CoronaVinyl Day 301 (Various Artists): Fame Soundtrack by Various Artists

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I meant to post this yesterday, but ended up being too busy. Today's CoronaVinyl category is "Various Artists," and I'm going with the soundtrack to the 1980 teen drama Fame.

I've never seen Fame, but I do know that it's about teenagers at a New York performing arts high school, and of course, I know the title track sung by Irene Cara.  It turns out the soundtrack features songs sung in the movie by the actors and actresses in the film.

Thanks to both the film and the subsequent Fame TV series, the soundtrack was a pretty big success, both in the U.S. and abroad, reaching #7 on the Billboard album chart (and going platinum in the U.S.) and the Top 5 of the album charts in the UK (where it went to #1 in 1982), Australia, The Netherlands, and Sweden.

Produced by Michael Gore -- the songwriting younger brother of '60s singer Lesley Gore (both of whom wrote or co-wrote most of the songs on the soundtrack) -- it very much as a disco feel, which makes sense for the time.  

Cara's "Fame" was the biggest hit from the album, going to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100, #1 on the Billboard Dance Club songs chart, #1 on the pop charts in Belgium, Ireland, The Netherlands, New Zealand, and the UK, and Top 5 on the pop charts in Australia, France, South Africa, and Sweden.  It also won both the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Original Song.  Not bad for Cara's debut single!  Of course, she would go on to have another huge '80s soundtrack hit with "Flashdance . . . What a Feeling" from 1983's Flashdance, which would top the pop charts in eleven countries.

Cara's "Out Here On My Own" (co-written by the Gores) went to #19 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was also nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Song.  "Red Light," sung by Linda Clifford, went to #41 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Billboard Dance Club songs chart.  Finally, Cara's "Hot Lunch Jam" also topped the Billboard Dance Club songs chart.

The Spotify version of the album has three bonus tracks.

Favorite song from Side 1:  "Fame" by Irene Cara
The title track is a classic early '80s song -- one of the last big disco hits -- and it's no surprise that it garnered all of the success discussed above.

Favorite song from Side 2:  "I Sing The Body Electric" by  Laura Dean, Irene Cara, Paul McCrane, Traci Parnell, and Eric Brockington
The last song on the album has kind of an Andrew Lloyd Weber musical feel to it, as it's sung by multiple cast members, has strings, and is generally dramatic.  It then picks up the energy with some wicked guitar playing by Billy Cross.