Released 1978 Recorded 1978 | Format 7"
12" | |
B-side "Love's Theme"
"Istanbul Blues"
"(Theme From) Midnight Express" Genre Italo disco
electro-disco
space disco
hi-NRG Length 13:06 (maxi single)
8:26 (LP version)
3:38 (single version) | ||
"Chase" (also known as "The Chase") is an instrumental composition by Italian music producer Giorgio Moroder. It was released as a single during 1978 from his Academy Award-winning soundtrack album Midnight Express (1978), and was a disco instrumental that was subsequently extended and released as a maxi single. It made the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1979, peaking at number 33, and the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 48.
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Background
Created especially for the film Midnight Express, Alan Parker, the director of the film, explicitly asked Moroder for a song in the style of "I Feel Love", which Moroder composed for Donna Summer. It was Moroder's first time composing a movie soundtrack. Although a disco piece, "Chase", along with "I Feel Love", is more specifically considered the pioneering introduction of the hi-NRG genre, which came to prominence in the early 1980s. The music was arranged by Harold Faltermeyer under the leadership of Giorgio Moroder. A remix of the song, credited to Giorgio Moroder vs. Jam & Spoon and renamed "The Chase", was released in 2000 and had a positive commercial performance, charting in several countries.
Track listing
In other media
The song was used as the entrance theme for the professional wrestling tag team, The Midnight Express during the 1980s and 1990s, although their name nor their characters were not based on the movie. The song is often, if not exclusively, used on the American syndicated late night radio show Coast to Coast AM, and was selected by Art Bell about two decades ago. He would intro the show, then about 30 seconds in he would say, "From the high desert and the great American southwest, this is Art Bell wishing you a good evening, good morning, wherever you may be." It was also used in the Monday night football halftime highlights.