Favorite Song No. 76: ‘The Chase’ by Giorgio Moroder. Who would have thought italo disco’s hottest track would be paired with a sweaty chase through chicken coups? From the soundtrack to the 1978 film Midnight Express, ‘The Chase’ provides a driving electro beat and sparkling synth melody as one man runs from the po and struggles for freedom in a Turkish prison. And… it works! Who doesn’t love sweaty prison disco?
The song secured Giorgio Moroder as the king of synth (with Vangelis a close second) and he went on to make the moody soundtrack for Scarface. Unfortunately, his italo disco sound became more corn-fed over time and he gave us ’80s anthems ‘Flashdance’ and ‘Take my Breath Away.’ But that is kind of awesome too.
Fun fact: 43 days after Midnight Express played at the 1978 Cannes Film Festival, the U.S. and Turkey entered formal negotiations for the exchange of prisoners. Oh, the power of entertainment…
May 5th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
great movie; good book. shit soundrack, yea?
i despise moroder, but just a bit less than vangelis.
ever hear that vangelis / jon anderson collaboration?
horrid.
for some odd reason, romanians love that “album.”
(do they call them albums still?)
May 12th, 2008 at 10:27 am
this movie ruined my life for a month maybe. And the soundtrack didn’t help Candy.