{"id":7616,"date":"2016-02-09T14:43:07","date_gmt":"2016-02-09T22:43:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/?p=7616"},"modified":"2016-03-20T22:58:23","modified_gmt":"2016-03-21T06:58:23","slug":"was-the-hit-1980s-song-maniac-originally-written-about-a-serial-killer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/2016\/02\/09\/was-the-hit-1980s-song-maniac-originally-written-about-a-serial-killer\/","title":{"rendered":"Was the Hit 1980s Song &#8220;Maniac&#8221; Originally Written About a Serial Killer?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about music and whether they are true or false. Click <a href=\"http:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/2009\/04\/19\/movie-legends-revealed-history\/\">here<\/a> to view an archive of the movie urban legends featured so far.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold\">MUSIC URBAN LEGEND<\/span><\/span>: &#8220;Maniac&#8221; was originally written about a serial killer.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Maniac&#8221; was a major hit song by Michael Sembello that Sembello wrote with his writing partner, Dennis Matkosky.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/maniac-375x375.jpg\" alt=\"maniac\" width=\"375\" height=\"375\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-7618\" srcset=\"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/maniac-375x375.jpg 375w, https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/maniac-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/maniac-515x515.jpg 515w, https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/maniac.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 375px) 100vw, 375px\" \/><iframe style=\"width:120px;height:240px;\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" src=\"\/\/ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/widgets\/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&#038;OneJS=1&#038;Operation=GetAdHtml&#038;MarketPlace=US&#038;source=ac&#038;ref=tf_til&#038;ad_type=product_link&#038;tracking_id=legenrevea-20&#038;marketplace=amazon&#038;region=US&#038;placement=B002UUIZR8&#038;asins=B002UUIZR8&#038;linkId=CALCIV6YJD5HCNQJ&#038;show_border=true&#038;link_opens_in_new_window=true\"><br \/>\n<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>It was featured prominently on the soundtrack to the hit film Flashdance, starring Jennifer Beals.<\/p>\n<p><center><a href=\"http:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/flashdance.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/flashdance-367x550.jpg\" alt=\"flashdance\" width=\"367\" height=\"550\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-7617\" srcset=\"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/flashdance-367x550.jpg 367w, https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/flashdance-515x772.jpg 515w, https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/flashdance.jpg 580w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 367px) 100vw, 367px\" \/><\/a><iframe style=\"width:120px;height:240px;\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" src=\"\/\/ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/widgets\/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&#038;OneJS=1&#038;Operation=GetAdHtml&#038;MarketPlace=US&#038;source=ac&#038;ref=qf_sp_asin_til&#038;ad_type=product_link&#038;tracking_id=legenrevea-20&#038;marketplace=amazon&#038;region=US&#038;placement=B001DTTG16&#038;asins=B001DTTG16&#038;linkId=GRFT5A3JF622UVV5&#038;show_border=true&#038;link_opens_in_new_window=true\"><br \/>\n<\/iframe><\/center><\/p>\n<p>The song is best known for its catchy chorus:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>She&#8217;s a maniac, maniac on the floor<br \/>\nAnd she&#8217;s dancing like she&#8217;s never danced before <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Amazingly enough, though, the song &#8220;Maniac&#8221; was originally written about an ACTUAL maniac &#8211; a serial killer! Read on to see how it changed&#8230;<br \/>\n<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>The song&#8217;s origins go back to when Matkowsky went to see the 1980 thriller, Maniac (directed by William Lustig), about a serial killer&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><center><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/maniac1980-360x550.jpg\" alt=\"maniac1980\" width=\"360\" height=\"550\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-7619\" srcset=\"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/maniac1980-360x550.jpg 360w, https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/maniac1980-515x787.jpg 515w, https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/maniac1980.jpg 645w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 360px) 100vw, 360px\" \/><iframe style=\"width:120px;height:240px;\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" src=\"\/\/ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/widgets\/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&#038;OneJS=1&#038;Operation=GetAdHtml&#038;MarketPlace=US&#038;source=ac&#038;ref=tf_til&#038;ad_type=product_link&#038;tracking_id=legenrevea-20&#038;marketplace=amazon&#038;region=US&#038;placement=B000JU7JIW&#038;asins=B000JU7JIW&#038;linkId=W4L4UHA76VL7SLZG&#038;show_border=true&#038;link_opens_in_new_window=true\"><br \/>\n<\/iframe><\/center><\/p>\n<p>Matkowsky came to Sembello about the idea for making a song about, well, a maniac. <\/p>\n<p>The original chorus (this was just temporary, they planned on changing it before they were finished with the song) was :<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\n&#8221; He&#8217;s a maniac,maniac that&#8217;s for sure<br \/>\nHe will kill your cat and nail him to the door&#8221;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Meanwhile, though, Phil Ramone was music supervisor for the then-upcomong dance film, Flashdance, and he asked Sembello and Matkowsky to send in some demos for possible inclusion in the film.