Giovanni Giorgio Moroder

Giorgio Moroder in 2007

Background information

Birth name Hansjörg Moroder

Also knownas

Giorgio

Born 26 April 1940 Urtijëi, South Tyrol, Italy

Genres Disco, synthpop, electronic, Italodisco, pop, rock

Occupations Singer, songwriter, record producer

Instruments Synthesizers, vocals, Guitar

Years active 1965–present

Labels London, Oasis, Casablanca, Hansa,RCA, Virgin

Associatedacts

Donna Summer, Harold Faltermeyer,Freddie Mercury, Daft Punk

Website www.moroder.net(http://www.moroder.net/)

Giorgio MoroderFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Giovanni Giorgio Moroder (born HansjörgMoroder, Ortisei, 26 April 1940)[1][2] is an influentialItalian record producer, songwriter and performer.

When in Munich in the 1970s, he started his ownrecord label called Oasis Records, which several yearslater became a subdivision of Casablanca Records. Hecollaborated with Donna Summer during the era ofdisco (including "Love to Love You Baby" and "I FeelLove") and is the founder of the former MusiclandStudios in Munich, which was used as a recordingstudio by artists including the Electric Light Orchestra,Led Zeppelin, Queen and Elton John.

In addition to producing several hits with DonnaSummer, Moroder also produced a number ofelectronic disco hits for The Three Degrees, twoalbums for Sparks, a handful of songs on BonnieTyler's album Bitterblue as well as her 1985 single"Here She Comes" and a score of songs for performersincluding David Bowie, Irene Cara, Madleen Kane,Melissa Manchester, Blondie, Japan, and France Joli.

Contents1 Music career2 Film work3 Video games4 Sporting events and other media5 Other6 Awards7 Notable collaborations8 Discography9 Sampling and other uses10 See also11 References12 External links

Music career

Moroder made his first steps in music in the Scotch-Club in Aachen[citation needed] and then released a fewsingles under the name "Giorgio" beginning in 1966 after moving to Berlin, singing in Italian, Spanish,English, and German. He came to prominence in 1969, when his recording "Looky Looky", released onAriola Records, was awarded a gold disc in October 1970.[3] He then began making a name for himself in

studios around Germany in the early 1970s. Often collaborating with lyricist Pete Bellotte, Moroder had anumber 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 UnitedKingdom, the United States, and across Europe, and everywhere disco-mania was spreading. The full filmscore 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 the1984 film Electric Dreams. The same year saw him collaborating with Kajagoogoo frontman Limahl fortheir worldwide hit "The NeverEnding Story". In 1986, Moroder collaborated with his protégé HaroldFaltermeyer (of "Axel F.") and lyricist Tom Whitlock to create the score for the film Top Gun (1986)which included Kenny Loggins' hit "Danger Zone" and Berlin's "Take My Breath Away". He also wrotethe theme song to the film Over The Top "Meet Me Half Way" which was also performed by KennyLoggins. "Chase" was also used as an entrance theme for wrestling's group The Midnight Express. In1987, 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 NewYork, when he was inducted for his many outstanding achievements and contributions as producer. In2005, he was given the title of Commendatore by the then President of the Italian Republic, Carlo AzeglioCiampi. On September 5, 2010 Moroder received the Great Order of Merit of the South Tyrol.

Moroder contributed to Daft Punk's 2013 studio album Random Access Memories, admitting that he hadbeen a fan of their song "One More Time" before working with the group.[4] His voice and story isfeatured on the album's track "Giorgio by Moroder". On the track he states, "My name is GiovanniGiorgio, but everybody calls me Giorgio."

Film workThroughout much of his musical career, Moroder has been involved in soundtrack work for variousmotion pictures.

In 1978, he wrote the Academy Award-winning soundtrack to Midnight Express, which featured one ofhis best-known pieces, "Chase".

In 1980, he composed and produced two film soundtrack albums: the first for Foxes and the second forAmerican Gigolo. A double album of the Foxes soundtrack was released on the disco label CasablancaRecords which includes Donna Summer's hit single "On the Radio", which Moroder both produced andco-wrote. The American Gigolo soundtrack featured the Moroder-produced Blondie's "Call Me", a USand UK number one hit. All singles from the album also went to number two for five weeks on thedisco/dance charts.[5] In 1982 he wrote the soundtrack of the movie Cat People, including the hit single"Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" featuring David Bowie.

In 1983, Moroder produced the soundtrack for the film Scarface. During its initial release, the album wasonly available in a few countries and strictly through import in the United States. Notable Moroder-produced tracks included "Scarface (Push It to the Limit)" by Paul Engemann, "Rush Rush" by Debbie

Harry, and "She's on Fire" by Amy Holland. In 2006, the soundtrack was featured in the game Scarface:The World Is Yours, which is based on the film and also includes some previously-unreleasedinstrumentals by Moroder.

