How did you and Donna Summer meet? What was your first impression?

Donna was living in Germany and was singing in a musical that just ended. So she was just hanging out with her husband and enjoying Germany. She was doing small background singing stuff and that’s how I found her. I knew right away that she was just really, really impressive and I knew she would be a star.

So I got her in the studio and she was back then — is and always would be — an absolute great talent. She came from a black music background so she knew her stuff. She had lived in Boston and performed there for many years. She was in many musicals before too, so she had a lot of training. Many people don’t know this but she also played piano very well. So she is so much more than just an accomplished singer.

You’re considered a main pioneer of dance music and it was this disco period with Donna where it all began.

Yes, exactly. At first I loved living in Berlin even though I was a little homesick, I had some successes there. But it was my time in Munich with Donna that made us both stars for a time. We had two songs that did okay, I don’t remember them exactly. But the main song that launched me, and launched Donna, was a disco track called “Love To Love You Baby.” And that sort of launched this disco image of me. I always just made whatever kind of music I wanted or was into, but that record made people associate me with disco. I am proud of it, of course.

It was after this disco phase that you experimented more with electronic equipment. Tell us about the transition and era.

Well in 1978 or 1979, I did “I Feel Love” with Donna and that was much more of an electronic-based song, more electronic than disco I would say. So that just pushed my reputation as an “electronic music guy,” but there were already a few of us all doing the same thing. We all took music to new areas with technology without pushing too much I think. Myself, the Kraftwerk guys, Tangerine Dream, and so on. Maybe what I did was just right before others but I feel it was all around the same era basically.

Talk about E=MC2. It’s considered the first album to ever be recorded digitally.

This was a total experiment. The way we had the high-pitched voices and such, some people liked it, some hated it. So, in the end I wasn’t sure if all my decisions on that record were good ideas [laughs]. What I really remember is that we recorded it in three days and it was extremely, extremely expensive. I think it was $10,000 a day to record there [laughs]!

The technology was new and we had tons of computers in the studio and everything became very complicated. You couldn’t do edits and other small things that you normally could do because it was so new. The project ended up taking several weeks longer than expected. I remember having to go to Utah, Salt Lake City in fact, to further edit and render everything. It was a major undertaking but it really associated me as the “electronic music guy.”

Around this time you dabbled in film scores which launched your work in many American films. You earned your first Academy Award for Midnight Express. What do you remember about the night you won?

That was — on one hand — absolutely great! And on the other hand, it was terrifying [laughs]. I was terribly nervous but of course it was an honor. I was still a little surprised, but it was not a huge surprise because I had won the Golden Globes and other awards leading up to it. All the critics from New York and Los Angeles all loved it and were saying nice things so there was not a huge element of shock or anything. At least that’s what I told myself [laughs].

I was sitting there in the theater, and when they announced it, I was very, very nervous [laughs]. In fact, I forgot what I wanted to say and forgot to mention so many people I wanted to thank that were involved with the record. I still feel bad to this day. When I think back now about how I was on that stage, it’s an absolute embarrassment [laughs].

You contributed to the famous Scarface soundtrack, which is of course was, and still is, wildly popular here. What comes to mind when you think back on it?

First off, it’s a great movie and I love it, as a movie. But when it first came out it didn’t do too well — it was later with VHS and DVD that it became a cult movie. But it is interesting how many people liked it. It especially seems to have been accepted in African-American community and rap music seemed to embrace it, which of course, makes me very glad. I only have a few tracks on there and I don’t particularly like them [laughs].

What about your work on Top Gun? Talk about that a bit.

Well, I just did the two songs, “Take My Breath Away” and “Danger Zone.” With “Danger Zone” we had a few people in mind to record the track but Jerry Bruckheimer, the film’s producer, came up with the name Kenny Loggins. I had not met Kenny before that, and we met and we did everything in one day — it was very fast. Kenny’s a very great singer. So yeah, that was just business and quickly done, but people still mention it so it makes me glad.

I read you consider “Take My Breath Away” to be best song you ever did.

It’s probably my best song, I believe. It has a great melody and Terry [Nunn] sang it beautifully. I think it has a very interesting bassline too, but at the same time, it was very pop. The production was great. I ended up getting another Academy Award for it, so yes, it’s probably one of my favorite songs.

What about your work on the re-release of Metropolis? It another one that’s a real distinct, high-profile release and was part of a major restoration effort.

Ah, you can write whatever you want [laughs]. I hated that project.

Another famous soundtrack you worked on was Cat People which, of course, is where you worked with Bowie. In light of his recent passing, if you could, please share a bit about your friendship and time together.

I met David a long time ago when he had his first hit with “Space Oddity.” I met him in Switzerland at a TV show appearance we did together. When he walked into the room I thought here’s this good-looking guy who’s also very interestingly dressed! I had a couple bubblegum-type records out at the time and like I said earlier, he had “Space Oddity” out. It remains my favorite song by him. I always thought he was great.

Giorgio Moroder and Paul Schrader assist David Bowie during the recording of “Cat People” at Mountain Studio in Montreux, Switzerland.

We kept a little bit in contact through the years but nothing major. In the mid 70s he called me and asked if he could use one of my studios to record an upcoming project. The particular studio he wanted, Musicland, was in Munich and I said I was really busy at the time to go over. Plus, it was being used by all kinds of people—Blondie, Elton John, Led Zeppelin, so forth. So I recommended him to use this studio in Berlin I had used quite frequently in the late 60s. He apparently did and spoke highly of it years later when we met again.

What was the working process like?

Well, many years later, this was in Montreux, Switzerland and I remember David walking into the room, tall and handsome. At the time I did an album, specifically a soundtrack, for a film called Cat People. This was the early 80s if I remember correctly, and we needed the main theme. I decided then that there was only one person who could sing it and that was David.

The image of the film was perfect for him to be associated with and I thought the song was good for him—the sort of strange arrangement and backwards sounds and all the added audio of course David really liked. And we actually recorded it really fast, it only took a little over an hour. And the funny thing I recall is that the director of the film was also there working in the studio. He was overseeing a bunch of stuff that day and he watched as we recorded this. It took us only two takes to get everything right. But the director said “No, no, we need to do that again!”

So, fair to say he was in the way.

Well, directors, I think, are used to taking multiple takes on set, doing everything over and over. But this was the music studio. So David, I remember, was very polite and said “If you want another take, okay. But Giorgio and I think it’s already absolutely perfect.” David then stood up and walked outside, presumably to smoke or something. But the director didn’t say a word after that. And that’s what you hear now. Many years later when David would come to Los Angeles, we would meet.

Another iconic one, one of your biggest hits and one you’ve recently ended your DJ sets with is “Neverending Story.” Not only is it a perfect way to end your sets, it also bookends your career nicely.

When I DJ now, everyone knows the words and sings along. And that makes me very happy. As an artist, I really cannot be any more thrilled.