American Gigolo (soundtrack)
Encyclopedia
American Gigolo is the name of a 1980 soundtrack album to the movie of the same name
, starring Richard Gere
and Lauren Hutton
. The music was composed and performed by Giorgio Moroder
and was released worldwide on the Polydor label. It made number 7 in the Billboard 200
Album charts. All the cuts from the soundtrack also went to number two for five weeks on the disco/dance charts .
"Call Me
" by Blondie
is the lead song for the popular soundtrack and a portion was played during the film's intro. The song, in the early stages an instrumental demo titled "Man Machine," had originally been offered to Fleetwood Mac
's Stevie Nicks
, but Nicks declined and Blondie instead recorded the song with lyrics by lead vocalist Debbie Harry
. The single, released on Blondie's label Chrysalis Records
in February of 1980, was a number one hit in both the U.S. and the U.K. and most other parts of the world, and became their second U.S. number one, after their commercial breakthrough with 1979's "Heart of Glass
." The band also recorded a Spanish language version of "Call Me," entitled "Llamame," released both in the U.S. and South America. Giorgio Moroder's instrumental track "Night Drive," another variation on the "Man Machine"/"Call Me" theme, was also issued as a single in certain territories.
The song "Love and Passion" was written by director Paul Schrader
and Moroder and was performed by Cheryl Barnes
, and can be heard in the movie in the gay club scene (filmed at Los Angeles gay club The Probe, opened in 1978) where Gere's character Julian goes to seek help from Leon, his pimp, after realising he has been framed for a murder he didn't commit.
The instrumental "The Seduction (Love Theme)" a saxophone tune performed by German bandleader James Last
and David Sanborn
(uncredited) peaked at number 28 in the Billboard Hot 100
in May 1980.
American Gigolo was the second soundtrack album to be written and produced by Moroder in 1980, the first being Foxes, which included Donna Summer
's hit single "On the Radio" as well as tracks by Janis Ian
and Cher
. Later that same year he also produced what was to be his and Summer's final full-length studio album together, The Wanderer. (1981's I'm a Rainbow was shelved by Geffen Records
and remained unreleased until 1996.)
In 1978 Moroder had won an Academy Award for Original Music Score
for his soundtrack to Midnight Express
. In 1979 Donna Summer's "Last Dance
" from Thank God It's Friday
, produced by Moroder, won both an Academy Award as well as a Golden Globe for best song, and following the success of American Gigolo and Blondie's "Call Me" in 1980 he went on to compose and produce soundtracks to a large number of Hollywood movies all through the 1980s, such as Cat People
- including David Bowie
's hit single "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)
" (1983), Flashdance
- including Irene Cara
's "Flashdance...What A Feeling" (1983), Scarface
- including Debbie Harry's "Rush Rush
" (1983), Metropolis
and Freddie Mercury
's "Love Kills" (1984) and Top Gun
including Berlin
's "Take My Breath Away
" (1985) - to name but a few.
The American Gigolo soundtrack album has been re-issued on CD by both PolyGram
and Universal Music on the labels Polydor and Spectrum.
Side A:
Side B:
American Gigolo
American Gigolo is a 1980 crime drama film, written and directed by Paul Schrader. It is informally considered the second installment in his "lonely man" trilogy, following the Martin Scorsese directed Taxi Driver and preceding Light Sleeper .-Plot:Julian Kaye is a male prostitute in Los Angeles...
, starring Richard Gere
Richard Gere
Richard Tiffany Gere is an American actor. He began acting in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in Looking for Mr. Goodbar, and a starring role in Days of Heaven. He came to prominence in 1980 for his role in the film American Gigolo, which established him as a leading man and a sex symbol...
and Lauren Hutton
Lauren Hutton
Lauren Hutton is an American model and actress. She is best-known for her starring roles in the movies American Gigolo and Lassiter, and also for her fashion modeling career.-Personal life:...
