You’d have to be at least Generation X-age to fully appreciate the enormous impact that singer/songwriter/actress/producer Irene Cara had on pop culture in the 1980s. A gigantic meteor wouldn’t have made a deeper impact, really.
The theme to Flashdance? Omnipresent for years; in the public consciousness for decades. But perhaps a bigger contribution, in the scheme of things, was the theme for the 1980 film, Fame. Both the movie and the subsequent, long-running tv show was incredibly influential and inspirational – particularly for young people of color. So, so many films and tv series borrowed – and continue to borrow – from Fame. And Cara’s voice was, and remains, synonymous with that phenomenon.
My favorite Irene Cara moments, though, were her appearances in the cult film D.C. Cab and the “minor” Clint Eastwood/Burt Reynolds flick City Heat.
A music label stole a shitload of Cara’s royalty money, which was returned in a lawsuit. However, the legal action allegedly (and believably) resulted in Cara being blacklisted from the late-80s onward. That’s why we haven’t heard much from this incredibly talented woman over the last 3 decades. Cara seemed to have semi-retired – or, at least, retired from trying to deal with the industry. A shame, for Cara was a hit-maker non pareil.
Irene Cara, a true legend, dead at 63.
