When he first heard the music, Brian Eno grabbed a copy of the single and ran to find David Bowie. “I’ve found the sound of the future,” he breathlessly announced. It was 1977, and the sound of the future was “I Feel Love”. Donna Summer’s ethereal vocals were backed by producer Giorgio Moroder’s pulsing, looping Moog synthesiser.
Moroder offers a curious account of his inspiration. He says he went to see the film of the year, Star Wars, and took note of the scene in the Mos Eisley Cantina, a wretched hive of scum and villainy in which a band of strange alien musicians perform a jaunty tune. (One wonders: Star Wars was released after “I Feel Love”; but Moroder’s hazy memories are still instructive.)
“I didn’t think it was the music of the future,” Moroder has recalled, which was true. (The aliens are playing woodwind, while the Star Wars composer John Williams was influenced by 1940s swing when he penned their tune.) If Moroder wanted to create the music of the future for Donna Summer, he needed to do the opposite of that. “I Feel Love” has no band and no conventional instruments except a kick drum.