Giorgio Moroder

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ʜ Giorgio Moroder (born Giovanni Giorgio Moroder on April 26, 1940 in Ortisei, Italy) is an Italian record producer, songwriter and performer, whose groundbreaking work with synthesizers during the 1970s was a significant influence on techno and electronic music in general. Particularly well known are Donna Summer's disco hits produced by Moroder, including Love To Love You Baby and I Feel Love. Moroder also produced a number of electronic disco hits for The Three Degrees.

Moroder scored a number of hits in his own name including Son Of My Father in 1972 and From Here to Eternity in 1977 under the name Giorgio, and in the following year releasing The Chase, the theme from the film Midnight Express and sold well elsewhere. All were hits in the UK. The full movie score for Midnight Express won him his first Academy Award for best film score in 1978.

In 1985, Moroder worked with Phil Oakey, frontman of the popular synthpop group, The Human League, to make the album Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder. Moroder cowrote the song Take My Breath Away for the popular film Top Gun (1986) and the song went on to become a huge hit for the group Berlin, featuring Terri Nunn.

He also scored other popular films in the 1980s including American Gigolo, Flashdance, The NeverEnding Story, Thief of Hearts, Electric Dreams and Scarface, . The latter score has recently regained popularity due to its use in the popular computer game Grand Theft Auto III. Moroder's "From Here To Eternity" and "The Chase" were also used in the Sony PSP game Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories. Mr. Moroder wrote the official theme songs, "Reach Out," for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and "Hand in Hand," for the 1988 Seoul Olympics and Un'estate Italiana for the World Cup 1990.

In 1984, Moroder compiled a new restoration and edit of the famous silent film Metropolis and provided a new modern rock-and-roll soundtrack to the film. This soundtrack includes pop tracks from the likes of Pat Benatar, Adam Ant, Billy Squier, Loverboy, Bonnie Tyler and Freddie Mercury. He also integrated the old-fashioned intertitles into the film as subtitles as a means of improving continuity, and he also played the film at a rate of 24 frames per second, the rate at which it was filmed. This version is only 80 minutes in length. Known as the "Moroder version", it sparked heated debate among film buffs and fans, with outspoken critics and supporters of the film falling into equal camps. If nothing else, it introduced the silent classic to a new generation of fans.

Perhaps his most well-known music is the organ from his song "Tears," made famous by a DJ Shadow song, "Organ Donor," (off of his album Endtroducing.....), which heavily samples the song's organ melody.

Moroder worked with:

On September 20, 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 Moroder was given the title of Commendatore by the Italien President Azelio Ciampi.

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