| "Flashdance...What a Feeling" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Side-A label of US 7-inch vinyl release | ||||
| Single byIrene Cara | ||||
| from the albumWhat a Feelin'andFlashdance: Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture | ||||
| B-side |
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| Released | March 1983 | |||
| Recorded | Early 1983 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:55 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Composer | Giorgio Moroder | |||
| Lyricists |
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| Producer | Giorgio Moroder | |||
| Irene Cara singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Flashdance... What a Feeling" onYouTube | ||||
"Flashdance... What a Feeling" is a song from the 1983 filmFlashdance with music byGiorgio Moroder and lyrics byKeith Forsey and the song's performer,Irene Cara. The song spent six weeks at number one on theBillboard Hot 100 and topped the charts around the world. It was awarded Gold certification by theRecording Industry Association of America for sales of one million copies and won theAcademy Award andGolden Globe for Best Original Song and earned Cara theGrammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. In 2023, the song was chosen by theLibrary of Congress for inclusion in theNational Recording Registry.
Moroder had been asked to score the film, and Cara and Forsey wrote most of the lyrics after they were shown the last scene, in which the main character dances at an audition for a group of judges. They felt that the dancer's ambition to succeed could act as a metaphor for achieving any dream a person has and wrote lyrics that described what it feels like when music inspires someone to dance. The song was used for that scene as well as during the opening credits.
The song was the first single to be released from thesoundtrack album and received positive reviews. BecauseFlashdance was going to be released in mid-April of that year,Casablanca Records released the single in March to market the film. The unexpected success at thebox office resulted in stores across the US selling out of both the single and its parent album just days afterFlashdance was in theaters.
The success of the song made it clear to Cara that she was not receiving royalties stipulated in her recording contract, and she took legal action against her label in order to be compensated. The backlash that she claims she suffered in retaliation for filing a lawsuit left her feeling shut out of the entertainment industry as she struggled to find work. Although she began receiving royalties for the recordings she made for them, the label and its owner declared bankruptcy and claimed that they were unable to pay her the $1.5 million settlement she was awarded by a Los Angeles Superior Court.
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After winning theAcademy Award for Best Original Score in 1979 forMidnight Express,Giorgio Moroder worked withFlashdance producerJerry Bruckheimer on the 1980 filmAmerican Gigolo, and Bruckheimer contacted Moroder in 1982 to see if he would be interested in composing the music for the new film, which told the story of Alex Owens, a young woman who dreams of becoming a ballerina and must overcome her fear of auditioning before a panel of judges. Despite his lack of interest due to other commitments,[4] Moroder came up with some music that was "a very rough sketch".[5] He thought it might fit the project well[6] and sent it in before filming began.[7] The demo was the music for what became "Flashdance... What a Feeling",[7] but Moroder did not agree to composing the score until after seeing a video of a rough cut of the film,[8] which completed shooting on December 30, 1982.[9] He then delegated the writing of the lyrics to his session drummer,Keith Forsey, who started on the task by himself[10] but later received help fromIrene Cara.[11] She described Forsey as "very personable, just a sweetheart. He was very funny. We definitely clicked."[12]
Cara received her big break in 1980 in the role of Coco Hernandez, a student at theHigh School of Performing Arts, in the movieFame. The soundtrack album included two chart hits that Cara recorded: thetitle song, which got as high as number 4 on theBillboard Hot 100, and "Out Here on My Own", which peaked at number 19.[13] When the record label for the soundtrack,RSO, went out of business, one of its executives,Al Coury, convinced her to join his newly-formed Network Records,[14] and the title track from her first album there,Anyone Can See, reached number 42 on the Hot 100 during a run of 18 weeks that began in November 1981.[13] She was working on an album and looking for a producer in early 1983 when she was contacted byParamount Pictures to provide lyrics for the new soundtrack song.[15] Although Moroder had shown interest in working with her once she had success withFame, she was reluctant about being compared to another singer he had produced,Donna Summer.[16] "But with 'Flashdance[… What a Feeling],'" Cara explained, "we were thrown together by Paramount."[17]
We used dance as a metaphor for ... attaining anything in your life that you want to accomplish.