In 1984, Moroder compiled a new restoration and edit of the silent film Metropolis (1927) and provided itwith a contemporary soundtrack. This soundtrack includes seven pop music tracks from Pat Benatar, JonAnderson, Adam Ant, Billy Squier, Loverboy, Bonnie Tyler and Freddie Mercury. He also integrated theold-fashioned intertitles into the film as subtitles as a means of improving continuity, and he also increasedthe film's framerate to 24 frames a second. Since the original speed was unknown this choice wascontroversial. Known as the "Moroder version", it sparked debate among film buffs, with outspoken criticsand supporters of the film falling into equal camps.[6]

Moroder also scored other films in the 1970s and 1980s, including Flashdance, The Never Ending Story,Thief of Hearts, Electric Dreams, Cat People and Over the Top.

In 2002, he wrote the score for Leni Riefenstahl's final film, Impressionen unter Wasser, a marinedocumentary.[7]

Video games

His score for "Scarface" has been used in the video game Grand Theft Auto III while Moroder's "FromHere to Eternity" and "Chase" were used in the Sony PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 2 game GrandTheft Auto: Liberty City Stories. "Together In Electric Dreams", a collaborative effort of Giorgio Moroderand Philip Oakey (of The Human League) features in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. More recentlyhe composed, produced and performed the theme music for Google's "Racer"[2](http://www.chrome.com/racer).

Sporting events and other media

Moroder wrote the official theme songs, "Reach Out", for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, and "Hand inHand", for the 1988 Seoul Olympics and "Un'estate italiana" for the 1990 Football World Cup. "TheChase" is now also used as the theme bumper-music for the US AM talk radio program Coast to CoastAM. The BBC used Moroder's film soundtrack "Ivory Tower" as theme song during the display of thestarting grid during the motor-racing programme Formula 1 Grand Prix, during the late 1980s and theearly/mid-1990s. He also composed the song "Forever Friends" for the 2008 Summer Olympics inBeijing.

Other

In the late 1980s, Moroder collaborated with Claudio Zampolli to create the Cizeta supercar.

Awards

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

Moroder also won two of his three Grammy Awards for "Flashdance": Best Album Of Original ScoreWritten For A Motion Picture Or A Television Special and Best Instrumental Composition for the track"Love Theme from Flashdance". The third was won for Best Dance Recording for the song "Carry On".

In 2005, Moroder was named a Commendatore Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana,[8] and in2010 Bolzano awarded him the Grande Ordine al Merito della Provincia autonoma di Bolzano.

Notable collaborationsDonna Summer – "Love to Love You Baby" (1975)The Three Degrees – New Dimensions (1978), 3D (1979)Japan – "Life in Tokyo" (1979)David Bowie – "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" (1982)Irene Cara "What a Feelin'" (1983)Philip Oakey – "Together in Electric Dreams" (1984)Sigue Sigue Sputnik – "Flaunt It" (1985) - creation of the "Cyberpunk sound"Big Trouble – Big Trouble (1988)María Conchita Alonso – "Vamos a Bailar"Adam AntPat Benatar – "Here's My Heart"Edoardo BennatoBerlin - Take My Breath AwayBlondie – "Call Me"Bonnie TylerFreddie MercuryDaft Punk – Random Access Memories (2013)

DiscographyMain article: Giorgio Moroder discography

Sampling and other usesThe British alternative rock duo Curve covered "I Feel Love" in 1992. The song was later includedon the double CD compilation The Way of Curve, released in 2004.Bronski Beat have covered "I Feel Love" and "Love to Love You Baby" for their debut album TheAge of Consent (1984)."On Fire", the second single from rapper Lil Wayne's seventh studio album Rebirth; containsallusions from Amy Holland's song "She's on Fire" and was inspired in its entirety by Scarface.[9]

