Angeles) singing the lyrics. The video would famously finish with a sock puppet parody of the MGM Lion on a TV screen, on a beach.[1]
Giorgio Moroder himself makes a cameo appearance in the video as the boss of the radio station taken over by the computer.[1]
Charts
| Chart (1984) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[2] | 3 |
| Chart (2012) | Peak position |
| UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[2] | 46 |
In the media
- It is played on the fictional radio station Flash FM in the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories.
- It is the theme to the BBC 2009 show Electric Dreams, where a family has to live in the 1970s, 80s and 90s, with only the technology available at that time.
- It was used in an advert by EDF Energy in 2012. This contributed to the song re-entering the charts that year.[3]
- British sitcom Miranda series 3 finale episode "A Brief Encounter" featured the song in the episode and credits.
- It is part of the soundtrack of a Brazilian soap opera called Um Sonho a Mais (One More Dream in English), presented by TV Globo in 1985.
Association with The Human League
Philip Oakey is the lead singer of the British synthpop band The Human League. Because of this, "Together in Electric Dreams" is often erroneously credited as a Human League single. It was also released at the height of the band's international fame and success; because of this popularity the single has been included in the band's various Greatest Hits compilation albums released later.
Although the Human League have never recorded their own version, due to the song's popularity the band frequently play a unique Human League version when they perform live, often as an encore. The Human League version differs considerably from the Giorgio Moroder produced original in that it has a longer, more dramatic intro and female backing vocals by Susan Ann Sulley and Joanne Catherall, which are now as prominent as Oakey's lead.[1]
Cover versions
- The song was covered in 2001 by Lali Puna for the album Reproductions: Songs of The Human League.
- The song was covered by 5 separate artists for the 2007 album Together in Electric Dreams released by Sunday Best Recordings.
- An acoustic cover version of the song by Darren Hanlon was recorded and broadcast by Australian JJJ Radio as part of the station's Like a Version program on June 25, 2010.[4]
- The song was featured in the short film Here's to Big Bear and was sung live in a truck cab by some of the actors.
- The song was used in a 2014 ad campaign by nib health funds that erroneously associates the song with the year 1983 when the song was actually produced and released in 1984.
References
- 1 2 3 4 Kolling, Niels
- 1 2 "Archive Chart: 1984-09-22" UK Singles Chart.
- ↑ "Official Charts Analysis: Katy Perry album hits 1m sales, Nicki Minaj LP shifts 47k in debut week". Music Week. Apr 9, 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
- ↑ ABC.net
External links
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