Flashdance and Michael Sembello's Maniac
Tuesday/May/04 2010 Filed in: Art, Music and Movement
Flashdance changed the whole idea of musicals in 1983
Tailor-made for the budding MTV generation, this movie about a steel-town girl who dreamed of one day being a professional dancer was exciting, energizing and inspiring.
And the driving pulse-beat of the film was the excellent song, Maniac. Though not written for the movie - and originally conceived as a country song - Maniac was the lifeblood of this Hero-Journey of a welder-turned-dancer.
And at the core of Maniac was a sizzling guitar solo that I have tried unsuccessfully for years to learn how to play.
Who knew there was this interesting tapping trick to it?
Here are four guys of have mastered that bit of musical magic...
Ago Tambone takes on the entire song. This excellent guitarist is in a class all by himself. (The solo is at 3:00 into the clip.)
The original Flashdance video
