Maniac (Michael Sembello song)

Composition and recording

Sembello recalled their usual process for situations where they needed more lyrics: "Whenever we get an idea, we start researching, but we didn't have Google." Matkosky found the 1980 slasher film Maniac and rented it to see if they could come up with more to put in the song. It did provide the additional lyrics they wanted, but the demo they recorded wound up on a tape sent to Phil Ramone, who was looking for songs to use in Flashdance. During the film's pre-production, the two-tone siren music used in the bridge stood out for the film's director, Adrian Lyne, who said, "One of the tunes I'd heard had a kind of a chime in it, that kind of 'bing-bong-bing-bong-bing-bong', like that, and I said, 'Let's use that. Let's use that as a kind of a motive, as a kind of a driving thing for a dance.'" Lyne had grown accustomed to using the music by the end of filming and wanted it in the final cut, so Ramone asked for lyrics to fit the movie and had Sembello re-record the song.

Music video

Before Flashdance was released on April 15, 1983, its distributor Paramount Pictures had doubts that it would do well at the box office. The May 7 issue of Cash Box, however, reported on the surprise success of the film and Paramount's plan to have Lyne take parts of scenes from it to create music videos to be shown on the cable channel MTV as well as on television programs and at other venues featuring such clips. "Maniac" was listed on the reports that MTV provided to Billboard that indicated what videos were in rotation on the cable network and made its first appearance there in the May 21 issue, which indicated that it had been added to their playlist as of May 11.

Release and commercial performance

The June 4, 1983, issue of Billboard magazine included the first appearance of the 7-inch single of "Maniac" on the Billboard Hot 100, where it spent 22 weeks, and the September 10 Billboard marked its first of 2 weeks as the most popular song in the US. It reached number 34 during its 8 weeks on the magazine's Top Rock Tracks chart that began in the July 30 issue, and also made a number 34 showing over the course of 9 weeks on the Adult Contemporary chart as of the September 3 Billboard. Their September 10 Chartbeat column bemoaned the latter appearance as a "sign of the times", noting that "AC clearly isn't just for Anne Murray anymore", an uncannily prescient assessment considering that the song went to number 1 on the Adult Contemporary and pop charts in Murray's native Canada just weeks later. It also made the top 10 on the pop charts in Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, and Switzerland. The 12-inch remix began 15 weeks on the Dance/Disco Top 80 in the June 25 Billboard and eventually got as high as number 6.

Critical reception

"Maniac" was selected as the best song on the soundtrack album by the editors of Digital Audios Guide to Compact Discs, who described how "it opens with a fast disco drum machine beat, augmented by frantic synthesizers and a pulsating bass line." In their retrospective reviews, AllMusic labeled the song as one of their Album Picks from the Flashdance soundtrack and the 1994 Casablanca Records Story compilation.

Awards and accolades

As a single, "Maniac" earned Sembello Grammy nominations for Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male, and a nomination with Matkosky for Song of the Year. As part of the Flashdance soundtrack, it gave them and all of the songwriters who contributed to the album the Grammy Award for Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special, and Sembello was also nominated alongside all of the other performers on the soundtrack for Album of the Year. and Golden Globe for Best Original Song, and the music video for "Maniac" was awarded Best Editing at Billboard magazine's Video Music Awards.

Live performances

Some of Sembello's appearances to promote "Maniac" included programs where performers would lip sync to the hit recording of their song, such as Solid Gold, where he appeared on June 18, and American Bandstand, which included a brief interview of him by Dick Clark, on September 10. At the 56th Academy Awards on April 9, 1984, the song was performed live by Lani Hall with Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass.

Legacy and influence

Main article: Flashdance (soundtrack)#Legacy and influence

The extensive exposure that the "Maniac" video received from MTV and other outlets helped Paramount plug Flashdance for free instead of paying the several million dollars of commercial time for the standard television advertising exposure needed to get the same result. Paramount vice president Gordon Weaver described this approach as "invisible marketing". Flashdance went on to be the third highest-grossing film of 1983 in the US despite having unknown actors and receiving bad reviews, so the new priority for studio marketing departments became evaluating how practical it would be to include popular music in the projects they were looking to release in order to receive similar benefits from such outlets.

