Giorgio Moroder facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Giorgio Moroder
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Moroder at First Avenue, Minneapolis, in 2018
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| Birth name | Giovanni Giorgio Moroder |
| Born | 26 April 1940 Urtijëi, South Tyrol, Kingdom of Italy |
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Giovanni Giorgio Moroder (born 26 April 1940) is an Italian composer and music producer. People often call him the "Father of Disco". He helped create new music styles like Euro disco and electronic dance music.
Moroder used synthesizers a lot in his music. This had a big impact on many music types. These include hi-NRG, Italo disco, synth-pop, new wave, house, and techno music.
In the 1970s, while in Munich, Moroder started Oasis Records. He also founded Musicland Studios in Munich. Many famous bands recorded there, like the Rolling Stones and Queen. He produced many hit songs for Donna Summer. These include "Love to Love You Baby" and "I Feel Love". He also released his own albums, like From Here to Eternity (1977).
Moroder won an Academy Award for Best Original Score for the film Midnight Express (1978). This movie featured his hit song "Chase". He also wrote "Un'estate italiana", the official song for the 1990 FIFA World Cup.
He created songs for many artists, such as David Bowie and Kylie Minogue. Moroder is very proud of "Take My Breath Away" by Berlin. This song won him an Academy Award for Best Original Song for the movie Top Gun (1986). He won the same award in 1983 for "Flashdance... What a Feeling". Overall, he has won three Academy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and four Grammy Awards. In 2004, he joined the Dance Music Hall of Fame.
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Early Life and First Steps in Music
Giovanni Giorgio Moroder was born on 26 April 1940. He grew up in Urtijëi, a town in South Tyrol, Italy. His parents were Ladin. His mother called him Hansjörg, a German version of his name. He lived in an area where people spoke Ladin, German, and Italian.
When he was 15, he started learning to play the guitar. He was inspired by Paul Anka's song Diana. At 18, he began traveling around Europe as a professional musician. He played music at night and made recordings during the day. Around age 25, he moved to Berlin and worked as a sound engineer.
Moroder released his first songs under the name "Giorgio" in 1963. He sang in Italian, Spanish, English, and German. After two years in Berlin, he moved to Munich.
Creating Electronic Music
In 1968, Moroder moved to Munich. He became famous when his song "Looky Looky" won a gold disc in 1970. He then started Musicland Studios in the early 1970s.
Working with lyricist Pete Bellotte, Moroder had hits under his own name. One was "Son of My Father" in 1972. In 1977, he released From Here to Eternity. This album was full of synthesizer sounds. That same year, he helped write and produce "I Feel Love" for Donna Summer. This song was the first of its kind in the Hi-NRG music style.
The next year, he released "Chase". This was the main song from the film Midnight Express. These songs became popular in the UK, US, and Europe. Disco music was becoming very popular everywhere. The music for Midnight Express won him his first Academy Award for Best Original Score in 1979.
In 1979, Moroder released E=MC². He also released three albums between 1977 and 1979 as Munich Machine. He produced and co-wrote Donna Summer's hit "On the Radio". He also wrote the music for the movie Cat People (1982). This included the hit song "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" with David Bowie. He also produced the music for the film Scarface (1983).
Awards and Recognition
In 1984, Moroder worked on a new version of the old silent film Metropolis (1927). He added a modern soundtrack to it. This soundtrack included songs from artists like Pat Benatar and Freddie Mercury.
In 1984, Moroder also worked with Philip Oakey from the Human League. They made the album Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder. Their song "Together in Electric Dreams" was a big hit in the UK. The same year, he worked with Limahl on the worldwide hit "The NeverEnding Story".
In 1986, Moroder worked on the music for the film Top Gun. This included Kenny Loggins' hit "Danger Zone" and Berlin's "Take My Breath Away". He also wrote "Meet Me Half Way" for the film Over the Top.
Moroder wrote official theme songs for the 1984 Summer Olympics and the 1988 Summer Olympics. He also wrote "Un'estate italiana" for the 1990 FIFA World Cup. In 1992, he released his album Forever Dancing. After 1993, he took a long break from releasing new albums. For about 20 years, he focused on remixes and visual art.