Cara and Forsey were shown the last scene of the film, in which Alex auditions, to have a sense of what the lyrics should be.[19] They were then driven from the screening to Giorgio's studio to record the song and, during the trip, were able to come up with most of the words that Cara would sing.[20] She said, "I had no idea what the movie was about or anything. It did seem to me to have a similar look in regards toFame, so I figured, well, this is another performing arts film."[12] She told Forsey that she thought the lyrics should describe the feeling of dance and credits him with coming up with the lyric that inspired the working title for the song, "Dancing for Your Life".[21][22] She explained how the song became "a metaphor about a dancer, how she's in control of her body when she dances and how she can be in control of her life"[23] and how that particular art form could represent any goal someone has.[18] Moroder felt that the lyric "what a feeling" was right for the story[24] but tried persuading them to incorporate the title of the film into the lyrics; the closest they could come to doing that was to use the two words that formed the title in separate lines of the song, such as, "In a flash it takes hold of my heart".[25] It was only after the song was completed with the title "What a Feeling" that "Flashdance…" was added "to get some extra promotional mileage" out of it.[26]
The song is in thekey ofB♭ Major and has atempo of 122 beats per minute.[27] Cara's voice spans from the tonal nodes of F3 to D5.[28]
Moroder had produced Summer's hit "Heaven Knows", which featuredBrooklyn Dreams vocalistJoe "Bean" Esposito, and had Esposito record a vocal demo of "Flashdance... What a Feeling".[29] Moroder would have had Esposito do the final recording, but Paramount wanted somebody who was well known.[30] The film's producers also felt the singer of the song should be female.[31] Cara stipulated in her agreement to write the lyrics that she would be the one to sing the song,[32] and Moroder thought "she did absolutely fantastic work."[33] She wanted to do more than one take, and he felt her third crack at it was her best.[34]
When you first heard it, you said, 'It's a hit.'
They completed recording the song in a few days, and the movie studio liked what they heard.[36] On theSpecial Collector's Edition DVD release ofFlashdance from 2010, Bruckheimer said, "When you first heard it, you said, 'It's a hit.' It’s one of those things you just heard, and you just couldn’t get it out of your head. And it just got us all so excited. We kept playing it over and over and never got tired of it. To this day, I’m not tired of that song.[35] Cara also had a good feeling about it: "I knew when we were recording it that we had something special with the song. Some things you just feel, you know? You can’t really dissect it or analyze it. It’s a spiritual thing that you sense, and I did sense that I had something special with this song."[12]
"Flashdance…What a Feeling" received predominantly positive reviews at the time of its release and has continued to do so.Billboard magazine proclaimed that the song was "the best showcase for Cara's vocal talents since she first came to 'Fame' three years ago. The spirited Giorgio Moroder tune has the same kind of yearning optimism as that initial hit."[37]Cash Box concurred, "This should be the vehicle Cara has been searching for since her 'Fame' debut. Moroder's hook is powerful, the arrangement well sculpted. Strong stuff."[38]Record Mirror's Betty Page predicted, "Huge hitsville, USA... Next year's Grammy, Oscar... winner, no doubt."[39] Maureen Rice ofNumber One magazine admitted, "I really like this", and described it as "a perfect radio record".[40]New York Timespop music criticJohn Rockwell wrote that the song, "sung by Irene Cara in a manner directly evocative of her big hit, 'Fame,' still possesses a buoyant energy of its own."[41] The editors ofDigital Audio's Guide to Compact Discs described the song as "a blend of crooning synthesizer background music and a hard disco beat," and concluded, "These effects and Cara's enthusiastic voice make this an impressive song."[42]
In their retrospective reviews,AllMusic labeled the song as one of their Album Picks from theFlashdance soundtrack,[43] Cara'sWhat a Feelin' album,[44] and the 1994Casablanca Records Story compilation.[45]
