Irene Cara

     The early 1980s marked a drastic shift in iconic record label Casablanca’s legacy and future. Neil Bogart, American music executive and founder of Casablanca, was pushed out in 1980 as a result of the label’s overspending and accounting irregularities. Meanwhile, the labels most prominent talents began to pursue other homes, like Donna Summers departing to Geffen Records due to creative direction disagreements. Although the label continued to represent talent, it never fully reached the peak of its disco glory days.

When it comes to hit songwriters of the ‘80s, it’s fair to say that there are plenty of big names who dominated the charts over the course of the decade, but if you had to pick one that particularly dominated the world of soundtrack singles, Giorgio Moroder would definitely be a major contender. Although Moroder was perhaps best known for dance music prior to the ‘80s, he definitely found a strong foothold in the world of rock during the ‘80s, as you’ll see from the below list.