Aftermath

In 1983 Sembello said, "It's a funny irony that it caught on so, especially since I don't dance and have never even been to a disco." Later he expressed pride in having a number one record after working in the business for so many years, cautioning, "But, hey, let it die. 'Maniac' was just a song, and now I'm on to the next, and I don't want to rip off the record-buying public by doing a carbon-copy of 'Maniac' just to make some money." He chose to continue working with Ramone on his debut album, Bossa Nova Hotel, which included his number one single and gave him two more U.S. chart hits: the number 34 Hot 100 entry "Automatic Man" and "Talk", which reached number 25 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

In May 2010, Maniac director William Lustig interviewed Sembello and Matkosky to clear up the misconception that his film was what began the process of writing their song of the same name, and they confirmed that the story of how the song originated had been retold incorrectly over the years.

Personnel

Personnel adapted from the liner notes of the album Bossa Nova Hotel:

• Michael Sembello – vocals, guitar, keyboard bass, producer
• Dennis Matkosky – keyboards, synthesizer
• Carlos Vega – Simmons drums
• Dennis Karmazyn – cello
• Phil Ramone – producer 12-inch remix

Credits adapted from the liner notes of the 12-inch single:

• John "Jellybean" Benitez – remixing
• Jay Mark – engineer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Other versions

Irish rave act 4 Rhythm made a recording of "Maniac" in 1994 that replaced the verses with a more contemporary rap, but the publishers of the original, Warner Chappell Music, "weren't happy with the change of lyrics and blocked the release". They did allow a 4 Rhythm version in which the original verses were rapped, and that recording reached number 28 in 1995, the same peak position that Sembello achieved, on the Irish Singles Chart. "Maniac 2000", a performance of Mark McCabe rapping over the 4 Rhythm version, spent ten weeks at number one on the Irish Singles Chart and became the country's fifth biggest-selling single of all time.