SinceFlashdance was to be released on April 15, 1983,[46] Cara's recording was made available as a "scout"single[47] in March[48] as a way of getting the attention of the target audience for the film,[49] butParamount Pictures had doubts that the movie would do well at the box office.[50] Bruckheimer explained that Casablanca's parent company,Polygram, "only shipped 60,000 [copies of the soundtrack album], so they really had no faith in the record."[51] The May 7 issue ofCashbox magazine, however, reported on the surprise success of the film, noting that by Tuesday, April 19, retailers were reporting that allFlashdance merchandise was gone.[52] Paramount planned to have the film's director,Adrian Lyne, take parts of scenes from it to create music videos for songs from the soundtrack, including Cara's contribution,[53] which would also be used in all subsequent radio and television ads for the film as a way for potential ticket buyers to "identify the motion picture".[54]
In the April 2, 1983, issue ofBillboard magazine, "Flashdance…What a Feeling" began a run of 25 weeks on theHot 100,[13] which included 14 weeks in the top 10, making it the longest-running top-10 single of 1983.[55] The May 28Billboard marked its first of 6 weeks as the most popular song in the US,[23] and it also went to number one in Australia,[56] Canada,[57] Denmark,[58]Japan,[59] New Zealand,[60] Norway,[61] South Africa,[62] Spain,[63] Sweden,[64] and Switzerland[65] and made the top five in Austria,[66] Finland,[67] Ireland,[68] the UK,[69] and West Germany.[70] It debuted onBillboard'sAdult Contemporary chart in the April 30 issue and got as high as number 4 during its 24 weeks there.[71] In the May 7 issue it made its first appearance on their list of the most popularBlack Singles in the US and spent 5 of its 22 weeks there at number 2 (behind "Juicy Fruit" byMtume, which only reached #45 on the Hot 100).[72] The May 7 issue also began the 18 weeks that the 12-inch remix spent on theirDance/Disco Top 80 chart, 3 of which were in the top spot.[73] OnBillboard's Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1983, it came in at number 3.
On June 17, theRecording Industry Association of America awarded the single Gold certification for achieving sales of one million copies,[74] and on July 1, theBritish Phonographic Industry issued Silver certification to it for shipment of 250,000 units.[75] Also on July 1,Music Canada awarded the single both Gold and Platinum awards for reaching the 50,000 and 100,000 thresholds for units shipped, respectively, and the Double Platinum award was issued on January 1, 1984, after reaching the 200,000 mark.[76] Later that month,Billboard reported that sales in Japan were over 700,000.[77] In France, sales have also reached the one million mark for Platinum certification.[78]
Film scholars who have commented onFlashdance in essays have highlighted the relationship between the song and Alex's story. "Flashdance... What a Feeling" is heard over the opening credits of the film as a young woman rides her bike through the streets of Pittsburgh just after sunrise and then continues as work goes on in a steel mill. In his dissertation on film musicals about dance, John Trenz explained that the song functions as our way into the story since no other introductory information, such as the bicyclist's identity, is provided on the soundtrack.[79] The mill workers use machinery that represents the "world made of steel, made of stone" that Cara sings about,[80] and we are shown several of them at work while the song continues. As the chorus is heard for the last time to finish presenting the opening credits, the worker that the film keeps cutting back to is wearing a welding helmet with Alex printed on the front. The welder removes the protective gear to reveal that Alex is female, and she shakes her hair loose from the helmet and catches her breath. With the film's unveiling of its main character, Trenz wrote, "The gender revelation seems to punctuate the song's lyrics, 'What a feeling! Being’s believing, I can have it all.'"[81]
In the February 1984 issue ofJump Cut, Kathryn Kalinak delineated an instance in which the lyrics coincide with Alex's dialogue. Alex is uncomfortable when her boyfriend Nick sees her dancing outside of her work setting, but her job performing onstage to contemporary music in a bar is a different kind of presentation where the audience means nothing to her.[82] When Nick asks why she seems so comfortable in front of the bar patrons, she explains, "I never see them. You go out there, and the music starts, and you begin to feel it. And your body just starts to move. I know it sounds really silly. But something inside you just clicks, and you just take off. You're gone. It's like you're somebody else for a second." This freedom she describes is reflected in the lyrics, "When I hear the music, close my eyes, feel the rhythm wrap around, take ahold of my heart, what a feeling."[83]
