Michael Sembello Maniac from Flashdance

Flashdance movie song Maniac (remastered remix) is performed by Michael Sembello live and lip-synced on Solid Gold, Hollywood, CA in 1983.
Steeltown girl Alex Owens is hard at work. She’s got big dreams of studying ballet, but right now, they’re just dreams. She’s holding down a factory job during the day and dancing at a strip club at night. When she has time, she works out, hard. We see her taping up her feet and stretching out in painful-looking ways. We see her shaking her majestic mane of hair, her face showing some beatific form of ecstasy. On the Flashdance soundtrack, Michael Sembello sings that she’s a maniac, maniac on the floor, that she’s dancing like she’s never danced before. But it seems like she dances like this all the time.
Flashdance, the cinematic story of Alex Owens’ dance journey, opened in theaters in April of 1983. Five months later, Michael Sembello’s “Maniac” followed Irene Cara’s “Flashdance… What A Feeling” as the second single from the Flashdance soundtrack to hit #1. The film was one of the big hits of that year, but its theatrical run must’ve been over by the time “Maniac” hit its apex. The Flashdance soundtrack had its own shelf life - one long enough that “Maniac” was able to top the pop charts in September when American moviegoers had moved on to Mr. Mom.
Sembello was friends with Phil Ramone, a producer who’d worked on big hits from Paul Simon and Barbra Streisand and Billy Joel. Ramone was working as the music supervisor for Flashdance, and he called Semebello to ask if he had any possible songs for the soundtrack. Sembello sent over a tape, not realizing that he’d accidentally included “Maniac” on it. Ramone liked “Maniac” the best of Sembello’s songs, but he suggested a crucial change. That cat-killing lyric wouldn’t really work for the Jennifer Beals sweat montage. “Maniac” got a rewrite and became an early-’80s aerobics-class time capsule.
Sembello wasn’t quite 30 when “Maniac” reached #1, but he’d been kicking around the music business for well over a decade. Sembello grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs, and he earned a place in Stevie Wonder’s band when he was a 17-year-old jazz guitar student. Sembello played with Wonder for years. He’s on just about every album from Wonder’s classic ’70s run, and he plays lead guitar on Wonder’s 1977 #1 single “Sir Duke.” From there, Sembello moved to Los Angeles and found work as a session musician and songwriter. In 1981, Sembello and Matkosky co-wrote “Mirror Mirror,” a #8 hit for Diana Ross. (It’s a 5.) In 1982, Sembello released his first single as a solo artist, the theme for the movie Summer Lovers.
“Maniac,” Sembello’s one big hit, is some real archetypal early-’80s dance-pop, and despite the showy shredding of its guitar solo, it doesn’t really offer any clues that it comes from a guy who played a role in Stevie Wonder’s golden era. Sembello’s voice is reedy and anonymous. Sembello tries to convey the urgency of the situation, but his voice isn’t up to it. The music underneath him is glossy and precise and mechanistic. The lyrics are pure mythic inanity: “Changing woman into life”? “A dancer becomes a dance”? “On the ice-thin little line of insanity is a place most never see/ It’s a hard-won place of mystery?” What the f is Michael Sembello talking about?
“Maniac” has some big drums and a cool little synth riff, but all that really sets it apart is its hook, which is the kind of thing that absolutely refuses to leave your head for days at a time. That chorus, and the image of Jennifer Beals shaking her head around, are the only reasons that “Maniac” was able to make any kind of cultural mark. Otherwise, “Maniac” isn’t maniacal at all. In an era when virtually every song that topped the Hot 100 was a hugely important moment-defining blockbuster, “Maniac” is simply average.
“Maniac” might’ve originally had some different lyrical concerns, but in its final form, it’s total movie-soundtrack stuff. Sembello sings about the Jennifer Beals character, and then the Jennifer Beals character dances to his song about her.
Sembello released his debut album Bossa Nova Hotel a couple of weeks after “Maniac” hit #1, and it produced one more minor hit: “Automatic Man,” which peaked at #34. “Maniac” was nominated for a Best Original Song Oscar, but it lost to “Flashdance… What A Feeling.” Sembello went on to contribute songs to more movies, like Gremlins and Cocoon, but he never made the Hot 100 again. Instead, he went back to his behind-the-scenes life, doing production and songwriting for people like Chaka Khan and New Edition. But Sembello always is the guy who joined Stevie Wonder’s band at age 17. Source: Stereogum #flashdance #maniac #michaelsembello

[@jamesbronson8713]

Great times in 1983 😃 !!

[@CalVid]

Indeed!

[@frankzappa0815]

What a Song

[@mundicojr]

That kind of music that's not really your style, but you can't sit still when it's playing. Oh good times, please come back. Thanks for posting.

[@CalVid]

Noted!

[@Robert-bg2wv]

Just dont know how this isnt played over and over again! Sheer brilliance.

[@andrenpinheiro6376]

What Wonderful! A of best music to years 1980.

[@averyassur3250]

Nice musical memories of the Eighties.

[@bluegreen1645]

フラッシュダンス!なつかしいィーッ!🙂

[@ricksegal3065]

Defined the movie!

[@freewing3826]

Danced my ass off to this one!

[@felixgarcianazco9496]

MAGISTRAL

[@s.r.8173]

🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@vSpirit2]

One hit wonder!

[@gigakac5110]

There was a good decision not including him in the official video. Gay viewers wouldn’t know if they were supposed to enjoy the song or admire that handsome bear.