References

Bibliography

References

1. (April 17, 2013). "'Flashdance the Musical' Shakes Up Seattle, Portland, Tempe and Costa Mesa (VIDEO)". [[The Huffington Post]].
2. Breihan, Tom. (July 22, 2020). "The Number Ones: Michael Sembello's "Maniac"".
3. (2020). "Maniac Men (''bonus feature from'' Maniac: 4K Ultra HD + Special Features Blu-Ray)". [[Blue Underground]].
4. (2020). "Maniac Men (''bonus feature from'' Maniac: 4K Ultra HD + Special Features Blu-Ray)". [[Blue Underground]].
5. (2020). "Maniac Men (''bonus feature from'' Maniac: 4K Ultra HD + Special Features Blu-Ray)". [[Blue Underground]].
6. (2020). "Maniac Men (''bonus feature from'' Maniac: 4K Ultra HD + Special Features Blu-Ray)". [[Blue Underground]].
7. (2020). "Maniac Men (''bonus feature from'' Maniac: 4K Ultra HD + Special Features Blu-Ray)". [[Blue Underground]].
8. {{Harvnb. Whitburn. 2009
9. (2020). "Maniac Men (''bonus feature from'' Maniac: 4K Ultra HD + Special Features Blu-Ray)". [[Blue Underground]].
10. (2020). "Maniac Men (''bonus feature from'' Maniac: 4K Ultra HD + Special Features Blu-Ray)". [[Blue Underground]].
11. (2020). "Maniac Men (''bonus feature from'' Maniac: 4K Ultra HD + Special Features Blu-Ray)". [[Blue Underground]].
12. (2020). "Maniac Men (''bonus feature from'' Maniac: 4K Ultra HD + Special Features Blu-Ray)". [[Blue Underground]].
13. {{Harvnb. Bronson. 2003
14. (2010). "Flashdance: Music and Songs (''bonus feature from'' Flashdance, Special Collector's Edition)". Paramount.
15. (2010). "Flashdance: Music and Songs (''bonus feature from'' Flashdance, Special Collector's Edition)". Paramount.
16. (2020). "Maniac Men (''bonus feature from'' Maniac: 4K Ultra HD + Special Features Blu-Ray)". [[Blue Underground]].
17. (2010). "Flashdance: Music and Songs (''bonus feature from'' Flashdance, Special Collector's Edition)". Paramount.
18. Ressner, Jeffrey. (May 7, 1983). "Polygram Gears Up Push for ''Flashdance'' LP".
19. {{Harvnb. Eszterhas. 2010
20. (May 21, 1983). "Video Music Programming".
21. {{Harvnb. Whitburn. 2009
22. Bronson, Fred. (1992). "The Billboard Book of Number One Hits". Billboard Publications.
23. {{Harvnb. Whitburn. 2008
24. {{Harvnb. Whitburn. 2007
25. Grein, Paul. (September 10, 1983). "Chartbeat > ''Flashdance'': A Second Number One".
26. {{Harvnb. Whitburn. 2004
27. {{Harvnb. Canale. 1986
28. Ruhlmann, William. "Original Soundtrack – Flashdance". [[Allmusic]].
29. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Various Artists – Casablanca Records Story". [[Allmusic]].
30. {{Harvnb. O'Neil. 1999
31. {{Harvnb. O'Neil. 1999
32. {{Harvnb. O'Neil. 1999
33. "Maniac" was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Original Song. Academy Award]]{{Harvnb. Wiley. Bona. 1996
34. {{Harvnb. O'Neil. 2003
35. (November 26, 1983). "Jackson Cops Five Music Vid Awards".
36. "Marilyn McCoo & Rex Smith Show 37".
37. "Episode #27.1".
38. {{Harvnb. Wiley. Bona. 1996
39. Egan, Jack. (October 31, 1983). "Pop Records Go Boom". News Group Publications.
40. Harmetz, Aljean. (June 4, 1983). "'Invisible Marketing' Helps 'Flashdance' Sell". [[The New York Times]].
41. "Domestic Box Office for 1983". [[IMDb]].
42. McKelvey, Bob. (June 2, 1984). "Movies are catching dancing' fever and rakin' in big bucks". [[Tribune Publishing]].
43. Goodman, Fred. (November 19, 1983). "East Coastings".
44. (2020). "Maniac Men (''bonus feature from'' Maniac: 4K Ultra HD + Special Features Blu-Ray)". [[Blue Underground]].
45. (2020). "Maniac Men (''bonus feature from'' Maniac: 4K Ultra HD + Special Features Blu-Ray)". [[Blue Underground]].
46. Warner Bros. Records. (1983). "Bossa Nova Hotel". [[Warner Bros. Records.
47. Casablanca Records. (1983). "Maniac". [[Casablanca Records]].
48. "The Countdown Chart – Week Ending 4th September, 1983". [[Australian Recording Industry Association.
49. "South African Rock Lists Website SA Charts 1969 – 1989 Acts (S)".
50. Salaverri, Fernando. (September 2005). "Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002". Fundación Autor-SGAE.
51. "Michael Sembello – Awards".
52. "CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending SEPTEMBER 3, 1983".
53. "Kent Music Report – National Top 100 Singles for 1983". [[Kent Music Report]].
54. "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – Top 100 End of Year AMR Charts – 1980s". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien.
55. (24 December 1983). "The Top Singles of 1983".
56. "Top 100 Hits for 1983".
57. "The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1983".
58. "Jahrescharts – 1983". Offiziellecharts.de. GfK Entertainment Charts.
59. (March 12, 2001). "Triumph of the Underdog".
60. (March 4, 2015). ""It was the total underdog": The real story behind Maniac 2000".