FLASHDANCE [1983]

HERC's girlfriend at the time (good ol' whatsername) convinced him to go see this film in April 1983. His initial take on the movie was a female-oriented Saturday Night Fever with a day job versus a nightlife and who the heck is Jennifer Beals? After watching the movie, HERC was a fan of Beals look although he was skeptical it was her doing the dancing.

Sure enough, Beals had a dancing body double for the majority of the dancing: Marine Jahan, who was also seen as the featured dancer at Torchie's in Streets Of Fire the following year. A gymnast performed a leap in place of Beals and a 16-year-old male breakdancer donned a wig and leotard to make it seem as if "Alex" was busting a move in the final scene. There are a few noteworthy dance scenes in the film but the most inspiring scene for HERC is that final audition scene (below):

Ms. Beals was one of three finalists for the role of "Alex"; the other two were Leslie Wing and Demi Moore. Earlier, the role had been offered to and turned down by Melanie Griffith. KISS's Gene Simmons was reportedly considered for the lead male role but turned it down and Kevin Costner made it to the final round of auditions before losing out to Michael Nouri.

The film is notable for introducing ripped-collar, off-the-shoulder sweatshirts, legwarmers and breakdancing into the mainstream of pop culture; it would be more than a year before Breakin' and Beat Street hit theaters. The film is rated R for the usual reasons and Flashdance is by no means a family-friendly film. It is a lot like Purple Rain in that it is a collection of a few really great performance scenes interspersed among some really bad dialogue and a general misogynist attitude.

While HERC enjoys watching those certain scenes, he cannot recommend the movie as a whole. Flashdance's iconic imagery has been both parodied (above) and lovingly recreated many times - HERC's favorite tribute is Jennifer Lopez's "I'm Glad" video:

HERC bought his lady the soundtrack album soon after they watched the film and then, probably a month later, bought a copy for himself. The music on the soundtrack is post-disco dance music featuring songs with a new wave or rock edge and two too many ballads - one "love theme" is more than enough and HERC's preferred one is Joe Esposito's "Lady, Lady, Lady".

The movie opens and closes with the title track, Irene Cara's slow-building anthem "Flashdance... What A Feeling". The #1 song ended up #3 for the year and #26 on Billboard's All-Time Top 100 in 2008. The song went on to win a Grammy, a Golden Globe and an Academy Award. "He's A Dream", performed by Shandi aka Shandi Sinnamon, is the second song heard in Flashdance during the water-soaked chair dance (splashdance?) sequence.

In 2004, the song's rhythmic hook was reworked into the monster club jam "Flashdance" by Deep Dish featuring sound-alike vocals by Anousheh Khalili.

The third song heard in Flashdance is Michael Sembello's "Maniac", played during Alex's dance workout in her loft. Produced by the legendary producer Phil Ramone, the song reached the top of the charts three months after its June 1983 release.

A Number One song from 1982 - Joan Jett & the Blackheart's "I Love Rock N Roll" - is played during the girls' group workout session. HERC was surprised when he bought the soundtrack album and it was nowhere to be found.

Four years before her turn as Penny in Dirty Dancing, Cynthia Rhodes did this dirty dance in Flashdance, set to the song "Manhunt". It was during her next role, as Tony Manero's love interest in the abysmal Saturday Night Fever sequel Stayin' Alive, that she met her future ex-husband, Richard Marx.

Laura Branigan's 1982 smash hit "Gloria" was featured in Flashdance during an ice skating performance but left off the soundtrack album. Laura did have a song ("Imagination") on the album, though. It was heard behind Alex's second dance routine in the club.

Donna Summer performs her contribution to the Flashdance soundtrack in the clip above. The song "Romeo" was originally recorded for her I'm A Rainbow album, famously rejected by her label in 1981 before being finally released in 1996.