Joe Esposito | |
---|---|
Birth name | Joseph Patrick Esposito |
Born | New York, New York, U.S. | May 5, 1948
Genres | |
Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
Years active | 1977–present |
Joe "Bean" Esposito (born May 5, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter whose career spans from the 1970s to the present day. Esposito is known for creating songs that have appeared in film soundtracks, such as those of American Hot Wax , Staying Alive, Scarface, The Karate Kid , and Coming to America . Several of his songs have also been recorded by Donna Summer, Aretha Franklin, Patti LaBelle, and Stephen Stills, among others.
Esposito was a member of the band Brooklyn Dreams, best known for their collaboration with Donna Summer on the US top ten hit "Heaven Knows". Esposito collaborated with producer Giorgio Moroder on the 1982 Solitary Men project, which became Esposito's first solo album. In 1983, Esposito contributed the song "Lady, Lady, Lady" to the Flashdance soundtrack album; the song also appeared on the Solitary Men album. In 1984, his song "You're the Best" was included in The Karate Kid film and soundtrack.
In 1984, the Flashdance soundtrack was nominated for Album of the Year at the Grammys; the soundtrack album contained one of Esposito's songs ("Lady, Lady, Lady") as well as songs from various other acts. In 1988, Brenda Russell and Esposito were nominated for Best Pop Duo for the song "Piano in the Dark", as he supplied vocals on the song as well. Also in 1988, he duetted with Laura Branigan on the song "Come into My Life" which appeared on the soundtrack to the film Coming to America . Joe performs as a vocalist at various casino hotels. During the early 1990s, he and Eddy Hokenson (of Brooklyn Dreams) toured with Kenny Vance and the Planotones, a vocal group created for the film American Hot Wax . In May 2013, Esposito became the lead singer for the Brooklyn Bridge band, formerly known as Johnny Maestro & the Brooklyn Bridge.
Joe Esposito was born in New York City in Brooklyn. He is the father of Mike Esposito, who pitched in 2005 for Major League Baseball's Colorado Rockies. [1] He is a father of four. He is married to Lynda Esposito. Esposito lives in Las Vegas.
Flashdance is a 1983 American romantic drama dance film directed by Adrian Lyne and starring Jennifer Beals as a passionate young dancer who aspires to become a professional ballerina (Alex), alongside Michael Nouri playing her boyfriend and the owner of the steel mill where she works by day in Pittsburgh. It was the first collaboration of producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, and the presentation of some sequences in the style of music videos was an influence on other 1980s films including Footloose, Purple Rain, and Top Gun, Simpson and Bruckheimer's most famous production. It was also one of Lyne's first major film releases, building on television commercials. Alex's elaborate dance sequences were shot using body doubles.
Giovanni Giorgio Moroder is an Italian composer and music producer. Dubbed the "Father of Disco", Moroder is credited with pioneering euro disco and electronic dance music. His work with synthesizers had a large influence on several music genres such as Hi-NRG, Italo disco, synth-pop, new wave, house and techno music.
Hans Hugo Harold Faltermeyer is a German musician, composer and record producer.
"Flashdance... What a Feeling" is a song from the 1983 film Flashdance with music by Giorgio Moroder and lyrics by Keith Forsey and the song's performer, Irene Cara. Moroder had been asked to score the film, and Cara and Forsey wrote most of the lyrics after they were shown the last scene from it in which the main character dances at an audition for a group of judges. They felt that the dancer's ambition to succeed could act as a metaphor for achieving any dream a person has and wrote lyrics that described what it feels like when music inspires someone to dance. The song wound up being used for the scene they watched as well as during the opening credits as the main character is shown working as a welder.
"You're the Best" is a song performed by Joe Esposito and written by Bill Conti (music) and Allee Willis (lyrics), which came to prominence as the music to the All-Valley Karate Championships montage in the 1984 movie The Karate Kid in which the protagonist, Daniel LaRusso, proves a surprisingly formidable contender.
Paul Engemann is an American former pop singer. He is best known for performing vocals on the 1983 Giorgio Moroder song "Scarface ", which was featured prominently in the film Scarface.
Joe Pizzulo is an American vocalist best known as one of the lead singers on 1980s hit singles credited to Sérgio Mendes, including "Never Gonna Let You Go" and "Alibis". Pizzulo has had several singles and soundtrack appearances, but he is also a prominent background singer for many artists. He is also known as the singer of English version of the 1988 Olympic theme song "Hand in Hand".
