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About This Track
The song was used in the 1983 film Flashdance and was inspired by the 1980 horror film Maniac. The film Maniac was about a serial killer who stalks his victims in New York City. The song’s performer and co-writer Michael Sembello recalls that an early version of the chorus was:
He’s a maniac, maniac that’s for sure,
He will kill your cat and nail him to the door.
At the suggestion of the record’s producer Phil Ramone, the lyrics were rewritten to describe a girl with a passion for dancing. The lyrics became:
She’s a maniac, maniac on the floor
And she’s dancing like she’s never danced before.
“Maniac” appears during an early scene in Flashdance and is used as the backing track of a montage sequence showing Alex (Jennifer Beals) training strenuously in her converted warehouse.
The song was included in Flashdance after Sembello’s wife sent a tape to executives at Paramount Pictures who were looking for music to use in the film.
Charts and awards
“Maniac” reached number one in the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in September 1983, and is one of the highest grossing songs ever written for a film. In addition to producing “Maniac”, Phil Ramone produced the song that would dethrone it from the top spot, Billy Joel’s “Tell Her About It”. The Original Soundtrack of Flashdance won the 1984 Grammy Award for Best Album of Original Score Written for A Motion Picture or a Television Special.
He’s a maniac, maniac that’s for sure,
He will kill your cat and nail him to the door.
At the suggestion of the record’s producer Phil Ramone, the lyrics were rewritten to describe a girl with a passion for dancing. The lyrics became:
She’s a maniac, maniac on the floor
And she’s dancing like she’s never danced before.
“Maniac” appears during an early scene in Flashdance and is used as the backing track of a montage sequence showing Alex (Jennifer Beals) training strenuously in her converted warehouse.
The song was included in Flashdance after Sembello’s wife sent a tape to executives at Paramount Pictures who were looking for music to use in the film.
Charts and awards
“Maniac” reached number one in the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in September 1983, and is one of the highest grossing songs ever written for a film. In addition to producing “Maniac”, Phil Ramone produced the song that would dethrone it from the top spot, Billy Joel’s “Tell Her About It”. The Original Soundtrack of Flashdance won the 1984 Grammy Award for Best Album of Original Score Written for A Motion Picture or a Television Special.
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Albums featuring this track
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Bossa Nova Hotel
Michael Sembello
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Flashdance
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Shouts
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Jehssicahls wrote:
<3
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lauryyn wrote:
love this! flashdance ftw :-)
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Anni--x3 wrote:
♫♫ ♥
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angeliqueluff wrote:
loveee this song <3
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NitaD1 wrote:
Not bad...
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Retro_Saiyan wrote:
Fantabulous song.
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Hutsmod wrote:
classic
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silversurfer250 wrote:
Cold Kinetic Heat.
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fancykatya wrote:
I'd have to agree with kiteo on remaining in the dark on what Sembello looked like in the 80's~
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kiteo wrote:
I'd sooner have remained in the dark over what Michael Sembello looked like.
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lapoig wrote:
Good song for training ! Feel so good !
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below50 wrote:
Super extra......I am dancing like I never dance before.
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nikiroussi68 wrote:
Flashdance! Great dance at that scene!
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Velimirius wrote:
\o/\o/\o/\o/
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sirthorty wrote:
FLASHDANCE! YES.....great movie, great music
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flubbles1982 wrote:
Flashdance I love you and this song is just body-popping good!
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WheckYeah wrote:
pop/dance music from the 80's kick ass all pop from nowadays
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cadaver11 wrote:
Nooooooooo, I love the lounge jazz version better.
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cadaver11 wrote:
@dubyawhy Want an award?
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cadaver11 wrote:
YES! I love this version.
Track Stats
473,999 Scrobbles
120,265 Listeners
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Recent Activity
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Scot_Bernard added Maniac to the playlist. yesterday evening
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Scot_Bernard, sclsn, wasserfeder and 9 other people loved Michael Sembello – Maniac. yesterday evening
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thankyou1 added Maniac to thankyou1’s library. Saturday morning
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zuz80, LORDBRAD1010, Jehssicahls and 15 other people loved Michael Sembello – Maniac. Saturday morning
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boshkan89 added Maniac to boshkan89’s library. Tuesday afternoon
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boshkan89 added Maniac to the playlist discofunkelectro80's. Tuesday afternoon
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S4M04NxM4F14, BrittoLaJefaFoo, HarajukuGirl420 and 5 other people loved Michael Sembello – Maniac. Tuesday morning
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MANARA-DALI tagged Maniac with ‘melange-retro-manara’. Monday morning
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PaYaMv2 added Maniac to the playlist PaYaM's. Monday morning
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PaYaMv2, Sminita, fluffythealien and 2 other people loved Michael Sembello – Maniac. Monday morning
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