Just A Gigolo

American Gigolo Soundtrack - 1980 - Polygram Records

Hello Friends,

Need a quick pick me up?

We do!  So tonight we're doing cocaine listening to Giorgio Moroder's excellent soundtrack to the 1980 film, American Gigolo.  

Written & directed by the great Paul Shrader (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Affliction) and starring Richard Gere & Lauren Hutton, American Gigolo helped usher in the sleazy, superficial, pre-AIDS 1980s.  The soundtrack is practically a character in the film itself; its impossible to separate the two even 30+ years later.  To this day, we can't even think of Richard Gere without imagining him walking him into a gay nightclub with Cheryl Barnes's "Love & Passion" blasting!

The soundtrack album gets the party started with an 8 minute long epic version of Blondie's "Call Me" aka "The Theme From American Gigolo".  A # 1 song in both the U.S. & U.K. for several weeks, its sexy and driving and manic and it really sets the stage for the movie as well as whats to come on the rest of the record!

FUN FACT: Originally, Moroder wanted to recruit none other than Stevie Nicks to collaborate with on this soundtrack. She was unable to commit to him due to conflicts with her record label.    

"Call Me" is followed by the aforementioned, driving disco-beat of "Love & Passion" and the side ends with the sleazy-sounding, noirish instrumental, "Night Drive".

Side Two is entirely instrumental and kicks off with "Hello Mr. W.A.M.", the song heard over the film's finale.  Its also Moroder's take on Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Clarinet Concerto K. 622. Its equal parts Clockwork Orange, prog rock & Studio 54.



"The Apartment", another dark instrumental, sounds like Aphex Twin remixing Dark Side of the Moon.

"Palm Springs Drive" is an instrumental take on "Call Me" and its impossible to drive around downtown Los Angeles at night, looking for johns, without having this song pulsate in your brain!

Next there's a reprise of Side One's "Night Drive" only slower and more lumbering with lots of synthy-low notes and some church bells thrown in for good measure!

Closing things is the melodic ballad, "The Seduction (Love Theme)" which comes dangerously close to sounding like elevator music-schmaltz.  But, in the context of this record, its a subtle and fitting conclusion.

RATING: 4.5 Roll Me in Designer Sheets I'll Never Get Enough out of 5