The song is heard again during Alex's audition at the Pittsburgh Conservatory of Dance and Repertory as the recording that she brings to play while she performs, but Trenz pointed out that, instead of functioning as an introduction to the character as it did during the opening credits, the song is now Alex's means of interpreting her story through dance.[84] He averred that "she inhabits the song and reproduces an expression of her story by dancing to it and signifying the music and being the significance of its lyrics at the same time."[81] Since this is an audition to measure her skill as a dancer and not judge an acting performance, the song provides a unique function for the two audiences witnessing the audition. For the judges in the film, she is translating the artistry of the song, which symbolizes this applicant reaching the goal of being considered for admission.[85] The film audience, however, can now interpret the song as her story,[86] making it more than just a soundtrack hit.[87] Trenz wrote, "The narrative allows the film audience to read the sequence as expressive of her story in association with the song while the reactions of the committee seem to signify the resolution expressed by the song – that Alex can make it happen and have it all."[88]
"Everything that we feel about Alex's success as a dancer through her performance and the music is hijacked… so that our 'feeling' about success, performance, and dance is conflated with romance, surrender, and the loss of independence."
In his essay, "Reaganite Cinema: What a Feeling!", Gary Needham, a senior lecturer in film at theUniversity of Liverpool, provided a different interpretation of the ending ofFlashdance because of the way the song is used. In contributing momentum to the audition performance, the tempo of "Flashdance... What a Feeling" combines with the editing and choreography of the scene in such a way to make it clear to the audience that Alex has earned her happy ending.[90] The song continues to play when she bounds down the steps outside of the Conservatory and rounds the sidewalk to find Nick and her dog Grunt waiting to greet her afterward, but the meaning of the song changes. During the audition, it exists in the world created by the film and conveys the success that has been her goal,[91] but because it continues on the soundtrack as her joyous reunion with Nick is presented, Needham argues, "Everything that we feel about Alex's success as a dancer through her performance and the music is hijacked… so that our 'feeling' about success, performance, and dance is conflated with romance, surrender, and the loss of independence."[89] The politics of the film shift from the idea that a woman can thrive on her own to one in which she relies on a relationship to survive,[92] which, "echoed in the lyrics 'What a Feeling', secures her a place in a traditional, appropriately feminine, patriarchal system."[89]
Some of Cara's appearances to promote "Flashdance…What a Feeling" included programs where performers wouldlip sync to the hit recording of their song, such asAmerican Bandstand, where she appeared on the April 30, 1983, broadcast.[93] This sort of performance on theSolid Gold episode from that same date allowed her to show off some of her own moves alongside the Solid Gold Dancers.[94] When she returned for their 1983 year-end countdown to perform the song again, she only lip synched through the first chorus, after which she sang live to a remix as a group of breakdancers performed.[95] In 2013, she commented, "ThisSolid Gold performance of "Flashdance..." was one of the most memorable for me. It included all the great pioneers of breakdancing and I got to perform the long version of the song!"[96] In 1984, she also incorporated her training as a dancer into a lip sync performance of the song at the11th Annual American Music Awards on January 16.[97] Vocal performances included theFame Looks at Music '83 television concert that was broadcast on January 28, the26th Annual Grammy Awards a month later, on February 28,[98] and the56th Academy Awards on April 9, where she was joined onstage by 44 boys and girls from theNational Dance Institute.[99] The song became a part of her first concert tour, which began at the end of the following summer.[100]