"Push It", the second single from rapper Rick Ross' debut album Port of Miami; samples "Scarface(Push It to the Limit)" and the story of the video has a very similar theme to the film Scarface. It wasproduced by J. R. Rotem.His song "Tears" was sampled and used as the basis of the DJ Shadow song "Organ Donor" on his1996 album Endtroducing...... Canadian Hip Hop group Swollen Members sampled the song in"Fuel Injected" and "Meltdown". It also appears on the song "Tragedy" by RZA. The main melodyand chord progression form the basis of "Marz" by folk musician John Grant and "Only Light" byAustralian ska band The Cat Empire.The Hip Hop-duo Mobb Deep used a sample from the song "Tony's Theme" in their song G.O.D.Pt. III.His Song "E=MC2" was sampled and used for J. Dilla's song of the same title.One of his early compositions, "Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo" from 1969, would be featured for many

years in silent sketches on The Benny Hill Show, as part of a medley that also included "Mah NàMah Nà", a 4/4 adaptation of Ludwig van Beethoven's "Für Elise", and "Gimme Dat Ding".The theme from Midnight Express was sampled by hip-hop duo OutKast for their song "Return ofthe Gangsta", and by hip-hop producer J Dilla for "Phantom of the Synths", a beat later used by MFDOOM for "Gazzillion Ear" and by Jay Electronica for "Dimethyltryptamine".Moroder's opening theme from the film Scarface is sampled by Nas and Mobb Deep for the track"It's Mine"."Leopard Tree Dream" from Cat People is sampled by Cannibal Ox in the song "Iron Galaxy.""The Legend Of Babel" theme From the "metropolis" soundtrack was covered By DJ Dado.British electronica musician Little Boots covered "Love Kills", which was written in collaborationwith Freddie Mercury."Future Lovers", a song from American recording artist Madonna's 2005 album Confessions on a

Dance Floor, has a bass line inspired by Donna Summer's Moroder-produced hit "I Feel Love".Furthermore, Madonna opened her 2006 Confessions Tour with a medley of "Future Lovers" and "IFeel Love". The version of "Live To Tell" Madonna performed on The Confessions Tour heavilysamples Moroder's song "Tears".For the "Chase" instrumental, see that articleSuns of Arqa's album "Technomor" includes the track "Moroder Vibe" which contains elements of"I Feel Love".Soundtrack for Google's Racer,[10] a mobile Chrome experimentUnderworld's 1999 album, Beaucoup Fish, contains a song titled Shudder/King Of Snake, whichcontains an interpolation of the bass line from "I Feel Love".

See alsoList of number-one dance hits (United States)List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chartCizeta Moroder V16 supercar project

References1. ^ Tobias Rüther (26 April 2010). "Giorgio Moroder zum Siebzigsten: Ich fühle Liebe"

(http://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/pop/giorgio-moroder-zum-siebzigsten-ich-fuehle-liebe-1653148.html).Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Retrieved 20 May 2012.

2. ^ "Giorgio Moroder" (http://www.laut.de/Giorgio-Moroder). laut.de. Retrieved 21 May 2012.3. ^ Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 259.

ISBN 0-214-20512-6.4. ^ Cubarrubia, RJ (April 3, 2013). "Giorgio Moroder: Daft Punk's New Album Is 'A Step Forward' for Dance

Music" (http://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/giorgio-moroder-daft-punks-new-album-is-a-step-forward-for-dance-music-20130403) (YouTube video). Rolling Stone. RollingStone.com. Retrieved April 3, 2013. "[...] Thomas and Guy-Manuel, they are perfectionists (4:21 min). They had to do something which is different.Still dance, still electronic; but give that human touch back. (7:40 min)"

5. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003. Record Research. p. 288.6. ^ "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'sreissue...was bound to offend the purists if only because it smacked of such crass commercialism and seemed soevidently calculated to jump the culture barrier." Thomas Elsaesser, p. 124. Most critics agree that the opinionof the film purists aside, Moroder's version was a welcome addition: "Although harshly criticized for itssynthesized rock score, Moroder's reconstruction does have the virtue of clarifying a muddledplotline...Moroder's new version provides some illuminating changes in narrative continuity and charactermotivation, 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. 79:3p 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. 277-290.7. ^ "Hitler's filmmaker to release new film" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1745806.stm). BBC. 7

January 2002.8. ^ "Presidenza della Repubblica" (http://www.quirinale.it/elementi/DettaglioOnorificenze.aspx?

decorato=158014). Quirinale.it. 2005-05-26. Retrieved 2013-05-15.9. ^ Lil Wayne's 'On Fire' Inspired By 'Scarface,' Producer Dre Says

(http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1627696/20091204/lil_wayne.jhtml) - MTV.com10. ^ [1] (http://chrome.com/racer), Racer: a Chrome Experiment

External linksSoundcloud - Giorgio Moroder (https://soundcloud.com/giorgiomoroder2)discog.info: Giorgio Moroder (http://www.discog.info/moroder.html) discographyGiorgio Moroder (http://www.discogs.com/artist/Giorgio+Moroder) discography at DiscogsGiorgio Moroder (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002380/) at the Internet Movie DatabaseGiorgio Moroder Soundtracks to listen online | Ringostrack.com(http://ringostrack.com/en/artist/giorgio-moroder/2404)

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