The PopCulteer
December 2, 2022

We have reached the first Friday of December, and this afternoon we offer up a special new episode of MIRRORBALL on The AIR. The AIR is PopCult‘s sister radio station. You can hear these shows on The AIR website, or just click on the embedded player found elsewhere on this page.

At 2 PM, Mel Larch uncorks a new MIRRORBALL! The AIR’s showcase of classic Disco music presents a collection songs produced and composed by Giorgio Moroder.

Moroder changed the landscape of Disco music with his sonic creations like Donna Summer’s hypnotic “I Feel Love.” Widely regarded as a founding father of disco and also an electronic music trailblazer, Moroder made his mark as an influential Italian producer, songwriter, performer and DJ.

Over the course of his career, Mr. Moroder has worked with some of the most famous names in music including Barbra Streisand, Elton John, Cher, Janet Jackson and David Bowie. He is heavily noted for being the key player in the Queen of Disco Donna Summer‘s rise to fame throughout the 1970s, collaborating with her on her biggest hits including “Love To Love You Baby,” “Hot Stuff” and “I Feel Love.” In 1997, Moroder and Summer won the Grammy Award for “Best Dance Recording” for the song “Carry On.”

Giorgio Moroder’s music charted success everywhere the disco craze touched down but he is also responsible for some of the most classic film scores to date including Scarface and Midnight Express, as well as timeless soundtrack numbers like Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away” (Top Gun), Irene Cara’s “Flashdance,” Blondie’s “Call Me” (American Gigolo), as well as compositions on films such as The NeverEnding Story, Superman III, Rambo III and Beverly Hills Cop II. From these, Moroder has accumulated three Academy Awards, four Golden Globes, four Grammys and more than 100 gold and platinum records. Giorgio Moroder was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame in 2004.

We’ll hear the Disco classics created by Mororder and his Munich Machine cohorts, Pete Bellotte and Keith Forsey, and chances are we’ll continue this theme with the next episode of MIRRORBALL in a couple of weeks.

Check out the playlist…

MIRRORBALL 064

Giorgio Moroder “The Chase”
Donna Summer “Virgin Mary”
Trax “Watch Out For The Boogie Man”
Dino Solera “Classically Elise”
Giorgio Moroder “I Want To Funk With You Tonight”
Marsha Hunt “The Other Side of Midnight”
Giorgio Moroder “Utopia”
Speed Limit “Love Fever”
Giorgio Moroder “Let The Music Play”
Munich Machine “Party Light”

You can hear MIRRORBALL almost every Friday at 2 PM, with replays Saturday at 9 PM and Sunday at 11 PM exclusively on The AIR. Next week things will be a bit different because of our big December programming stunt!

The AIR’s Big December Programming Stunt

Starting Monday, December 5, at 7 AM, The AIR will kick into “Best of 2022” mode, as we present eight days of marathons featuring the best episodes of our music specialty shows from the first eleven months of this year. Check out this schedule:

From Monday at 7 AM until Wednesday at 1 PM it’s our flagship show, Radio Free Charleston.

Wednesday at 1 PM until Midnight we have Mel Larch’s Curtain Call.

Thursday, Midnight to Midnight, Herman Linte graces us with our prog-rock show, Prognosis.

Friday all day it’s me with The Swing Shift, making things Swing for you hipsters.

All Day Saturday MIRRORBALL changes the dance style as Mel Larch brings you 24 hours of classic Disco music.

Sunday Sydney’s Big Electric Cat brings New Wave Music to the forefront, courtesy of Sydney Fileen.

Monday, December 12, wraps up our Marathons with Nigel Pye’s Psychedelic Shack, from 7 AM to 9 PM, and then yours truly returns with ten hours of Beatles Blast.

And then Monday, December 13, me mother’s birthday, no less,  The AIR returns to normal for a week before we get all Christmas-y.

And with that, we wrap up this week’s PopCulteer. Speaking of wrapping things up, later today sees the final installment of The 2022 PopCult Gift Guide, as we go out with five super-cool gift ideas. In this space next week we’ll bring you the master list of every gift idea we brought you. We’ll also have all our regular weekly features.