Giovanni Giorgio Moroder was born to Ladin parents on 26 April 1940 in Ortisei in Italy, and is one of three brothers, one of them being artist Ulrich Moroder. He grew up in a mixed Ladin/German/Italian-speaking environment in South Tyrol, and he began teaching himself to play the guitar at age 15, inspired by Paul Anka's 'Diana'. At 18 he was touring Europe as a professional musician, performing at night, and during the day making recordings with two Revox recorders. By 25 he'd moved in with his aunt in Berlin, and was working as a sound engineer, with Ricky Shayne's single 'Ich Sprenge Alle Ketten' ('I Break All The Chains'), composed by then-unknowns Moroder and Michael Holm, becoming a German hit. The second hit was Moroder's and Holm's cover of Sir Douglas Quintet's single 'Mendocino', and after two years in Berlin he moved to Munich. He made his first steps there in music in the Scotch Club in Aachen, and then released a few singles under the name Giorgio, beginning in 1965 with the self-composed 'Cerca (Di Scordare)' coming out on the Fontana Label in Holland, and then he followed that in 1966 and 1967 with a series of Schlager-influenced single such as 'Bla Bla Diddly', 'Yummy, Yummy, Yummy', 'Looky, Looky', and 'Reesy Beesy', which in the UK/US would be called 'bubblegum pop'. In fact, his first album, which was released on Hansa Records in 1969, was called 'That's Bubble Gum - That's Giorgio'. In 1968, he moved to Munich and came to prominence when 'Looky Looky' was awarded a gold disc in 1970, and with that success behind him he founded the Musicland Studios in the early 1970's. Moroder was an early fan of the Moog synthesizer, and began to implement the instrument into his work during the making of his album 'Son Of My Father' in 1972.
Often collaborating with lyricist Pete Bellotte, Moroder had a number of hits in his own name, including 'Son Of My Father', although the more famous version is the UK No. 1 hit by Chicory Tip. Around 1973 he was pitching demos to American groups like Three Dog Night, and they hired vocalist Donna Summer, then completely unknown, as the singer. Moroder got along well with Summer, who had lived in Germany for several years and spoke German fluently, and he began to record her as a solo artist in addition to using her on demos and recordings for other artists. Summer's first solo album with Moroder, 1974's 'Lady Of The Night', went nowhere, but the following year she suggested building a song around the phrase "love to love you baby", and Moroder and Bellotte took the idea and ran with it. Adding elements from a steamy French duet by Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin, 'Je t'aime … moi non plus', the single that resulted, 'Love To Love You Baby', became a hit in Europe, and was released in the United States by the fast-rising Casablanca label. With its quasi-orgasmic moans from Summer, slinky beat, and lush orchestral textures, 'Love to Love You Baby' was as good a candidate as any other release of that time for the distinction of being the first disco record, and when Casablanca decided to release an album including the song, Moroder notched another first by creating a new version of 'Love To Love You Baby' that rearranged its basic musical elements and extended it to a length of more than 17 minutes, filling one entire side of the 'Love To Love You' LP. From this point he became more known as a producer than as a recording artist, although he did still release albums, but they were more electronic, such as the synthesizer-driven 'From Here to Eternity', a chart hit in 1977. To find how he got to that point in his career, here is a collection of his mid-60's/early 70's singles, mostly released on Hansa Records in Germany between 1966 and 1972.
Track listing
01 Cerca (Di Scordare) (single 1965)
02 Full Stop (single 1966)
03 Believe In Me (b-side of 'Full Stop')
04 Bla Bla Diddly (single 1967)
05 How Much Longer Must I Wait, Wait... (b-side of 'Bla Bla Diddly')
06 Lilly Belle (single 1968)
07 Love's Morning Land (b-side of 'Lilly Belle')
08 Cinnamon (single 1968)
09 Reesy Beesy (b-side of 'Reesy Beesy')
10 Looky Looky (single 1969)
11 Happy Birthday (b-side of 'Looky Looky')
12 Moody Trudy (single 1970)
13 Stop (b-side of 'Moody Trudy')
14 Underdog (single 1971)
15 Watch Your Step (b-side of 'Underdog')
16 Son Of My Father (single 1972)
17 I'm Free Now (b-side of 'Son Of My Father')
18 Today's A Tomorrow (You Worried 'Bout Yesterday) (single 1972)
19 Pauline (b-side of 'Today's A Tomorrow (You Worried 'Bout Yesterday)')
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