16 July 2008
Michael Jackson's Billie Jean has been voted the greatest dance record of all time in a poll conducted by BBC Radio 2.
Listeners were asked to pick their favourite track from a shortlist of 20.
Produced by Quincy Jones and released in 1983, Billie Jean appeared on Jackson's Thriller, which is still the best-selling album in music history (could this account for its place at the top of the chart?).
Second place went to Donna Summer's Giorgio Moroder-produced I Feel Love. Released in 1977, the song's synthesized backing track is routinely credited with changing the face of dance music forever.
The original shortlist was drawn up by a panel of music experts that included DJs Trevor Nelson and Danny Rampling.
The full top 10 is as follows:
1. Michael Jackson - Billie Jean
2. Donna Summer - I Feel Love
3. James Brown - Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine
4. Rhythim Is Rhythim - Strings Of Life
5. Alison Limerick - Where Love Lives
6. Soul II Soul - Keep On Movin'
7. Fingers Inc. - Can You Feel It
8. Inner City - Big Fun
9. S'Express - Theme From S'Express
10. The Charades - Key To My Happiness
So, is this the right result? Great though Billie Jean is, MusicRadar's vote would have gone to I Feel Love, which is both a fantastic record in its own right and hugely influential.
source: musicradar.com
December 4
To Beijing, to the Olympics 2008. An event that brings all people together to become friends in the true spirit of the olympic games.
When “Friends” and “Olympic Spirit” turn to music then it’s called “Forever Friends“.
The Dream Team of Giorgio Moroder witch include top star Coco Lee and Sun Nan, producer Kong Xiangdong and Yang Dongsheng and german lyricist Michael Kunze produced what should become the Beijing 2008 Olympic Theme. The music video is scheduled for release before the year is over. In addition, a Chinese version of the song is in the works now and will be ready for release early next year.
Sun Nan, Coco Lee film "Forever Friends" music video
BEIJING, Nov. 30 -- Coco Lee and Sun Nan were in Beijing Thursday to film the final scenes for the music video of the Beijing Olympic song "Forever Friends."
"This is a multinational family arts group. we come from different cultural backgrounds and have become a close-knit family because of the Olympics. We are a true reflection of "Forever Friends," said producer Kong Xiangdong.
Two-time Grammy Award-winning composer Giorgio Moroder headed the song's music composition. Moroder has experience in producing Olympic hits -- he composed the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic theme song "Reach Out" and the Seoul 1988 Olympic theme song "Hand in Hand."
German lyricist Michael Kunze, whose achievements include successfully translating the hit musicals "Cats" and "Phantom of the Opera" into German, penned the English lyrics to "Forever Friends."
The three members of the creative team for the song represent a multi-ethnic, boundary-free world. They truly represent the theme of "Forever Friends."
Following the debut performance of "Forever Friends" during the one-year countdown celebration for the Beijing Olympic Games last August, Moroder and Kong decided to do a new recording of the song.
That's when singers Sun Nan and Coco Lee got involved. In addition, CCTV host, Yang Dongsheng, was invited to join the production team. Coco Lee and Sun Nan are both honored to perform "Forever Friends" and hope to pass the song's message along to the rest of the world.
The "Forever Friends" music video is scheduled for release before the year is over. In addition, a Chinese version of the song is in the works now and will be ready for release early next year.
(Source: BOCOG)
from: xinhuanet.com
Moroder and Kong Xiangdong reminisce about the past
Musicians Work on Visual Olympics 2007-11-08
Chinese musicians are taking part in the nationwide preparation for next year's Beijing Olympics in their own ways.
On Wednesday, pop singer You Hongming took to the gymnasium at a university in Beijing to shoot a music video for his Olympic tribute, "Hero."
You started a project that will involve a stellar line-up of musicians to produce music videos for their Olympic songs.
In the following months, around ten other songs will be complemented with videos, among them the "Forever Friends," which was co-written by Chinese pianist Kong Xiangdong and Italian musician Giorgio Moroder, the writer of the 1988 Seoul Olympics theme song "Hand in Hand."
Other participating musicians in these programs include Joey Yung, Nicholas Tse, Coco Lee, Wang Feng, and pop duo Yu Quan.
All singers are contributing their time without payments.
The music videos for all these Olympics-related songs will be ready for television and Internet broadcast early next year. from: english.cri.cn
"Forever Friends" competes for Olympics theme song 2007- 08-13
"Forever Friends", sets off the final countdown on the way to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The tune written by Chinese pianist Kong Xiangdong and Italian music producer Giorgio Moroder was released Monday. And the live performance of the song in Tiananmen Square, Wednesday marked the beginning of the countdown, one year to the day before the Olympic opening ceremonies.
Academy award-winning music producer Giorgio Moroder is credited with the world-famous 1984 Los Angeles Olympics theme song "Reach Out", the 1988 Seoul Olympics' theme song "Hand in Hand", and "Un'estate Italiana" for the 1990 Football World Cup.
Moroder came to know Kong Xiangdong twelve years ago. Today the two are great friends. Over a decade they collaborated again and again, composing and adapting tunes from several genres. In 1993 Moroder penned the song "Good Luck Beijing" cheering Beijing's bid for the Olympic Games. This time he and his long-time friend Kong worked together in competition to write the 2008 Beijing Olympics theme song.