As a single, "Flashdance…What a Feeling" earned Cara theGrammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female,[101] and a nomination forRecord of the Year.[102] As part of theFlashdance soundtrack, it gave her and all of the songwriters who contributed to the album theGrammy Award for Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special,[103] and she was also nominated alongside all of the other performers on the soundtrack forAlbum of the Year.[102] "Flashdance…What a Feeling" won theAcademy Award[104] andGolden Globe[105] for Best Original Song and was also nominated in that category at theBAFTA Film Awards.[106] It also contributed as a whole or in part to threeAmerican Music Award nominations:Favorite Pop/Rock Album,Favorite Pop/Rock Song, andFavorite Soul/R&B Female Artist for Cara.[107]
In 1998, "Flashdance... What a Feeling" came in at number nine onBillboard magazine's list of the top 10 soundtrack songs,[108] and on theSongs of the Century list compiled by theRecording Industry Association of America in 2001, the song was listed at number 256.[13] In 2004, it finished at number 55 onAFI's 100 Years ... 100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema, and in 2008, the song was ranked at number 26 onBillboard's All Time Top 100, which commemorated the 50th anniversary of theBillboard Hot 100.[109] WhenRolling Stone magazine ranked the 20 Greatest Best Song Oscar Performances in 2016, Cara's appearance at the1984 Academy Awards was listed at number 20.[110] In 2018,Insider included the title song on its list of 35 of the most iconic movie songs of all time, generously adding that it "has a special place in pop culture history."[111] That same year, it came in at number 34 onBillboard's list of the "600 most massive smashes over the [Hot 100]'s six decades",[112] and in 2019, the magazine ranked the song at number 11 on its list of the Greatest of All Time Hot 100 Songs by Women.[113]
"Flashdance... What a Feeling" was selected by theLibrary of Congress for preservation in theNational Recording Registry in 2023, based on its "cultural, historical or aesthetic importance in the nation’s recorded sound heritage."[114][115]
"I never realized that what seemed so logical a decision at the time would cost me so much."
In addition to being available on thesoundtrack album, "Flashdance... What a Feeling" was included on Cara's follow-upLP,What a Feelin', which was produced by Moroder. As she promoted the new hit singles from that album at the end of 1983 and through the first half of 1984, she was also busy collecting awards for her soundtrack hit, but the good fortune was tainted by the feeling of being cheated by her record company. Even with this recent success,[117] she had only been paid $183 in royalties from Network Records[118] and demanded an explanation from Coury, who "tried to appease her with gifts and promises."[116] By the end of 1984 she still had only received $61,343[119] and decided to hire entertainment lawyers to get the money that her contract said she was due and also to help her break free from the label.[120] Years later she said, "I never realized that what seemed so logical a decision at the time would cost me so much."[116]
In 1985 Cara filed a lawsuit against Al Coury Inc.[121] and Network Records seeking $10 million inpunitive and approximately $2 million incompensatory damages, claiming, among other things, that Coury withheld $2 million in composing and recording deals involving "Flashdance... What a Feeling".[119] The treatment she received in the entertainment industry from that point on, however, caused her to suspect that Coury initiated a smear campaign to ruin her career.[122] She claims that they warned the other record labels of her lawsuit so that no one would sign her[123] and that people who once welcomed her—from producers and casting agents to the staff at restaurants and other favorite establishments aroundLos Angeles—now wanted nothing to do with her.[124] There was even talk that her career had been destroyed by drug addiction.[125] When Network Records folded, Coury went to work forDavid Geffen, whom Cara is certain also took part in vilifying her.[126]
The original team of lawyers that Cara hired had argued in her lawsuit that Network was not a functioning label instead of simply making a case for fraud,[127] so she tried several other firms when the case was no longer going anywhere before she found Tom Nunziato, an attorney who got things moving again.[128] "She was obviously strung out and upset, but she was very credible," Nunziato recalled.[128] "She was impressive. I'm a contingency lawyer, and ninety percent of a contingency case is the believability of your client, assuming the facts are there."[128] Because the statute of limitations had run out on claiming fraud, he had to focus on it as an accounting matter, but Cara would finally be able to make her case before a jury.[128]