. The music was composed and performed by Giorgio Moroder
Giorgio Moroder
Hansjörg "Giorgio" Moroder is an Italian record producer, songwriter and performer based in Los Angeles. When in Munich in the 1970s, he started his own record label called Oasis Records, which several years later became a subdivision of Casablanca Records...
and was released worldwide on the Polydor label. It made number 7 in the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
Album charts. All the cuts from the soundtrack also went to number two for five weeks on the disco/dance charts .
"Call Me
Call Me (Blondie song)
"Call Me" is a song by the American new wave band Blondie. Released in 1980, "Call Me" topped the singles charts in both the US and the UK ....
" by Blondie
Blondie (band)
Blondie is an American rock band, founded by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the early American New Wave and punk scenes of the mid-1970s...
is the lead song for the popular soundtrack and a portion was played during the film's intro. The song, in the early stages an instrumental demo titled "Man Machine," had originally been offered to Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British–American rock band formed in 1967 in London.The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood...
's Stevie Nicks
Stevie Nicks
Stephanie Lynn "Stevie" Nicks is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her work with Fleetwood Mac and an extensive solo career, which collectively have produced over forty Top 50 hits and sold over 140 million albums...
, but Nicks declined and Blondie instead recorded the song with lyrics by lead vocalist Debbie Harry
Debbie Harry
Deborah Ann "Debbie" Harry is an American singer-songwriter and actress, best known for being the lead singer of the punk rock and new wave band Blondie. She has also had success as a solo artist, and in the mid-1990s she performed and recorded as part of The Jazz Passengers...
. The single, released on Blondie's label Chrysalis Records
Chrysalis Records
Chrysalis Records was a British record label that was created in 1969. The name was both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis...
in February of 1980, was a number one hit in both the U.S. and the U.K. and most other parts of the world, and became their second U.S. number one, after their commercial breakthrough with 1979's "Heart of Glass
Heart of Glass (song)
"Heart of Glass" is a song by American New Wave band Blondie, written by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. Featured on the band's third studio album, Parallel Lines, it was released as a single in January 1979 and topped the charts in several countries, including the US and UK.Rolling...
." The band also recorded a Spanish language version of "Call Me," entitled "Llamame," released both in the U.S. and South America. Giorgio Moroder's instrumental track "Night Drive," another variation on the "Man Machine"/"Call Me" theme, was also issued as a single in certain territories.
The song "Love and Passion" was written by director Paul Schrader
Paul Schrader
Paul Joseph Schrader is an American screenwriter, film director, and former film critic. Apart from his credentials as a director, Schrader is most notably known for his screenplays for Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver and Raging Bull....
and Moroder and was performed by Cheryl Barnes
Cheryl Barnes
Cheryl Barnes is a singer who starred in Miloš Forman’s film adaptation of Hair as the mother of Hud’s little son.Cheryl gave an audition when she showed up at an open casting call. She had no agent and was working as a maid in a motel in Maine. Her song "Easy to Be Hard" took only one take and...
, and can be heard in the movie in the gay club scene (filmed at Los Angeles gay club The Probe, opened in 1978) where Gere's character Julian goes to seek help from Leon, his pimp, after realising he has been framed for a murder he didn't commit.
The instrumental "The Seduction (Love Theme)" a saxophone tune performed by German bandleader James Last
James Last
James Last is a German composer and big band leader. His "happy music" made his numerous albums best-sellers in Germany and the United Kingdom. His composition, "Happy Heart", became an international success in interpretations by Andy Williams and Petula Clark...
and David Sanborn
David Sanborn
David Sanborn is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album Taking Off in 1975, but has been playing the saxophone since before he was in high school...
(uncredited) peaked at number 28 in the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
in May 1980.
American Gigolo was the second soundtrack album to be written and produced by Moroder in 1980, the first being Foxes, which included Donna Summer
Donna Summer
LaDonna Adrian Gaines , known by her stage name, Donna Summer, is an American singer/songwriter who gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s. She has a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Summer is a five-time Grammy winner and was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach...