I'm a Rainbow is the ninth studio album recorded by American singer-songwriter Donna Summer. The album was recorded in 1981 and scheduled to be released on October 5 of that year but was shelved. It was not released until fifteen years later, on August 20, 1996 by Casablanca and Mercury Records. There was no promotion for the album. No singles or music videos were released. AllMusic gave the album a positive review, naming it her most personal record.
Brooklyn Dreams were an American singing group of the late 1970s, mixing R&B harmonies with contemporary dance/disco music and best known for a number of collaborations with singer Donna Summer. The band consisted of Joe "Bean" Esposito, Eddie Hokenson and Bruce Sudano. Esposito provided lead vocals for the band and played guitar, while Sudano played keyboards and Hokenson played drums and occasionally sang lead vocals.
Bruce Charles Sudano is an American musician and songwriter noted for creating songs for artists such as Michael Jackson, Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, and his late wife, the Grammy Award-winning singer Donna Summer. Sudano is the founder of indie record label Purple Heart Recording Company.
Scarface: Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack album featured on the 1983 American crime film, Scarface, which was directed by Brian De Palma. Composed by Italian producer Giorgio Moroder, the vinyl soundtrack was released on December 9 of the same year through MCA Records. The album features music created by Moroder, who wrote and produced all of the tracks. Scarface counts with the collaboration of multiple singers, including Paul Engemann, Debbie Harry, Amy Holland, Elizabeth Daily, among other artists. The soundtrack received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Original Score at the 41st Golden Globe Awards.
Treated and Released is the third studio solo album by Joe "Bean" Esposito, the lead singer for the Brooklyn Dreams. They scored a Billboard # 2 hit with "Heaven Knows", a duet with Donna Summer.
Helen St. John is a singer-songwriter, pianist, lyricist and recording artist.
What a Feelin' is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Irene Cara. Released on November 2, 1983, this album is a continuation of the work that Cara began with producer Giorgio Moroder on the soundtrack to the 1983 film Flashdance. The dance-pop song she co-wrote with Moroder and Keith Forsey for the film, "Flashdance... What a Feeling", went to number one on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 and foreshadowed the style of this album, which was unlike her R&B-heavy debut. Although Cara was more accustomed to composing music, she relinquished most of those duties to Moroder here and shifted much of her songwriting focus to lyrics.
Flashdance: Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture is the soundtrack to the 1983 film Flashdance, which tells the story of Alex Owens, a welder and exotic dancer who dreams of becoming a professional ballerina. The nightclub performances by Alex and her co-workers and other set pieces involving training and auditioning provided opportunities to present the songs that would make up the soundtrack album. The film's music supervisor, Phil Ramone, made selections that he felt were the best fit for their respective scenes, and composer Giorgio Moroder contributed additional tracks in the process of scoring the film. One of his contributions, "Flashdance...What a Feeling" by Irene Cara, was released as a single in March 1983, weeks before the film's April 15 release, and eventually spent six weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The soundtrack was released on April 11, 1983 by Casablanca Records.
American Gigolo is the soundtrack album to the 1980 film of the same name, starring Richard Gere and Lauren Hutton. The music was composed and performed by Italian musician Giorgio Moroder and was released worldwide on the Polydor label. It peaked at #7 on the Billboard 200 album chart. All the cuts from the soundtrack also went to number two for five weeks on the disco/dance charts.
"Lady, Lady, Lady" is a 1983 song written by Giorgio Moroder and Keith Forsey and performed by singer Joe Esposito for the film Flashdance. It was released as a single from the soundtrack to the film.
"To Turn the Stone" is a song written by Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, first recorded by American singer Donna Summer for her 1981 album I'm a Rainbow. This album, however, was shelved until 1996. The song was then recorded in 1982 by Swedish singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad for her 1982 album Something's Going On, produced by Phil Collins.
"The Dream (Hold On to Your Dream)" is a song written by Giorgio Moroder, Pete Bellotte, and the song's performer, Irene Cara, for the 1983 film D.C. Cab. Although not included on initial pressings of Cara's What a Feelin' LP, the decision to release the film four months earlier than originally slated prompted an arrangement for her album to be reissued with the song. A slightly different version (more noticeable in the intro) was also included on the film's soundtrack album; an edited version was released on the 7-inch single, and the 12-inch single included a much longer dance remix.
Solitary Men is a 1983 collaborative studio album by Italian producer Giorgio Moroder and Grammy-winning American singer Joe Esposito. Highlights from the album include a new arrangement of "Nights in White Satin" by the Moody Blues and "Lady, Lady", which appears in the films Flashdance and Call Me by Your Name.