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Biography
Infobox musical artist|name = Giorgio Moroder|image = Giorgio Moroder.jpg|caption = Giorgio Moroder and his many awards.|background = non_vocal_instrumentalist|birth_name = Hansjörg Moroder|alias = Giorgio|birth_date = Birth date and age|1940|4|26|df=y|birth_place = Urtijëi , Italy|death_date =|origin = Urtijëi, Italy|instrument = Synthesizers |genre = Dance music|Dance , disco , Electronic music|electronic , Electronic dance music|electronic dance , Hi-NRG , Eurodisco , Italo disco , Pop music|pop , Rock music|rock |occupation = Singer, songwriter, record producer|years_active = 1965& ndash;present|label =Oasis|associated_acts = Donna Summer , Freddie Mercury , Limahl |website = URL| http://www.moroder.net/|current_members =|past_members = Hansjörg "Giorgio" Moroder ; named on record sleeves often only Giorgio (born 26 April 1940, Urtijëi , South Tyrol , Italy) http://www.discomuseum.com/GiorgioMoroder.html Disco Museum Giorgio Moroder is an Italian Ladin language|Ladin-speaking http://www.amiscdlaladinia.info/index.php? option=com_content& task=view& id=1044& Itemid=64 Amisc dla Ladinia 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 music|New Wave , house music|house , techno and electronic music in general.Allmusic|class=artist|id=p23915/biography|pure_url=yes Giorgio Moroder at Allmusic 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 by artists including the Electric Light Orchestra , Led Zeppelin , Queen (band)|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 (band)|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 performers including David Bowie , Irene Cara , Madleen Kane , Melissa Manchester , Blondie (band)|Blondie , Japan (band)|Japan , and France Joli .
The recipient of multiple music awards, Moroder is additionally noted for his prolific soundtrack work. He is also credited with pioneering and helping to popularize the Eurodisco sound.
Music career
Moroder made his first steps in music in Berlin by releasing a few singles under the name "Giorgio" beginning in 1966, singing in Italian language|Italian , Spanish, English, and German. He came to prominence in 1969, when his recording "Looky Looky", released on Ariola Records , was awarded a music recording sales certification|gold disc in October 1970.cite book | first= Joseph | last= Murrells | year= 1978 | title= The Book of Golden Discs | edition= 2nd | publisher= Barrie and Jenkins Ltd | location= London | page= 259 | isbn= 0-214-20512-6 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 (Giorgio Moroder album)|From Here to Eternity , a notable chartbuster in 1977, and in the following year releasing " Chase (song)|Chase ", the theme from the film Midnight Express (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 Awards|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& ndash;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 (film)|Electric Dreams . 1985 saw him collaborating with Kajagoogoo frontman Limahl for their worldwide hit "Neverending Story". 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 (band)|Berlin 's " Take My Breath Away ". " Chase (song)|Chase " was also used as an entrance theme for wrestling's group The Midnight Express (professional wrestling)|The Midnight Express . In 1987, Moroder produced Falco (musician)|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
Throughout much of his musical career, Moroder has been involved in soundtrack work for various motion pictures.
In 1980, he composed and produced two film soundtrack albums: the first for Foxes (film)|Foxes and the second for American Gigolo . A double album, of the Foxes (soundtrack)|Foxes soundtrack was released on the disco label Casablanca Records which includes Donna Summer 's hit single " On the Radio (song)|On the Radio ", which Moroder both produced and co-wrote. The American Gigolo (soundtrack)|American Gigolo soundtrack featured the Moroder-produced Blondie (band)|Blondie classic " Call Me (Blondie song)|Call Me ", a US and UK number one hit. All singles from the album also went to number two for five weeks on the disco/dance charts.cite book |title= Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |authorlink=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=288 In 1982 he wrote the soundtrack of the movie Cat People (1982 film)|Cat People , including the hit single "Putting Out Fire" featuring David Bowie .
In 1983, Moroder produced the soundtrack for the film Scarface (soundtrack)|Scarface . During its initial release, the album was only 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 (Debbie Harry song)|Rush Rush " by Debbie Harry , and " She's On Fire (Amy Holland song)|She's on Fire " by AmyHolland . 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-unreleased instrumentals by Moroder.
In 1984, Moroder compiled a new restoration and edit of the silent film Metropolis (1927 film)|Metropolis (1927) and provided it with a contemporary soundtrack. 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 intertitle s into the film as Subtitle (captioning)|subtitle s as a means of improving continuity, and he also increased the film's frame to 24 frames a 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."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.
Moroder also scored other films in the 1970s and 1980s, including Midnight Express (film)|Midnight Express , Flashdance , Die Unendliche Geschichte (film)|The Never Ending Story , Thief of Hearts , Electric Dreams (film)|Electric Dreams , Cat People (1982 film)|Cat People and Over the Top (film)|Over the Top .