's hit single "On the Radio" as well as tracks by Janis Ian
Janis Ian
Janis Ian is an American songwriter, singer, musician, columnist, and science fiction author. Ian first entered the folk music scene while still a teenager in the mid-sixties; most active musically in that decade and the 1970s, she has continued recording into the 21st century...
and Cher
Cher
Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
. Later that same year he also produced what was to be his and Summer's final full-length studio album together, The Wanderer. (1981's I'm a Rainbow was shelved by Geffen Records
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...
and remained unreleased until 1996.)
In 1978 Moroder had won an Academy Award for Original Music Score
Academy Award for Original Music Score
The Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
for his soundtrack to Midnight Express
Midnight Express (film)
Released on October 6, 1978, the soundtrack to Midnight Express was composed by Italian synth-pioneer Giorgio Moroder. The score won the Academy Award for Best Original Score of 1978.Side A:#Chase – Giorgio Moroder...
. In 1979 Donna Summer's "Last Dance
Last Dance (song)
"Last Dance" is a hit 1978 song by singer Donna Summer. The song appeared on the Thank God It's Friday movie soundtrack. It was written by Paul Jabara and was co-produced by Summer's regular collaborator Giorgio Moroder, along with Bob Esty...
" from Thank God It's Friday
Thank God It's Friday
The triple album was, unlike the movie, a commercial success. It contained contributions from some of the biggest names in disco at the time, including Donna Summer, Diana Ross, Thelma Houston, The Commodores, and many others....
, produced by Moroder, won both an Academy Award as well as a Golden Globe for best song, and following the success of American Gigolo and Blondie's "Call Me" in 1980 he went on to compose and produce soundtracks to a large number of Hollywood movies all through the 1980s, such as Cat People
Cat People (1982 film)
Cat People is a 1982 American erotic horror film directed by Paul Schrader and starring Nastassja Kinski, Malcolm McDowell and John Heard. The film co-stars Annette O'Toole, Ruby Dee, Ed Begley, Jr. and John Larroquette. Jerry Bruckheimer served as executive producer...
- including David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
's hit single "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)
Cat People (Putting Out Fire)
"Cat People " is a song by David Bowie, the title song of the 1982 film Cat People. It was written by Bowie with producer Giorgio Moroder. A re-recorded version of the song appears on the album Let's Dance...
" (1983), Flashdance
Flashdance
Another song used in the film, "Maniac", was also nominated for an Academy Award. It was written by Michael Sembello and Dennis Matkosky, and was inspired by the 1980 horror film Maniac. The lyrics about a killer on the loose were rewritten so that it could be used in Flashdance...
- including Irene Cara
Irene Cara
Irene Cara is an American singer and actress. Cara won an Academy Award in 1984 in the category of Best Original Song for co-writing "Flashdance... What a Feeling." She is also known for her recording of the song "Fame", and she also starred in the 1980 film Fame.She married Hollywood stuntman...
's "Flashdance...What A Feeling" (1983), Scarface
Scarface (1983 film)
Scarface is a 1983 American epic crime drama movie directed by Brian De Palma, written by Oliver Stone, produced by Martin Bregman and starring Al Pacino as Tony Montana...
- including Debbie Harry's "Rush Rush
Rush Rush (Debbie Harry song)
"Rush Rush" is a song by the American vocalist Debbie Harry. Released as a single in 1983, it is taken from the soundtrack album of the film Scarface .-Song information:...
" (1983), Metropolis
Metropolis (film)
Metropolis is a 1927 German expressionist film in the science-fiction genre directed by Fritz Lang. Produced in Germany during a stable period of the Weimar Republic, Metropolis is set in a futuristic urban dystopia and makes use of this context to explore the social crisis between workers and...
and Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury was a British musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. As a performer, he was known for his flamboyant stage persona and powerful vocals over a four-octave range...
's "Love Kills" (1984) and Top Gun
Top Gun
Top Gun may refer to:* Top Gun is a 1986 film starring Tom Cruise.**Top Gun , soundtrack to the movie**Top Gun , a number of games based on the movie...
including Berlin
Berlin (band)
Berlin is an American New Wave/Synthpop band. The group was formed in Los Angeles in 1978 by John Crawford . The band contained Crawford, Terri Nunn , David Diamond , Ric Olsen , Matt Reid and Rod Learned . Learned left during the first EU tour and was replaced by Rob Brill...