<\/p>\n<p>There are two versions of the story of how &#8220;Maniac&#8221; was heard by Ramone. In one, Sembello had his wife put some songs they came up with on to one tape and send them into Ramone. Sembello&#8217;s wife accidentally included the &#8220;Maniac&#8221; demo in their submission (I am not sure how, I believe it might have just been on the tape already that she used to put the other songs on, but don&#8217;t quote me on that) and Ramone loved it, although he, of course, told them that they should change the song to be about the female dancer in &#8220;Flashdance&#8221; instead of an actual murderous maniac.<\/p>\n<p>Matkowsky, meanwhile, has said that they just played the song for Ramone in person and he liked it, but wanted them to change the lyrics. <\/p>\n<p>In either event, the end result was that after some lyrical changes, a hit was born!<\/p>\n<p>The legend is&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><u><span style=\"font-weight: bold\">STATUS<\/span><\/u>: True<\/p>\n<p>Thanks to Michael Sembello, who wrote in to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/detail.php?id=806\">SongFacts<\/a> with said facts about his song.<\/p>\n<p>Feel free (heck, I implore you!) to write in with your suggestions for future urban legends columns! My e-mail address is &#98;c&#114;o&#110;i&#x6e;&#64;&#x6c;e&#x67;e&#x6e;d&#x73;r&#x65;v&#x65;a&#x6c;e&#x64;.&#x63;o&#x6d;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about music and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the movie urban legends featured so far. MUSIC URBAN LEGEND: &#8220;Maniac&#8221; was originally written about a serial killer. &#8220;Maniac&#8221; was a major hit song by Michael Sembello [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7MjBq-1YQ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5563,"url":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/2013\/12\/26\/was-december-1963-oh-what-a-night-originally-written-about-prohibition\/","url_meta":{"origin":7616,"position":0},"title":"Was &#8220;December, 1963 (Oh What a Night)&#8221; Originally Written About Prohibition?","date":"December 26, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about movies and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the movie urban legends featured so far. MUSIC URBAN LEGEND: \"December, 1963 (Oh What a Night)\" was originally about the repeal of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Music Legends Revealed&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7826,"url":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/2016\/04\/22\/was-i-write-the-songs-written-about-brian-wilson\/","url_meta":{"origin":7616,"position":1},"title":"Was &#8220;I Write the Songs&#8221; Written About Brian Wilson?","date":"April 22, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about music and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the movie urban legends featured so far. MUSIC URBAN LEGEND: \"I Write the Songs\" was written about Brian Wilson from the Beach\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Music Legends Revealed&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/I_Write_the_Songs_cover.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6641,"url":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/2015\/07\/09\/was-the-dixie-cups-hit-song-iko-iko-recorded-without-their-knowledge\/","url_meta":{"origin":7616,"position":2},"title":"Was the Dixie Cups&#8217; Hit Song &#8220;Iko Iko&#8221; Recorded Without Their Knowledge?","date":"July 9, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about music and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the movie urban legends featured so far. MUSIC URBAN LEGEND: The Dixie Cups' version of \"Iko Iko\" was recorded without their knowledge.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Music Legends Revealed&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5366,"url":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/2013\/10\/28\/was-danger-zone-originally-going-to-be-a-toto-song\/","url_meta":{"origin":7616,"position":3},"title":"Was &#8220;Danger Zone&#8221; Originally Going to be a Toto Song?","date":"October 28, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about movies and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the movie urban legends featured so far. MUSIC URBAN LEGEND: \"Danger Zone\" was originally going to be a Toto song! The popular\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Music Legends Revealed&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5425,"url":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/2013\/11\/14\/did-barry-manilow-seriously-write-mandy-about-his-dog\/","url_meta":{"origin":7616,"position":4},"title":"Did Barry Manilow Seriously Write &#8220;Mandy&#8221; About His Dog?","date":"November 14, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about movies and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the movie urban legends featured so far. MUSIC URBAN LEGEND: Barry Manilow wrote \"Mandy\" about his dog. A very popular urban legend\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Music Legends Revealed&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6639,"url":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/2015\/07\/09\/was-the-first-published-song-about-baseball-written-before-the-civil-war\/","url_meta":{"origin":7616,"position":5},"title":"Was the First Published Song About Baseball Written Before the Civil War?","date":"July 9, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about music and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the movie urban legends featured so far. MUSIC\/BASEBALL URBAN LEGEND: The first published baseball song pre-dates the Civil War! \"Take Me Out\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Music Legends Revealed&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"baseball-polka","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/baseball-polka.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7616"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7616"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7616\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7738,"href":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7616\/revisions\/7738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}