Giovanni Giorgio Moroder (Italian pronunciation: [dʒoˈvanni ˈdʒordʒo moˈrɔːder], German: [mɔˈʁoːdɐ]; born 26 April 1940)[3][4] is an Italian composer, songwriter, and record producer. Dubbed the "Father of Disco",[5][6][7] Moroder is credited with pioneering euro disco and electronic dance music,[2][8] and his work with synthesizers had a huge influence on several music genres such as Hi-NRG, Italo disco, new wave, house and techno music.[8][9][10]
When in Munich in the 1970s, Moroder started his own record label called Oasis Records, which several years later became a subdivision of Casablanca Records. He is the founder of the former Musicland Studios in Munich, a recording studio used by many artists including The Rolling Stones, Electric Light Orchestra, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Queen and Elton John.[11] He produced singles for Donna Summer during the mid-to-late 1970s disco era, including "Love to Love You Baby", "[dʒoˈvanni ˈdʒordʒo moˈrɔːder], German: [mɔˈʁoːdɐ]; born 26 April 1940)[3][4] is an Italian composer, songwriter, and record producer. Dubbed the "Father of Disco",[5][6][7] Moroder is credited with pioneering euro disco and electronic dance music,[2][8] and his work with synthesizers had a huge influence on several music genres such as Hi-NRG, Italo disco, new wave, house and techno music.[8][9][10]
When in Munich in the 1970s, Moroder started his own record label called Oasis Records, which several years later became a subdivision of Casablanca Records. He is the founder of the former Musicland Studios in Munich, a recording studio used by many artists including The Rolling Stones, Electric Light Orchestra, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Queen and Elton John.[11] He produced singles for Donna Summer during the mid-to-late 1970s disco era, including "Love to Love You Baby", "I Feel Love", "Last Dance", "MacArthur Park", "Hot Stuff", "Bad Girls", "Dim All the Lights", "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)", and "On the Radio". During this period, he also released many albums, including the synthesizer-driven From Here To Eternity (1977) and E=MC2 (1979), the first album to be entirely digitally recorded.[12]
He later began composing film soundtracks and scores, including Midnight Express, American Gigolo, Superman III, Scarface, The NeverEnding Story, and the 1984 restoration of Metropolis. The soundtrack for the film Midnight Express, which contained the international hit "Chase", won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe. He also produced a number of electronic disco songs for the Three Degrees, two albums for Sparks, and a handful of songs on Bonnie Tyler's album Bitterblue as well as her 1985 single "Here She Comes". In 1990, he composed "Un'estate italiana", the official theme song of the 1990 FIFA World Cup.
He has created a score of songs for many performers including David Bowie, Kylie Minogue, Irene Cara, Janet Jackson, Madleen Kane, Melissa Manchester, Munich in the 1970s, Moroder started his own record label called Oasis Records, which several years later became a subdivision of Casablanca Records. He is the founder of the former Musicland Studios in Munich, a recording studio used by many artists including The Rolling Stones, Electric Light Orchestra, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Queen and Elton John.[11] He produced singles for Donna Summer during the mid-to-late 1970s disco era, including "Love to Love You Baby", "I Feel Love", "Last Dance", "MacArthur Park", "Hot Stuff", "Bad Girls", "Dim All the Lights", "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)", and "On the Radio". During this period, he also released many albums, including the synthesizer-driven From Here To Eternity (1977) and E=MC2 (1979), the first album to be entirely digitally recorded.[12]
He later began composing film soundtracks and scores, including Midnight Express, American Gigolo, Superman III, Scarface, The NeverEnding Story, and the 1984 restoration of Metropolis. The soundtrack for the film Midnight Express, which contained the international hit "Chase", won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe. He also produced a number of electronic disco songs for the Three Degrees, two albums for Sparks, and a handful of songs on Bonnie Tyler's album Bitterblue as well as her 1985 single "Here She Comes". In 1990, he composed "Un'estate italiana", the official theme song of the 1990 FIFA World Cup.
He has created a score of songs for many performers including David Bowie, Kylie Minogue, Irene Cara, Janet Jackson, Madleen Kane, Melissa Manchester, Blondie, Japan and France Joli. Moroder has stated that the work of which he is most proud is Berlin's "Take My Breath Away",[13] which earned him two Golden Globes (for Best Original Score and Best Original Song) and the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1986; he had earned the same awards in 1983 for "Flashdance... What a Feeling". In addition to the three Academy Awards and four Golden Globes, Moroder has also received four Grammy Awards, two People's Choice Awards, and more than 100 Golden and Platinum discs. In 2004, he was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame.[14]
Giovanni Giorgio Moroder was born on 26 April 1940 in Urtijëi (known in German as St. Ulrich in Gröden and known in Italian as Ortisei) in South Tyrol in what was then the Kingdom of Italy. His mother called him Hansjörg (pronounced [ˈhansjœʁk]), a German version of his two first names, while he was growing up they lived in a mixed German, Italian and Ladin-speaking environment in South Tyrol in northern Italy.[15][16]
Moroder made his first steps in music in the Scotch Club in Aachen and then released a few singles under the name "Giorgio" beginning in 1963 after moving to Berlin, singing in Italian, Spanish, English, and German.
In 1968, he moved to Munich and came to prominence when "Looky Looky" was awarded a gold disc in 1970.[18]Moroder made his first steps in music in the Scotch Club in Aachen and then released a few singles under the name "Giorgio" beginning in 1963 after moving to Berlin, singing in Italian, Spanish, English, and German.