Giorgio Moroder And Others Talk Donna Summer & Giorgio’s 10 Big Music Moments: Interview

Robbie Daw | May 17, 2013 9:05 am

6. The Scarface Soundtrack (1983) Okay, I know Giorgio Moroder recently came out and dissed this blood-drenched Brian De Palma epic, which stars Al Pacino as Tony Montana. (“I don’t particularly like Scarface,” he told Dazed & Confused. “The intro part; that’s beautiful. The rest is really bad.”) I’m not sure if he’s referring to the film itself or his own soundtrack, for which he brought in his friend Debbie Harry and other singers like Amy Holland, E.G. Daily and Beth Anderson (who later sang with Limahl on Moroder’s theme to The NeverEnding Story). But let’s just establish here and now that the Scarface album is not only worth a revisit, it’s also quite an addictive, cohesive piece of work.

“Georgio is a master!” says Harry. “His tracks are smart and singing over them is exciting.”

Harry’s cocaine-referencing Scarface track “Rush Rush” became her first solo single once Blondie was initially put on hold in the early ’80s. Like with American Gigolo, she penned her lyrics to fit the overall druggy feel of Scarface. Still, Harry says, “As far as the films’ themes and the lyrics I wrote, they were pretty much up to me.”

Debbie Harry — “Rush Rush”

But don’t take my word for the solidness of Moroder’s Scarface music. The hip hop community has also turned to mining the soundtrack for ideas over the years. One need only look to Kanye West‘s all-star GOOD Music joint “Mercy,” which contains elements of “Tony’s Theme,” or Lil Wayne‘s I Am Not A Human Being single “On Fire,” which is built around a sample of Amy Holland‘s “She’s On Fire.”

When asked about these rappers referencing his Scarface work, Moroder diplomatically tells me, “It is always nice to hear that a singer is using some samples of my songs. It tells me that they like the tracks enough that they would want to use them on their recordings.”

Amy Holland — “She’s On Fire”