Giorgio Moroder joined Kong on the recording right after arriving in Beijing last Sunday. Moroder's presence at the recording studio left one of the performers, Sun Yue, feeling both honored and a little nervous.
After finishing Sun Yue's session, Kong and Moroder headed straight to another studio. They gave instructions to fourteen finalists from the 2007 College Student Music Festival Singing Competition. The finalists were to join the chorus for "Forever Friends".
As Moroder said, he's fond of Chinese folk music very much, and the leading motif of "Forever Friends" is inspired by a folk music piece. He also reveals he plans to invite two Chinese singers and two foreign artists to perform the number together, once it's chosen as the theme song of the 2008 Olympics.
Several pictures and video at www.cctv.com
Making the Olympic more harmonious 2007-08-02
AFTER two years of hard work and inspiration, composer Giorgio Moroder and his friend, Shanghainese pianist Kong Xiangdong, have completed the song "Forever Friends," their offering for the theme song of the 2008 Olympic Games.
Moroder, who composed the themes for the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games and the 1990 World Cup, will introduce the work at 7:30pm on Tuesday in a special Olympics program on CCTV.
Chinese singers Wang Feng and Sun Yue with Hong Kong artists Eason Chan and Yoey Yung will combine later to perform "Forever Friends" at the Beijing Olympics one-year countdown at Tian'anmen Square on Wednesday.
"You'll find typical Chinese elements in this song," said Kong who believes a successful Olympic song should be one that can be accepted and sung widely - like "Hand in Hand" the theme song of the 1988 Olympics.
From: www.shanghaidaily.com
Call for Olympic song entries gets wide response 2007-06-01
If you're a musician or an aspiring one, you won't want to miss the chance to compose an Olympic theme song.
A group of four primary school children from Tianjin, 150-kilometer southeast to Beijing, were the latest to present their composition to the Beijing Olympic office. The students called themselves "20088", as all four kids are going to be eight years-old next year.
Formed a year ago, the four children were chosen by their teacher Li Hongyu from a pool of 400 candidates from a local club in Tianjin.
The parents of the members of the youngest electronic band in China said the trainer assured them their children would have enough time to study as well as work on their song. If anyone ended up with poor marks, the students would have to withdraw from entering.
The Organizing Committee for the Beijing Olympic Games made the call for entries, which is ongoing until March 2008, will decide on the themes songs for both the Beijing Games and Paralympics, a song for the volunteers, the torch relay, and the music for awards ceremonies.
American Giorgio Moroder, the theme song composer for the 1984, 1988 Olympic Games and the 1990 World Cup submitted his work earlier in May after working with Chinese pianist Kong Xiangdong.
"Our composition will make it easy for people to hum the song after listening to it three times so that everyone can participate," Kong said.
Former Chinese foreign minister Li Zhaoxing also had tried his hand after a music school teacher composed a tune for his poem on the Beijing Olympics.
In his poem, "One World One Dream", Li writes, "Let war fires end here/ Let feud reconciled here/ Let peace and friendship extending from here/ Let the sun shines with seven-color light".
From: chinadaily.com
Diana Ross will release the new album "I Love You" in the U.S.A. this month, date January 16th, 2007.
It will be released on the Blue Note label (part of EMI). The U.S.A sequencing is different to the European release. There is a cover version of "Take My Breath Away". Ms.
Ross adds her own signature style to it with her new recording. The
original recording is by Berlin.
More info about this release here or for audiosample go to the Diana Ross Fan club
As Beijing counts down to the 2008 Games, world-class musicians are locked in a heated contest to compose the Olympic theme tune. Giorgio Moroder is one of the numerous composers interested in writing the song.
The beginning of the song should include some Chinese string music and singing by a Chinese child, said Moroder on the sidelines of an Olympic music forum last Friday in Beijing.
"Children are our future, and many successful Olympic songs were performed by kids," said Moroder, who suggested that a national singing contest should be organized to select over 1,000 children aged between five and 10, the best of whom would perform at the opening ceremony.
"At the core part of the song, the thematic lyric 'One World One Dream' should be repeated by one Chinese singer and a foreign singer," Moroder said, adding that he would also find an appropriate Chinese word to end the song with, as he did for "Hand in Hand," the song he wrote for the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
"Hand in Hand" was regarded as the best ever Olympic theme song by former International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Juan Antonio Samaranch.
In fact, Moroder's connection with Beijing Olympics can be traced back to 1993 when he produced "Good Luck Beijing" for the city's bid for the 2000 Summer Olympics.
This time round the famed composer is working with renowned Chinese contemporary pianist Kong Xiangdong, who will help acquaint him with Chinese music.
The two previously worked together composing the "Garden of Harmony" for Shenyang China International Horticultural Exposition 2006.
Giorgio Moroder shared his idea with the reporter.
[BOCOG]
Rick Ross' debut of "Port Of Miami" (august 08, 2006) includes the single "Push It," which contains a sample of Giorgio Moroder's "Scarface (Push it to the Limit)," from the classic 1983 movie Scarface. More info and audio-sample: click here
