Who is the hottest man in music right now? Sorry David Guetta. Move over Mr. Ronson, Mr. Brown, Mr. Mars, Mr. Diplo, Mr. Jonas, and Mr. Harris. The coolest cat crown in the crooner biz at this very moment happens to be sitting firmly on the head of a 75-year-old man. Giorgio Moroder: come on down.
In case you've been living under a rock, Mr. Moroder, often credited as having started electronic dance music and synth pop, just dropped his own first studio album in 30 years: Déjà Vu on June 12, 2015. Maybe this would have gone unnoticed, had the multi-Grammy and Academy Award winning songwriter and composer not collaborated with the biggest names in music right now. Sure, Charli XCX, Foxes, and Mikky Ekko mightn't ring familiar, but songs featuring the names Sia, Britney Spears, and the legendary Kylie Minogue should certainly garner some attention. And these pairings have brought Moroder back into the spotlight where he belongs.
Déjà Vu is the best album of the summer, thus far, and it isn't just the joining of stars together that instantly make it a classic. It is an extraordinarily fun, catchy album because it was done by a legend and features some of his best work in years.
If this electronic display of musical sexiness wasn't enough to catapult him into the number one slot, nor his latest collaborations, then the news that leaked yesterday might just be enough to make you wish you'd been following this man's career since the 1960s.
Sure, he just worked on the Daft Punk album that came out in 2013. Kelis and Lana del Rey have just paired up with him. But an announcement on Monday solidified the fact that Giorgio Moroder, though decades beyond the Calvin Harrises and David Guettas who are currently dominating the scene is here to stay and is still the greatest force to reckon with. It was released yesterday that a new Lady Gaga album, at the moment titled Eden, is set to drop in December of this year with not just RedOne returning to the scene, but none other than Giorgio Moroder listed as a main contributor and producer. If his recent work is any indication of the caliber he will be bringing to the Haus of Gaga, then we should be squirming in our seats with ecstatic electro pop enthusiasm.
But wait:
Who is Giorgio Moroder? Why have I never heard of him?--
Thought you'd never ask. It's time to get edumacated:
Giorgio Moroder has a resume that spans five decades across three continents with awards and collaborations unheard of today. Probably best known as the man behind the queen of disco, Donna Summer, he co-penned some of her greatest hits including "Bad Girl," "On the Radio," "Hot Love," "Carry On," "Last Dance," and "MacArthur Park," to name a few.
Though his latest Grammy Award came in 2014 from producing Daft Punk's Random Access Memories, Moroder is also a three time Academy Award winning songwriter/composer, having won the Oscar for the Best Soundtrack to Midnight Express, Best Song for "What a Feeling" from Flashdance, and again Best Song for "Take My Breath Away" from Top Gun--which he considers his single greatest work. But his accomplishments only begin there. He wrote the soundtrack to the following movies: Scarface, The Never Ending Story, Thief of Hearts, Electric Dreams, Over the Top, Cat People, Midnight Express, Foxes, and American Gigolo. His re-imagining of a soundtrack to the silent film Metropolis features songs written by Moroder and performed by Pat Benatar, Bonnie Tyler, and Freddie Mercury, to name a few. Giorgio Moroder's producer credits also include the song "Bad Love" by Cher, of course the track "Cat People (Putting Out Fire) by David Bowie, "Push it to the Limit" by Paul Engemann, "Rush, Rush" by Debbie Harry, "She's on Fire" by Amy Holland, and "Call Me" by Blonde.
Four of his songs have been featured on the last three Grand Theft Auto games as well as his Scarface soundtrack. He wrote the official theme songs for three Olympic Games: "Reach Out" for the 1984 Los Angeles games, "Hand in Hand" for the 1984 Seoul games, and "Forever Friends" for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
As if four Grammys, three Oscars, and a slew of collaborations with the hottest souls in music weren't enough, he also co-penned "Danger Zone" and "Meet me Halfway" by Kenny Loggins, "Two to the Power of Love" by Janet Jackson and Cliff Richard, "Here's my Heart," by Pat Benatar, and "What's Going On?" by Adam Ant. His remixes of Coldplay's "Midnight" and Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett's "I can't Give You Anything But Love" did well enough on the 2014 dance charts to show that Giorgio Moroder is back to giving us what we've been missing.
Déjà Vu is Moroder's first full album release in 30 years, though as the expansive list above indicates: the man hasn't been resting on his laurels. His delicious re-envisioning of "Tom's Diner" feat. Britney Spears, the title track "Déjà Vu" feat. Sia, "Tempted" feat. Mathew Koma and his first single from the album "Right Here, Right Now" featuring Kylie Minogue are so good it's a wonder they aren't dominating the pop charts as well as the dance.
If Déjà Vu's electronic, poptastic-liciousness is any indicator of things to come, then we welcome the reported Gaga venture with open arms. Until Eden's release in December, Déjà Vu does a fine job at holding us over until then. All hail to the king of pop: Giorgio Moroder. May you please continue to make sickening tracks way into your 90s and beyond!
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