Chase (instrumental) explained

Chase
Cover:	Giorgio Moroder - Chase cover art.jpg
Type:	single
Artist:	Giorgio Moroder
Album:	Midnight Express: Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Released:	1978
Recorded:	1978
Genre:	Eurodisco^[1] italo disco^[2] electropop^[3]
Label:	Casablanca Records
Producer:	Giorgio Moroder
Chronology:	Giorgio Moroder
Prev Title:	Let The Music Play
Prev Year:	1977
Next Title:	E=MC2
Next Year:	1979

"Chase" (also known as "The Chase") is a 1978 instrumental composition by Italian music producer Giorgio Moroder. It was released as a single during 1978 from his Academy Award-winning soundtrack album Midnight Express (1978), and was a disco instrumental that was subsequently extended and released as a maxi single. It made the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1979, peaking at number 33, and the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 48.

Background

Created especially for the film Midnight Express, Alan Parker, the director of the film, explicitly asked Moroder for a song in the style of "I Feel Love", which Moroder composed for Donna Summer. It was Moroder's second time composing a movie soundtrack after his work on 1972's German softcore sex film "Sex Life in a Convent".^{[4] [5]} The song's main melody was played on a Roland SH-2000 synthesizer, while the bass lines were played on a Minimoog synthesizer. The track also has a flanging effect produced by the MXR Flanger, while other instruments used include an ARP/Solina String Ensemble, Fender Rhodes, Hohner Clavinet, and piano.^[6]

Although a disco piece, "Chase", along with "I Feel Love", is more specifically considered the pioneering introduction of the hi-NRG genre, which came to prominence in the early 1980s. The music was arranged by Harold Faltermeyer under the leadership of Giorgio Moroder.

Reception

Pitchfork named it the 175th best song of the 1970s, saying, "Any time someone describes a piece of music as 'cinematic,' there’s a decent chance they’re thinking, consciously or subconsciously, of 'Chase'. It's impossible to overstate, let alone list, the amount of composers and films who've ripped off 'Chase'."^[7]

Track listing

• Casablanca — NBD 20146 — single-sided 12"

• Casablanca — NBD 956 — 7" single

Charts

Original version

Charts (1979)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)^[8]	26
Canada (RPM (magazine))^[9]	41
Italy (Musica e Dischi)^[10]	18

Giorgio Moroder vs. Jam & Spoon version

Notes and References

1. Giorgio Moroder. CMJ New Music. May 2000. 28 August 2023. Giorgio Moroder's "The Chase" isn't necessarily a familiar name, but you'd recognize it if you heard it: it's the ur- Eurodisco instrumental, an interlocking set of minor-key patterns that's as classic as late-night get-up-and-boogie background music gets, created by the man who produced most of Donna Summer's hits..
2. Insert Lyrics Here Edition. Hit Parade Music History and Music Trivia. Slate. Molanphy. Chris. September 15, 2023. October 3, 2023.
3. Insert Lyrics Here Edition. Hit Parade Music History and Music Trivia. Slate. Molanphy. Chris. September 15, 2023. October 3, 2023.
4. Web site: Giorgio Moroder, Filmkomponist by Thomas Staedeli. 2021-08-30. www.cyranos.ch.
5. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/oct/31/giorgio-moroder-sylvester-stallone-bob-dylan-donna-summer "Giorgio Moroder: 'Sylvester Stallone wanted Bob Dylan to sing on a Rambo movie'"
6. http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/article/5916-giorgio-moroder-gear-guide-inc-new-novation-morodernova-.html Giorgio Moroder Gear Guide
7. Web site: The 200 Best Songs of the 1970s . Katherine St. Asaph . Pitchfork. 22 August 2016 .
8. Book: Kent, David . David Kent (historian) . . Australian Chart Book . St Ives, N.S.W. . 1993 . 0-646-11917-6.
9. Web site: RPM Top 100 Singles - March 31, 1979.
10. Web site: Classifiche. it. Musica e Dischi. 8 June 2022. Set "Tipo" on "Singoli", then search with "Hold you" under "Titolo" and "Giorgio" under "Artista".
11. Web site: RPM Top 30 Dance - May 29, 2000.