In 1993, after concluding that Cara's career was damaged as a result of the treatment she received, a Los Angeles County Superior Court awarded her $1.5 million[129] for misaccounted funds.[121] No case was allowed to be made for punitive damages, however,[121] and Nunziato explained how actually getting the money was more complicated: "Because only the corporations [Al Coury Inc. and Network Records] were sued back in the beginning and not the individuals, the corporations just declared bankruptcy; supposedly they used all the money to pay attorneys… Irene was vindicated by the jury, but the legal system kind of fell down, and there was no way to compensate her."[121] She did, however, begin earning royalties for her Network recordings almost a decade after her last chart hit in 1984.[130]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Flashdance... What a Feeling" | 3:55 | |
| 2. | "Love Theme fromFlashdance" (instrumental byHelen St. John) | Moroder | 3:26 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Flashdance... What a Feeling" (remix) |
| 7:15 |
| 2. | "Found It" |
| 4:20 |
From the liner notes for the 1997 CD release ofWhat a Feelin':[131]
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Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
All-time charts[edit]
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| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Canada (Music Canada)[76] | 2× Platinum | 200,000^ |
| Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[163] | Platinum | 90,000‡ |
| France (SNEP)[78] | Platinum | 1,300,000[164] |
| Germany (BVMI)[165] | Gold | 250,000‡ |
| Italy (FIMI)[166] sales since 2009 | Platinum | 100,000‡ |
| Japan | — | 700,000[77] |
| Spain (PROMUSICAE)[167] | Platinum | 60,000‡ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[75] | Silver | 250,000^ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[168] 2011 Digital re-release | Gold | 400,000‡ |
| United States (RIAA)[74] | Gold | 1,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
| "What a Feeling" | ||||
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| Single byMarcia Hines | ||||
| from the albumTime of Our Lives | ||||
| Released | November 29, 1998 | |||
| Recorded | 1998 | |||
| Genre | Dance-pop | |||
| Length | 3:25 | |||
| Label | WEA | |||
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| Marcia Hines singles chronology | ||||
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American-Australian singerMarcia Hines recorded a version of the song titled "What a Feeling" in 1998. It was released as the lead single from her ninth studio album,Time of Our Lives (1999).
| Chart (1998–1999) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[169] | 66 |
| New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[170] | 23 |
| "What a Feeling (Flashdance)" | ||||
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| Single byGlobal Deejays | ||||
| from the album Network | ||||
| Released | 2005 | |||
| Length | 6:06 | |||
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| Global Deejays singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "What a Feeling (Flashdance)" onYouTube | ||||
In 2005, Austrianhouse music groupGlobal Deejays covered "Flashdance... What a Feeling" on their albumNetwork, retitled "What a Feeling (Flashdance)".
Weekly charts[edit]
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..."Flashdance… What A Feeling" works as powerful evidence that disco never really went away.
At first I was not interested, because I was so busy with some other stuff. I was in the studio day and night.
Maybe 6 to 8 weeks before we started filming, he sent this little demo in, and it was "What a Feeling".
The word was out thatFlashdance could be a little bit of a soft porno because nobody knew what 'flashdance' means [sic]. So I wasn't really sure if I wanted to do it, but I said, 'Jerry, I'm going to watch the movie, and if I like it, I'll do it.' So I got the tapes … And, in fact, I watched it, and I loved it. And I said, 'Jerry, I absolutely want to do it.'
Flashdance with Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer was one of the movies that showed up, and Giorgio said, "OK, write the lyrics. Off you go." So I jumped into the back room, which was the drum room, and started collecting lyrics.
Giorgio thought it best that I co-write it with Keith.
I was in California, working on an album and trying to find a producer. Paramount Pictures called me out of the blue and said that Giorgio Moroder, who was writing the music, needed some lyrics. I agreed to help out.