In 2002, he wrote the score for Leni Riefenstahl 's final film, Impressionen unter Wasser , a marine documentary.
Video games
His score for "Scarface" has recently regained popularity due to its use in the popular video game Grand Theft Auto III . Moroder's " From Here to Eternity (Giorgio Moroder song)|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 (Giorgio Moroder song)|Reach Out ", for the 1984 Summer Olympics|1984 Los Angeles Olympics , and " Hand in Hand (Olympics)|Hand in Hand ", for the 1988 Summer Olympics|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 radio|AM talk radio program Coast to Coast AM . The BBC used Moroder's film soundtrack "Ivory Tower" as theme song during the broadcast of the motor-racing event Formula 1 Grand Prix, during the late 1980s and the early/mid 1990s. He also composed the song " Forever Friends (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.
Awards
Moroder has won three Academy Awards : Best Original Score for Midnight Express (film)|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".
Infobox artist discography|Artist = Giorgio Moroder |Logo = |Image = |Caption = |Studio = 13 |Studio link = |EP = |EPs link = |Live = |Live link = |Compilation = |Video = |Video link = |Singles = |Singles link = |Halos link = |Music videos = |MV link = |Soundtrack = 10 |Soundtrack link = |2Option = |2Option name = |References = |Ref link = References The discography of Giorgio Moroder includes thirteen studio albums and ten soundtracks. This list is not representative of Moroder's work, as he is most successful as music producer.
The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter (Joe Milner and Giorgio Moroder)
Sampling and other uses
Bronski Beat have covered " I Feel Love " and "Love to Love You Baby" for their debut album The Age of Consent (1984).
Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna has sampled " I Feel Love " ( a production by Moroder, sung by Donna Summer ) in the early 90's.
" On Fire (Lil Wayne song)|On Fire ", the second single from rapper Lil Wayne 's seventh studio album Rebirth (Lil Wayne album)|Rebirth ; contains allusions from AmyHolland 's song "She's on Fire" and was inspired in its entirety by Scarface (1983 film)|Scarface . http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1627696/20091204/lil_wayne.jhtml Lil Wayne's 'On Fire' Inspired By 'Scarface,' Producer Dre Says - MTV.com
" Push It (Rick Ross song)|Push It ", the second single from rapper Rick Ross ' debut album Port of Miami (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 (1983 film)|Scarface . It was produced by J. R. Rotem .
His song "Tears" was sampled and used as the basis of the DJ Shadow song "Organ Donor" on his 1996 album Endtroducing..... . Canadian Hip hop music|Hip Hop group Swollen Members sampled the song in "Fuel Injected" and "Meltdown". It also appears on the song "Tragedy" by RZA . The main melody and chord progression form the basis of " Queen of Denmark (album)|Marz " by folk musician John Grant (musician)|John Grant and " Cinema (The Cat Empire album)|Only Light " by Australian ska band The Cat Empire .
The Hip hop music|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 Nà Mah Nà ", a 4/4 adaptation of Ludwig van Beethoven 's "Für Elise", and " Gimme Dat Ding (song)|Gimme Dat Ding ".
The theme from Midnight Express was sampled by hip-hop duo OutKast for their song "Return of the Gangsta", and by hip-hop producer J Dilla for "Phantom of the Synths", a beat later used by MF DOOM 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 collaboration with Freddie Mercury .
"Future Lovers", a song from American recording artist Madonna (entertainer)|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 "I Feel Love".
For the " Chase (composition)|Chase " instrumental, see that article
Suns of Arqa 's album "Technomor" includes the track "Moroder Vibe" which contains elements of "I Feel Love".
See also
List of number-one dance hits (United States)
List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart
Cizeta Moroder V16 supercar project
References
BLP sources|date=November 2010Reflist
External links
http://www.discog.info/moroder.html discog.info: Giorgio Moroder discography
discogs artist
IMDb name|0002380|Giorgio Moroder
AcademyAwardBestOriginalScore 1961& ndash;1980AcademyAwardBestOriginalSong 1981–1990Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score 1970–1989Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song 1980s Persondata| NAME = Moroder, Giorgio | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH = 26 April 1940 | PLACE OF BIRTH = Urtijëi , Italy | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Moroder, Giorgio Category:1940 births Category:Living people Category:People from Urtijëi Category:Best Song Academy Award winning songwriters Category:Best Original Music Score Academy Award winners Category:Disco musicians Category:Hi-NRG musicians Category:Italian film score composers Category:Italian record producers Category:Italian songwriters Category:Italian dance musicians Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Italian electronic musicians
