Short Biographie

 

of

 
IRENE CARA

 
 
 
 

Biographie

Irene Cara is best known as a singer of movie themes, though she has worked as an actress since her childhood. Raised in New York City, she appeared on Broadway in 1967 in the musical Maggie Flynn at age eight.
She can be heard on the cast album for the show The Me Nobody Knows. From the age of 16, she was turning up on television and in films, including a part in the TV mini-series Roots 2 in 1979. In 1980, she was catapulted into stardom and a singing career by her appearance in the film Fame, for which she sang the title song, an Oscar-winning Top Ten hit. Also from the film was her Top 40 hit "Out Here on My Own."
In 1983, she topped the charts with "Flashdance ... What a Feelin'," from the movie Flashdance , a song she co-wrote that won another Oscar, while Cara also won a couple of Grammys for her contributions to the soundtrack.
Her What a Feelin' album included the hits "Why Me?" and "Breakdance," and she also made the Top 40 with a third movie theme, "The Dream (Hold On to Your Dream)," from DC Cab.

William Ruhlmann, All-Music Guide

 



ALBUMS
1987 Carasmatic (Elektra)
1983 DC Cab - Soundtrack - details
1983 What a Feelin' (Epic) - details and lyrics
1982 Anyone Can See (Network)
1980 Fame: The Original Soundtrack From The Motion Picture

SINGLES
1996 All My Heart (ZYX)
1990 Flashdance (Polygram) - details and lyrics

 

 

Billboard wrote about the soundtrack Flashdance:
Billboard reviewed for week ending 5/7/83
This album explodes on the pop chart this week, leaping from 166 to 29. That's a spectacular jump, but it perhaps shouldn't be too surprising. The album was composed by Giorgio Moroder, whose "American Gigolo" soundtrack in 1980 went top 10, and the title track is sung by Irene Cara, whose "Fame" single and soundtrack also went top 10. Most of the music on the album is trendy, urban dance rock, though there are also a few ballads, including a torchy tune by Kim Carnes (produced by Keith Olsen). But the most interesting facet of the album is that it mixes cuts by dance queen Donna Summer and aspirants to the throne Irene Cara and Laura Branigan.

More about Flashdance click here



Buy the soundtrack

Irene Cara
What A Feelin`


Review from All Music Guide for What a Feelin' - 1983

As a general rule, you would expect that an album featuring a gold-selling number-one hit, a Top Ten hit, and two Top 40 follow-ups would itself be a considerable success, but Irene Cara's second album had trouble staying among the 100 best-sellers. Why? That chart-topper, "Flashdance...What a Feeling," had come the previous spring, and most people who wanted to own it had purchased it either as a single or on the multi-platinum soundtrack album. Plus, Cara never established a base beyond her individual hits. This wasn't surprising, really, since, despite her participation as singer and co-lyricist, Cara essentially was the mouthpiece of Eurodisco producer Giorgio Moroder on these recordings. Thus, although Irene Cara was all over the airwaves in 1983-84, and although this album contained all five of her chart entries from the period, Cara herself failed to benefit over the long term, and as a glut for this kind of material set in, she was left behind.
    
   

Breakdance

The single of "Breakdance"
from the release "What A Feelin`"


and the Promo of the Extended version poster for it

Breakdance promo
   

 

Irene Cara performed the main hit of the soundtrack:
Flashdance... What a Feeling

 

The song won:

  

2 Golden Globe:
Best Original Score - Motion Picture
Best Original Song - Motion Picture
Award shared with:
Keith Forsey
Irene Cara - For the song "Flashdance...What a Feeling".

 

2 Grammy Awards
Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television
Award shared with:
Keith Forsey - Irene Cara
For the song "Flashdance...What A Feeling".
Best Instrumental Song for
Love Theme Flashdance

1 Acamy Award - Oscar
 Best Music, Song
Award shared with:
Keith Forsey ( lyrics )
Irene Cara ( lyrics )
For the song "Flashdance...What a Feeling".


flashdance poster
Irene Cara
Irene Cara performing at D.C. Cab