Today’s classic movie song of the day is “Flashdance… What a Feeling” from the 1983 movie, Flashdance. The song was sung by Irene Cara and, released as a single in March of that year, it was a worldwide hit. “Flashdance” hit #1 in Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Switzerland, and, in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100, Cash Box Top 100, and Billboard Dance Club Songs charts. It ended up as the #3 song for all of 1983, according to Billboard.
“Flashdance… What a Feeling” was written by Giorgio Moroder (with lyrics by Keith Forsey and Irene Cara), who also produced the track. Moroder was an early pioneer in electronic music and, in the 1980s, applied his skills to both dance music and movie soundtracks. He wrote songs for the movies Midnight Express, American Gigolo, Foxes, Cat People, Flashdance, Scarface, The NeverEnding Story, and Mamba, among others. His songs include “Call Me” for Blondie; “Danger Zone” for Kenny Loggins; “Take My Breath Away” for Berlin; and “Heaven Knows,” “Love to Love You Baby ” “On the Radio,” and “The Wanderer” for Donna Summer. He also produced—but didn’t write—a previous classic song of the day, Donna Summer’s “Hot Stuff.”
Flashdance was one of a group of music and dance-focused movies in the 1980s. (Others in the genre include Fame, Footloose, and Dirty Dancing.) It starred Jennifer Beals as a young dancer with dreams of becoming a professional ballerina. It didn’t get great reviews but it did big business, both in the theaters and later on home video. It ended up being the third highest-grossing film of 1983, which ain’t bad.
The song “Flashdance… What a Feeling” was released about a month before the movie, to better promote the film. it ended up winning a slew of awards, including the Academy Award for Best Original Song, the Golden Globe for Best Original Song, and the Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, Female. Just last year it was chosen by the Library of Congress for inclusion in the National Recording Registry.
And here’s your daily bonus video of the day, the final scene from the movie, Flashdance, with the main character’s triumphant audition routine to the title song. Oh, what a feeling!
