Irene Cara -- Flashdance... What a Feeling

from Wikipedia

The name Irene Cara was on the Trending list on Twitter this morning, and usually when I see a name on that list, I think that the person is there because they have said something controversial or meaningful. But then out of curiosity and my nostalgia for the 1980s, I checked it out and I couldn't quite believe that the singer and actress had passed away yesterday. Holding onto that string of hope that it was just a sick joke, I checked CNN but sadly, it was all true.

I hadn't heard about Cara in many years. As such, I've always seen her as one of the many beacons of the 1980s. The other beacon was of course the poster of the 1983 movie "Flashdance" with star Jennifer Beals sitting towards the camera with that extended neck hole which became such a popular fashion statement of the decade. I never saw the movie but frankly I didn't have to. The movie became so popular that scenes were always being played on television.

I knew Cara for five songs. Two of them came from the 1980 film "Fame" with the title track and the heartfelt ballad "Out Here on My Own". One was the song of its times "Breakdance", and then there was another upbeat single "Why Me?". However, arguably her most famous song was the hit "Flashdance...What a Feeling" which was the theme song for the aforementioned "Flashdance" and Cara's March 1983 single.

The movie, the poster and that single created by Giorgio Moroder and Keith Forsey became the triumvirate as one of the pop culture icons of the 1980s. "Flashdance... What a Feeling" had those distinctive synths and a power pop styling that pretty much had aerobics instructors and students punching the air in triumph whenever it was played. As well, the song becoming a major hit for 1983 was a regular entry in the local TV music video rankings show "The CHUM Top 30", so I saw Beals doing her dance routine regularly as this song was playing. The accolades were enormous, too, as Cara won an Oscar, a Grammy and a Golden Globe for it. Not surprisingly, it hit No. 1 on the charts in many nations including the United States and Canada, and maybe even Japan, too. For one of my other ROY articles, the one for Commodores' "Turn Off the Lights", it was even listed as one of the songs that was showing up on the Oricon list. 

In any case, I hope that Cara's family, friends and fans are holding up together right now during this very sad time. Of course, when "Flashdance... What a Feeling" was released, there were songs up on the Oricon chart for March 1983. I think that the Top 3 have already been mentioned in another ROY article so this time around, let's go with Nos. 9, 10 and 11.

9. Takashi Hosokawa -- Yagiri no Watashi (矢切の渡し)

10. Yoshie Kashiwabara -- Haru Nanoni (春なのに）

11. EPO -- U, Fu, Fu, Fu, (う、ふ、ふ、ふ）

As a big P.S., I also have to say that "Flashdance... What a Feeling" has been covered by a number of Japanese artists with one being Miki Asakura（麻倉未稀）, which became her 6th single released in July 1983. It was used as the theme song for the TBS drama "Stewardess Monogatari"（スチュワーデス物語...Stewardess Story）.