Flashdance (soundtrack)
Flashdance: Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture is the soundtrack to the 1983 American musical Flashdance, produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer and starring Jennifer Beals and Michael Nouri. It has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best selling albums of all time. The film is set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and follows Alex, a welder and exotic dancer and her dreams of becoming a professional ballet dancer. In 1984, the album received a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year and won for Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special.
The film's three singles feature on the album. Two of these singles, "Flashdance...What a Feeling" by Irene Cara and "Maniac" by Michael Sembello, peaked at #1 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The track "Romeo" by Donna Summer was released as a promo video to MTV prior to the film's release, composed only of outtakes from the film. However, the song was not released to radio as Summer was on the verge of releasing her 1983 album She Works Hard for the Money, and the title track was already becoming a major hit.
The Flashdance album was massively successful, selling over 6 million copies in the U.S. and 1 million in Japan. It was certified gold by the RIAA on, and became multi-platinum on and again on. In addition to its own success, the album is notable for having supplanted Michael Jackson's Thriller after the latter had remained Billboard's number-one album for 17 weeks. Thriller would again overtake Flashdance at number one after 2 weeks. In Japan, the album became the biggest-selling album of 1983, spending ten weeks at the number one position.
The music in Flashdance was supervised by Phil Ramone. There are several pieces of music used in the film that do not appear on the soundtrack album, including "Gloria" by Laura Branigan; "I Love Rock and Roll" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts; and the "Adagio in G Minor" by Remo Giazotto. The title track "Flashdance... What a Feeling" was originally recorded by Joe Esposito before Irene Cara was asked to re-record the song as in line with the film's female perspective.
Commercial performance
In the United States the album debuted at number 166 on the Billboard 200 the week of April 30, 1983, and it finally reached number one after nine weeks on the chart on June 25, 1983, supplanting Michael Jackson's Thriller after the latter had been the number-one album for 17 weeks. Flashdance remained on the chart for seventy eight weeks. The album was certified six times platinum by the RIAA on June 21, 1996 for shipments of six million units.The soundtrack debuted on the UK Albums Chart at number 40 on July 2, 1983, and peaked at number nine during its 30 weeks on the chart. It was certified gold by the BPI on September 21, 1983, denoting shipments of 100,000 units.
It also topped the album charts in Australia, Austria, Germany, Japan, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.
Track listing
Chart positions and certifications
Album
;Singles| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
| 1983 | "Flashdance...What a Feeling" | Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| 1983 | "Flashdance...What a Feeling" | UK Singles Chart | 2 |
| 1983 | "Maniac" | Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| 1983 | "Lady, Lady, Lady" | Billboard Hot 100 | 86 |