Cara says she held off from working with Summer's longtime producer Giorgio Moroder untilFlashdance and the subsequentWhat a Feelin' album in an effort to avoid comparisons with Summer. "Giorgio approached me right after 'Fame.' The only reason I didn't go with him at the time was all the comparisons."
We used dance as a metaphor for, you know, attaining anything in your life that you want to accomplish.
They didn't show us the entire film. They just showed us the scene they wanted the song to go into, which was the big finale dance scene, so that's all I really had to go on.
I mean, we jumped into the cab. I don't remember them sending a car for us, so we jumped in a cab. And by the time we got back to Giorgio's studio, I would say 80% of the song was written.
[the title] wasn't "Flashdance[…What a Feeling]". It was "Dancing for Your Life".
I loved it. I feel the lyric, "what a feeling", sounds perfect for the movie.
Giorgio came in and said, "Well, look, if you want it to be nominated, you better put the wordFlashdance in there somewhere." So, uh, which we never quite did. We just kind of put the word "in a flash it takes hold of your heart" was the best we could do. We couldn't actually just sayFlashdance. It didn't work in anything to sayFlashdance.
I would have liked him to do the song for the film, but the film company wanted to have a bigger name.
Little known is that Esposito recorded the original version of 'Flashdance… What a Feeling', but the song was rerecorded by Irene Cara after the producers thought the song should be sung from the female perspective.
And I said, 'Well, you know, I'm not in this movie. I'll agree to sing the theme song if I also write it.'
With Irene, I personally knew exactly what to do, but sometimes the artist will say, 'I want to redo it,' and you can't say, 'No, no, you can't.' The second time, I don't think she improved it that much, but the third time, especially towards the ending, she brought in more emotion and it elevated it.
Retailers told us that every store in the country had sold out of every piece ofFlashdance product.
Paramount has enlisted Adrian Lyne, the director of the motion picture, to edit outtakes from the film into four music videos to be shown on MTV: Music Television, other youth-oriented cable shows, in-store at various record retail outlets and dance clubs. The quartet of videos highlights the songs "Manhunt," performed by Karen Kamon; "Imagination," by Laura Branigan; "Maniac," belted out by Michael Sembello; and Cara's title tune.
We follow Alex to the steel mill where she works as welder. However, the film has not yet formally introduced Alex as a character. No representational communication within the film'sdiegesis has taken place. Communication only takes place through the sequence of images set to the song, which is personifying the images.
The song is still playing over the sequence and the interior of the mill seems to pulse with mechanical machinery to the rhythm, reflecting, in physical form, the symbolic significance of the lyrics, "In a world made of steel, made of stone".
But interestingly enough for the women who perform it, flashdancing constitutes a kind of non-performance. Ignoring the audience, they dance for each other and for themselves. Alex(andra) is embarrassed when her boyfriend, Nick, catches her dancing in an unguarded moment, but the ogling at Mawby's leaves her unfazed
'I never see them. You go out there, and the music starts, and you begin to feel it. And your body just starts to move. I know it sounds really silly. But something inside you just clicks, and you just take off. You're gone. It's like you're somebody else for a second.' Echoing the lyrics of the film's title song, 'Flashdance… What a Feeling,' Alex celebrates the physical liberation of the dance: 'When I hear the music, Close my eyes, feel the rhythm Wrap around, take ahold of my heart, What a feeling!'
In a sense, Alex is finally reflected in the movie as the interpreter of her own story (her song) through dancing. The song remains the same as it was in the opening sequence but the reflection of the image is defined by the physical expression of her body in dance.
From the position of the selection committee, Alex gives presence to the song as art, and therefore, they see it as non-representational. But it also signifies Alex's ability to be evaluated as a real dancer.
Because she is dancing as herself rather than as a character in a show, the song is also representational of her story for the film audience.
Alex's performance signifies 'Flashdance' as representational of her story rather than as a track exclusive to the movie and which its producers are selling to the audience.