's "Take My Breath Away
Take My Breath Away
American pop singer Jessica Simpson covered "Take My Breath Away" and released it as the third single from the album In This Skin in 2004. Her version was produced by Billy Mann. Simpson chose to cover this song because she felt that it was the theme song of her relationship with her then husband,...
" (1985) - to name but a few.
The American Gigolo soundtrack album has been re-issued on CD by both PolyGram
PolyGram
PolyGram was the name of the major label recording company started by Philips from as a holding company for its music interests in 1945. In 1999 it was sold to Seagram and merged into Universal Music Group.-Hollandsche Decca Distributie , 1929-1950:...
and Universal Music on the labels Polydor and Spectrum.
Tracklisting
All tracks written by Giorgio Moroder unless otherwise notedSide A:
- "Call Me (Theme from American Gigolo)Call Me (Blondie song)"Call Me" is a song by the American new wave band Blondie. Released in 1980, "Call Me" topped the singles charts in both the US and the UK ....
" (Giorgio Moroder, Deborah Harry) - 8:09- Performed by BlondieBlondie (band)Blondie is an American rock band, founded by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the early American New Wave and punk scenes of the mid-1970s...
.
- Performed by Blondie
- "Love and Passion" (Giorgio Moroder, Paul Schrader) - 5:51
- Vocals by Cheryl BarnesCheryl BarnesCheryl Barnes is a singer who starred in Miloš Forman’s film adaptation of Hair as the mother of Hud’s little son.Cheryl gave an audition when she showed up at an open casting call. She had no agent and was working as a maid in a motel in Maine. Her song "Easy to Be Hard" took only one take and...
- Vocals by Cheryl Barnes
- "Night Drive" - 3:54
Side B:
- "Hello Mr. W.A.M. (Finale)" - 4:36
- Based on clarinet concerto K. 622 in A Major by Wolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
.
- Based on clarinet concerto K. 622 in A Major by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- "The Apartment" - 4:31
- "Palm Springs Drive" - 3:25
- "Night Drive (Reprise)" - 2:52
- "The Seduction (Love Theme)" - 3:13
- performed by James LastJames LastJames Last is a German composer and big band leader. His "happy music" made his numerous albums best-sellers in Germany and the United Kingdom. His composition, "Happy Heart", became an international success in interpretations by Andy Williams and Petula Clark...
- performed by James Last
Personnel, production
- Giorgio MoroderGiorgio MoroderHansjörg "Giorgio" Moroder is an Italian record producer, songwriter and performer based in Los Angeles. When in Munich in the 1970s, he started his own record label called Oasis Records, which several years later became a subdivision of Casablanca Records...
- producer - Harold FaltermeyerHarold FaltermeyerHarold Faltermeyer is a German musician, keyboardist, composer and record producer.He is recognized as one of the composers/producers who best captured the zeitgeist of 1980s synth-pop in film scores...
- arranger, keyboards - Keith ForseyKeith ForseyKeith Forsey is an English soundtrack composer, drummer, songwriter and record producer.-Biography:Forsey's first recordings were as the younger member of the group The Spectrum, better known for the end title theme for Gerry Anderson's Captain Scarlet, but hit makers across Europe in their own...
- drums, percussion - BlondieBlondie (band)Blondie is an American rock band, founded by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the early American New Wave and punk scenes of the mid-1970s...
- performance of "Call Me" - Cheryl BarnesCheryl BarnesCheryl Barnes is a singer who starred in Miloš Forman’s film adaptation of Hair as the mother of Hud’s little son.Cheryl gave an audition when she showed up at an open casting call. She had no agent and was working as a maid in a motel in Maine. Her song "Easy to Be Hard" took only one take and...
- vocals - Recorded at Westlake Audio, Los Angeles, California.
- Mixed and mastered at Allen Zentz Recording.