Flashdance... What a Feeling

"Flashdance... What a Feeling"
Single by Irene Cara
from the album What a Feelin' and Flashdance soundtrack
B-side	Love Theme from "Flashdance" (Instrumental)
Released	April 3, 1983 January 30, 2001 (re-released)
Format	12" single 7" single
Recorded	1983
Genre	Euro disco, Synthpop
Length	3:55 (7") 7:16 (12")
Label	Casablanca
Writer(s)	Giorgio Moroder (music) Keith Forsey (lyrics) Irene Cara (lyrics)
Producer	Giorgio Moroder
Certification	Platinum (US) Gold (UK)
Irene Cara singles chronology
"Anyone Can See" (1981) "Flashdance... What a Feeling" (1983) "Why Me" (1983)
Audio sample file info · help Alternative covers 12" single cover 7" single cover

"Flashdance... What a Feeling" is a song from the 1983 film Flashdance, written by Giorgio Moroder, Keith Forsey, and Irene Cara, and performed by Cara. Despite the title, the word "Flashdance" is never used in the lyrics; however, the line "In a flash, take a hold of my heart" refers to the movie's title. The instrumental backing tracks of the song made extensive use of synthesizers.

Song information

In addition to topping the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Cara's only #1 hit and earning a platinum record in 1983, "Flashdance... What a Feeling" won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song in 1984.

Giorgio Moroder originally recorded "Flashdance... What a Feeling" with Joe Esposito; Paramount Pictures asked Moroder to rework the song with a female artist to parallel the gender of the dancer who was the film's protagonist.

The song appears on the original soundtrack album of Flashdance, and Irene Cara's second solo album, What a Feelin'. Cara won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female, in 1984 for her performance of the song. The song was also nominated for Record of the Year.

There are additional lyrics in the 12-inch single version of the song. The lines "If I only could take all the love that you give, and escape to a world crystal clear" precede the lines "Well I hear the music, close my eyes, feel the rhythm". There is also a second instrumental break with a guitar solo.

The song was the number three single of the year in 1983 on the Billboard year-end chart. In 2008, the song was ranked at #26 on Billboard's All Time Top 100, which commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Billboard Hot 100.

In the UK, the song spent one week at number two on the chart dated July 5, 1983, being kept from the top position by Rod Stewart's "Baby Jane." The song was the 25th best-selling single of 1983 in the UK.

The song's use in the film

The soundtrack album had the version that is usually played by radio stations. The song appears twice in the film, during the opening title sequence and as the backing for Alex's audition routine in the final sequence. Both of these versions were recorded specially for the film, and have different arrangements from the album version.

Charts

Peak positions

Chart (1983)	Peak position
Australian Kent Music Report	1
Austrian Singles Chart	4
Canadian RPM Top Singles	1
Dutch Top 40	13
European Singles Chart	1
Italian Singles Chart	1
Japanese Singles Chart	1
New Zealand Singles Chart	1
Norwegian Singles Chart	1
Swedish Singles Chart	1
Swiss Singles Chart	1
UK Singles Chart	2
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	1
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play	1
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks	4
U.S. Billboard Hot Black Singles	2

Sales and certifications

Region	Certification	Sales/shipments
Canada (CRIA)	2× Platinum	200,000^
France (SNEP)	Platinum	1,365,000
United Kingdom (BPI)	Silver	250,000^
United States (RIAA)	Gold	1,000,000^
Total sales:		2,815,000
*sales figures based on certification alone ^shipments figures based on certification alone xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Cover versions

1983

• In August, following the success of the English version in Japan, singer Miki Asakura released a popular Japanese language version, that was subsequently used as the theme for the TBS drama Stewardess Monogatari (A Stewardess' Story) starring Chiemi Hori.
• Mona Carita performed a Finnish language version, Mikä Fiilis!, included on an album with that track's name as its title.
• Stela Enache recorded a Romanian cover - "Ce e iubirea", under the dictatorial regime of Nicolae Ceausescu, released with a daring video for that period.

1985

• Céline Dion sang the song live and included it on her live album Céline Dion en concert.
• Helena Vondráčková recorded the song for her English-language album I'm Your Song.

1990

• The Shadows did an instrumental version on the album Reflection.

1993

• ABBA tribute group Björn Again recorded a cover of the song and released it as a single. It reached #65 in the UK Singles Chart.

2001

• Cara recorded a reworked version of "What a Feeling" with Swiss dance music artist DJ BoBo, winner of 10 World Music Awards. The duet featured new lyrics sung by DJ BoBo himself and reached No. 2 in Switzerland, No. 3 in Germany and No. 11 in Austria. The song was featured on DJ BoBo's album Planet Colors.
• Mike Patton's avant-garde metal supergroup Fantômas was originally set to include a rendition of the song on its movie score covers album The Director's Cut, but decided not to include it because it didn't fit with its dark theme.^{[citation needed]} Patton later attempted to include it on 2003's Mit Gas, an album by Tomahawk (another project of his) but was forced to remove it due to legal technicalities.^{[citation needed]}

2002

• Petra reached #44 on the French charts for Belgium with her remake entitled "What a Feeling".

2003

• An eurodance cover by Karen Parry was released as a single.

2004

• Swedish singer Charlotte Perrelli covered the song for her album Gone Too Long.
• Serbian progressive/power metal band Alogia recorded a version on their second album Priče o životu. The band also released the song on their 2006 video album Priče o vremenu i životu – Live at SKC.

2006

• A cover of the song by Australian pop group Young Divas was included on their debut album Young Divas.

2008

• Serbian punk rock band Six Pack recorded a version on their cover album Discover.

2009

• Mexican singer María José and Moenia covered the song for María Jose promotional cover songs tour of 1980s songs, also recorded a studio version.

2010

• Reggae fusion singer Sean Kingston covered the song to promote his third studio album. The cover also contained some original lyrics.
• The X Factor (UK series 7) 2010 finalists covered the song for the final.
• A cover of the song by Uruguayan actress/singer Natalia Oreiro was included in the movie Miss Tacuarembó.

2011

• The X Factor (U.S. season 1) Top 10 finalist Drew Ryniewicz covered this song, in a slower version, for the Top 17 judge's cut on the first week of the live shows.
• A capella group Delilah performed the song on the third season of The Sing-Off on the "Guilty Pleasures" episode.

Sampling

• In 1984, When Apple Computer Introduced the Macintosh in a shareholder's meeting, they had a corporate song which sampled the original melody, along with "What a Feeling" in the lyrics
• In 2005, the Austrian dance group Global Deejays sampled the original melody in their single "What a Feeling (Flashdance)".
• In 2006, The Hughes Corporation released a house track which featured samples from the original song. The video for the song was a sequel to the video for Eric Prydz' 2004 song "Call on Me".
• In 2008, J-pop singer Namie Amuro sampled the song for the track "What a Feeling" on her triple A-side single "60s 70s 80s", which reached number one on Japanese Oricon charts.
• In 2010, Jason Derülo sampled the song for his single "The Sky's The Limit".

See also

• List of number-one singles in Australia during the 1980s
• List of RPM number-one singles of 1983
• List of number-one singles in 1983 (New Zealand)
• List of number-one hits in Norway
• List of number-one hits (Sweden)
• List of number-one hits of 1983 (Switzerland)
• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1983 (U.S.)
• List of number-one dance singles of 1983 (U.S.)