Giorgio Moroder, the single greatest influence on what we know as "electronic dance music" - which these days even has its own acronym "EDM" in the "hip'n'happening" media - celebrates his
75th birthday today.
We can recognise the man's seminal style-setting (much-copied) sound in his breakthrough hit
From Here to Eternity, which entered the UK charts
thirty-eight years ago in September 1977:
When he launched Miss Donna Summer onto an unsuspecting world, he possibly didn't realise that he had almost single-handedly enshrined "Disco" as an electronic, rather than orchestral/percussive, genre:
Of course, the lovely Legs & Co make it all seem so retro...
Signor Moroder didn't stop there, of course. His music "gave birth" to the preponderance of synth-pop in the 80s, in no small part influenced by his collaboration with the fantabulosa Sparks:
Few people make the connection these days, I reckon - but he was the producer who made Blondie's
Call Me so utterly brilliant:
He continued to be a presence throughout the decade (collaborating with David Bowie on
Cat People, Phil Oakey of Human League on
Electric Dreams, Harold Faltermeyer and Berlin on
Take My Breath Away, and with the lovely Limahl on
The Neverending Story), but until his recent work with dance weirdos Daft Punk, his star had faded somewhat.
And so it came as a bit of a surprise to everyone when he resurfaced just last year, and began teasing us with details of his soon-to-be-released collaboration album
Deja Vu. I am still raving about
Right Here, Right Now, the choon he released with Princess Kylie (
as featured on my last "musical round-up" blog). The album also features (among others) tracks with Kelis, Sia and Charli XCX - and this...
It's a rather good cover of Suzanne Vega's
Tom's Diner... starring none other than Britney Spears!
Happy birthday,
Giovanni Giorgio Moroder (born 26th April 1940)