Giorgio Moroder - Cat People: Original Soundtrack

One of my most favorite dark and disturbing soundtracks

This album, and "Midnight Express" are Giorgio Moroder's best dark and moody soundtrack albums. You'd never know that he was such an influence to "disco" and general pop music in the 1970's and 1980's.

There are two different worlds to the sound of Giorgio Moroder. This dark soundtrack music, and also, he's ventured into the world of 80's pop music. He's produced many pop singles for various artists, such as Donna Summer, Blondie, Limahl, Berlin, Irene Cara, Bonnie Tyler, etc.

In the 1980's, I took to liking Donna Summer's 70's hits a bit more, only because I discovered that Giorgio Moroder was her founder and producer. Donna Summer herself, is nothing really extraordinary. She's a vocalist really no better than Whitney Houston or even Mariah Carey. She can only wish she was as talented as Shirley Bassey, Madonna, Celine Dion, or even Chaya Pitcher (Christian vocalist). My personal favorites are still Brenda Lee, Nancy Sinatra, and Cyndi Lauper.

What made Donna Summer great was the music behind her, the work of Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte. This really came to light when I finally heard the album version of "Love To Love You Baby", and then I heard a nearly 16 minute, 12" version of "I Feel Love". Giorgio Moroder's music is what really matters here. Donna was only a voice over the music. Any female could have been chosen to sing over Giorgio Moroder's music, and the impact would have been the same.

Check out some of the other works of Giorgio Moroder. He was creating some intense trance dance music even in the 1970's. "Love To Love You Baby" on Donna's first album, is almost 17 minutes long. It should have stopped at 13:03 because it really did end quite nicely right there. The remaining nearly 4 minutes really is only a repeat of the beginning of the song that eventually fades out. It's actually annoying that the song does that, but I believe that was done only to make Side Two of her album equal in length to her Side One. It was just extended as filler. But anyway, listen to the main 13 minutes of that song. Giorgio Moroder was quite the innovator of a new sound that is still considered "cutting edge", even today.

In 1982, I found a 12" single of Donna Summer's "I Feel Love". This is a Giorgio Moroder "tour de force" on electronics and trance music. I don't know of any CD that has this 16-minute version but it is one of the greatest examples of Giorgio Moroder giving his all. I've had this 12" single for nearly 25 years now. It's in my attic, somewhere. I've recorded it onto Reel-to-Reel tape back in the 1980's when I had a record player. I hope it'll be on CD someday.

Plus, I believe Giorgio Moroder did all the remixing of Donna's Summer's 1979 album "On The Radio - Greatest Hits - Volumes I & II." The way he made everything gel together was great. Giorgio Moroder continued to prove his predominate role in Donna Summer's career.

And also, Giorgio Moroder does have this dark side, away from disco and trance. He's done some movie various movie soundtracks. Apart from "Cat People" and "Midnight Express", he's also produced the music for "Flashdance", "American Gigolo", "Scarface", "Electric Dreams", "The Never Ending Story", "Top Gun", and probably others. Giorgio Moroder also launched the career of Irene Cara, but she didn't go the distance that Donna Summer did.

Donna Summer continued to release hit singles throughout the 1980's without Giorgio Moroder. Would she really have gone anywhere if her name weren't already known? I mean, in the 1970's they called her the "Queen of Disco". But, she was only a voice to the Disco. Any female vocalist would have been called the "Queen of Disco", if Giorgio Moroder was the music behind her. Now Donna Summer has probably become a small venue coffee house performer. I guess that was bound to happen. I'd probably pay 10 dollars to see her. Well, maybe eight dollars max. No.....maybe seven.

April 12, 2006

An underappreciated gem...

I remember the movie for its titillating aspect. The idea of the film was better than the film. What stood out was the haunting score. I mixed the music from this film with Risky Business onto a mix-tape called 'Risky Cat Business People' which was wonderfully midnightesque.

The legendary Giorgio Moroder scored this one and it sounds much different than his frequent association with a 'disco' sound. This stuff undoubtedly dates to the 80s but it is quite, if I dare say, sexual in spots, not in a cheesy porno kind of way but in the best of the 80s synthesizer sounds. Kind of spooky, kind of dreamy and quite captivating.

David Bowie's opening track, the original version which was speeded up on his Let's Dance album, is amazing. It's worth it for that track alone.

My only complaint is the length of the album. Some of the songs are short, as is the overall length of the album itself. But it's still wonderfully moody, sonic ear candy. September 25, 2005

Forgettable

The hit title song is the only track with proper vocals on this album, with lyrics written and sung by David Bowie. The Autopsy is a short interlude, Irena's Theme is a long, slow piece, Night Rabbit is an atmospheric excursion with eerie feel and Leopard Tree Dream is a mid tempo number. The pace picks up for Paul's Theme (Jogging Chase), where Giorgio Moroder's characteristic electrobeat first surfaces on this album. The Myth is slow and evocative with a bit of humming by Bowie, whilst To The Bridge is another slow interlude. Transformation Seduction is a fairly interesting uptempo piece and the album concludes with Bring The Prod, a short moody track leading up to a crescendo. Fans of Giorgio Moroder beware! Cat People is nothing like his amazing disco albums From Here To Eternity or E = MC2. It might work well as a soundtrack but offers little in the way of listening pleasure and is in fact quite forgettable.
January 12, 2005

An Excellent Find!

I am happy to find this Cd - AND very happy with it! September 1, 2004

MEOW

I never understood why David Bowie reworked "Putting Out the Fire" for his single version. This original is awesome, and a hundred times better than the "juiced up" version. The intro, coupled with the sultry jungle drums, Bowie's evocative vocals, makes for one of the best movie themes in the past thirty years. Strangely enough, it was ignored at the Oscars, and just goes to show how much the academy has changed in including "pop" in its awards. However, I bought this CD mainly to get this excellent version of the title theme, and it's worth the price just to hear that version again. Moroder, who rose to fame with Donna Summer and "Midnight Express" captured the eerie sexuality of Paul Schrader's enigmatic film, and listening to the soundtrack conjures up images I thought I had long forgotten.
There's no putting out the fire on this title track!
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. April 23, 2003

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