Giorgio Moroder (born April 26, 1940 in Ortisei, Italy) is one of the world's better-known composers of film,
dance, and other popular musical forms. Moroder has always maintained an abiding
interest in visual as well as musical expression. He was trained as a fine
artist before he turned to playing and composing music. He has been dubbed
the "father of disco" by more than one expert on the subject. His
collaboration with disco "diva" Donna Summer brought him into the limelight in
the U.S. as a driving force in the high-energy and Euro-disco genres of music.
THE "COMPUTER MUSIC" MAN A pioneer in electronic music, Moroder has
always pushed the envelope of technology. Utilizing computers and
synthesizers, his early experiments with music were not dance pieces.
Later, his work with electronic "drum machines" was credited with the birth of
the disco genre of music. His collaboration with producer Peter
Bellotte and performer Donna Summer on the smash dance hit "I Feel Love" was
the first chart-topping tune to utilize synthesized sounds entirely for
background for a vocalist. The success of "I Feel Love" led to Moroder's
being contracted to write the music for the popular film "Midnight Express,"
which was composed for mostly synthesizer. The soundtrack album yielded
fodder for the disc jockeys of the day, because the strong, throbbing bass-
and drum-lines in the background evoke dance music, even though that wasn't the
original intention of the compositions. Mr. Moroder was recently inducted in the "Dance Music Hall of Fame," and is
the winner of 3 Oscars: "Top Gun," "Flashdance," and "Midnight Express."
He has also been honored with 4 Golden Globes, and 3 Grammies. Most
impressive is the fact that this quiet genius has over a hundred gold- and
platinum-selling records to his credit. Despite his popular success, some
critics dismiss Moroder, the high-energy genre, and disco in general as being
"pop pablum." This is due in part to the fact that many of the tunes he's
produced include repetitive lyrics, seemingly generic melodies and a pounding
4/4 time signature. Those who pigeon-hole Giorgio Moroder's
contributions to music as being solely "dance music" ignore the fact that a good
portion of his body of work has either been written for, or crossed-over into,
many genres other than dance. HIGH-ENERGY
COLLABORATIONS Moroder's list of collaborations reads like a "who's who"
of innovative musical talent. Moroder has worked with many of the most
famous names in music including Barbra Streisand, Elton John, Cher, Roger
Daltrey, Janet Jackson, Freddy Mercury, David Bowie and Pat Benatar.
And among his hit singles are Donna Summer's "Hot Stuff" and "I Feel Love,"
Kenny Loggins' "Danger Zone," Irene Cara's "Flashdance (What a Feeling!),"
David Bowie's "Putting Out the Fire" and Blondie's "Call Me." Mr. Moroder wrote the official theme songs, "Reach Out," for the 1984 Los Angeles
Olympics and "Hand in Hand," for the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Recently he
produced hits
with Jessica Simpson and Beyonce.
Moroder's myriad talents led to the development and production of the exotic Italian
automobile, The "Cizeta
Moroder," a 16-cylinder sports car that set new records for Italian
High-Performance Technology. The car tops the list of his most unusual and
challenging projects. Moroder now resides in Beverly Hills, California.
His latest project at this writing is work on a Broadway stage production of the
movie "Flashdance." Sources:
http://www.demetz.net/Moroder-Summer/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002380/
http://www.disco-disco.com/tributes/giorgio.html
http://www.giorgiomorodergallery.com/index.html | 
