CoronaVinyl Day 435 (Various Artists): Cat People Soundtrack by Various Artists

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Today's CoronaVinyl category is "Various Artists," and I went with the Cat People soundtrack, which is one of the many records my neighbor gave to me months ago.

The 1982 erotic horror flick Cat People, a remake of the 1942 film, starred Nastassja Kinski as a woman who travels from Canada to New Orleans to hang out with her estranged brother, only to discover she's a wereleopard.  I've been there!

While the film got mixed review, the soundtrack did a little better.  Produced and written nearly entirely by famed disco composer/producer/arranger Giorgio Moroder, the soundtrack is largely score music (and very early '80s at that), save for the first track on the album, "Cat People (Putting Out the Fire)" by David Bowie.  The soundtrack reached #47 on the Billboard album chart, but reached the Top 10 on the album charts in New Zealand, Norway, and Sweden.  Bowie's song stalled out at #67 on the Billboard Hot 100, but went to #9 on the Billboard Hot Rock Tracks chart and #14 on the Billboard Club Play Singles chart, as well as topping the pop charts in Finland, New Zealand, Norway, and Sweden, reaching #* on the Swiss pop chart, and the Top 20 on the pop charts in Australia, Canada, and Ireland.

It garnered Moroder a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Motion Picture Score (losing to John Williams for E.T.), and the title track garnered Bowie a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Motion Picture Song (losing to "Up Where We Belong" by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes from An Officer and A Gentleman).

All in all, this probably isn't an album you're going to want to listen to, unless you're at a wereleopard orgy.

Favorite Song on Side 1:  "Cat People (Putting Out the Fire)" by David Bowie
Given that this is the only song with words on the album and those words were written and sung by David Bowie, this was an easy choice.

Favorite Song on Side 2:  "To The Bridge" by Giorgio Moroder
This is a perfect instrumental score track for an early '80s erotic horror movie about wereleopards, so I assume.