Return to Music and New Collaborations
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In 2013, Moroder returned to music. He worked on the soundtrack for Google's Racer. He also helped with Daft Punk's 2013 album Random Access Memories. His voice and story are on the album track "Giorgio by Moroder". On the song, he says, "My name is Giovanni Giorgio, but everybody calls me Giorgio."
In 2014, Moroder updated an old song called "Doo Bee Doo". This song was used in a Volkswagen commercial. He also said he planned to work with Lana Del Rey. He remixed Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga's song "I Can't Give You Anything but Love".
Moroder's solo album, Déjà Vu, came out in 2015. It featured collaborations with Kylie Minogue, Britney Spears, and Sia. His song with Kylie Minogue, "Right Here, Right Now", became number one on the US Dance Club Songs chart. In 2016, he wrote music for the video game Tron RUN/r. He also produced "One More Day" for the Korean girl group Sistar. In 2021, Moroder worked with Duran Duran on their album Future Past.
Giorgio Moroder's Awards
Moroder has won many important awards for his music.
- Academy Awards: He won three Academy Awards.
- Best Original Score for Midnight Express (1978).
- Best Song for "Flashdance...What a Feeling" from Flashdance (1983).
- Best Song for "Take My Breath Away" from Top Gun (1986).
- Grammy Awards: He won four Grammy Awards. Two were for Flashdance. The third was for "Carry On". His fourth Grammy was for Daft Punk's Random Access Memories (Album of the Year) in 2014.
- Golden Globe Awards: He won four Golden Globes. Two for Best Original Score and two for Best Original Song.
On 20 September 2004, Moroder was honored at the Dance Music Hall of Fame in New York. He was recognized for his great work as a producer. In 2011, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award.
His Music Lives On
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Many artists have used parts of Moroder's songs in their own music. This is called "sampling."
- The British band Curve covered "I Feel Love" in 1992.
- Bronski Beat also covered "I Feel Love" in 1984.
- Rapper Lil Wayne's song "On Fire" was inspired by Amy Holland's "She's on Fire," which Moroder produced.
- Rapper Rick Ross's song "Push It" samples "Scarface (Push It to the Limit)".
- DJ Shadow used Moroder's song "Tears" in his song "Organ Donor."
- The hip hop group Mobb Deep used a sample from "Tony's Theme" in their song "G.O.D. Pt. III."
- J Dilla sampled Moroder's song "E=MC²" for his own song with the same title.
- The theme from Midnight Express was sampled by OutKast for "Return of the Gangsta."
- "Chase" was used as entrance music for a professional wrestling team called the Midnight Express. It was also used in sports coverage on TV.
- The main song from the film Scarface was sampled by Nas and Mobb Deep for "It's Mine."
- Little Boots covered "Love Kills," a song Moroder wrote with Freddie Mercury.
- Madonna's song "Future Lovers" was inspired by Donna Summer's "I Feel Love". Madonna also used parts of Moroder's "Tears" in her "Live To Tell" performance.
- "I Feel Love" was added to the National Recording Registry in 2011. This means it is considered an important part of American sound history.
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Personal Life
Giorgio Moroder lives in Los Angeles, California. He was married to Francisca Gutiérrez from 1990 until she passed away in 2022. Their son, Alessandro, was born in 1989. He is also good friends with Michael Holm, a musician.
Discography
- That's Bubblegum – That's Giorgio (1969)
- Giorgio (1970)
- Son of My Father (1972)
- Giorgio's Music (1973)
- Einzelgänger (1975)
- Knights in White Satin (1976)
- From Here to Eternity (1977)
- Love's in You, Love's in Me (1978)
- E=MC² (1979)
- Solitary Men (1983) (with Joe Esposito)
- Innovisions (1985)
- Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder (with Philip Oakey) (1985)
- To Be Number One (1990)
- Forever Dancing (1992)
- Déjà Vu (2015)
See also
- Cizeta-Moroder V16T supercar project
- Honorific nicknames in popular music
- List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance Club Songs chart
- List of Billboard number-one dance club songs
