Various – Flashdance (Original Soundtrack From The Motion Picture)

Flashdance: Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture is the soundtrack to the 1983 film Flashdance, which tells the story of Alex Owens (played by Jennifer Beals), a welder and exotic dancer who dreams of becoming a professional ballerina. The nightclub performances by Alex and her co-workers and other set pieces involving training and auditioning provided opportunities to present the songs that would make up the soundtrack album. The film's music supervisor, Phil Ramone, made selections that he felt were the best fit for their respective scenes, and composer Giorgio Moroder contributed additional tracks in the process of scoring the film. One of his contributions, "Flashdance...What a Feeling" by Irene Cara, was released as a single in March 1983, weeks before the film's April 15 release, and eventually spent six weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

When the film became a surprise success, the soundtrack sold out within days, and the record company was left scrambling to fill orders that totaled half a million copies. Music videos for some of the songs on the soundtrack were then put together using scenes from the film, and the next single, "Maniac" by Michael Sembello, had one of these promotional video clips shown regularly on MTV and also reached number one on the Hot 100. Because Flashdance distributor Paramount Pictures had success with a film that had no star power and received unfavorable reviews from critics, the use of the cable channel as a means of promoting films through music videos and advertising became the major new marketing strategy for motion picture studios.

Despite lukewarm reviews from critics, the soundtrack spent two weeks at number one on the Billboard 200 and has been certified six-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), while selling 20 million copies worldwide, becoming one of the best selling albums of all time. Its music garnered nine Grammy Award nominations, including an Album of the Year nod for all of the artists on the album, and won three, one of which was for Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special that went to all of the songwriters credited. Cara received high acclaim for "Flashdance...What a Feeling", winning the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female, and both the Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song with Moroder and her co-lyricist, Keith Forsey. The vocalists who had singles released from the soundtrack album all continued to work with the same producers for their next or, in most cases, first albums of solo material, only to varying degrees of success.