By 1984 Giorgio Moroder already held an Oscar for “Flashdance…What a Feeling” and the title of chief producer of synthetic pop. Philip Oakey was the frontman of Britain's Human League, known for “Don't You Want Me” (1981). When Moroder needed a vocalist for the soundtrack of a new film - Electric Dreams - he called Oakey. The result was the single “Together in Electric Dreams”, which reached #3 UK Singles Chart, and the 1985 album Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder. The track is a rare collaboration between two eras of synth music: Moroder's Munich Sound and Oakey's Sheffield synthpop.
The film Electric Dreams: a computer falls in love
Electric Dreams (directed by Steve Barron) is a 1984 sci-fi comedy about a programmer named Miles whose computer accidentally gains AI and falls in love with his neighbour. The film bombed ($4.6 million box office on a $5 million budget). But its soundtrack remained cult - Moroder assembled Jeff Lynne (ELO), Heaven 17, Culture Club, and most crucially wrote the title song with Oakey.
Barron is known as a music video director (“Take On Me” a-ha 1985, “Money for Nothing” Dire Straits 1985). For Electric Dreams he wanted the final scene - where the computer says goodbye to Miles - underscored by a song that “sounds like machine love”. Moroder heard the brief and called Oakey immediately: “I need your voice. It's the most human of all the synthetic voices”.
How Moroder and Oakey built the song
In July 1984 Oakey flew to Musicland Munich for four days. Moroder played him a rough - an instrumental on LinnDrum LM-1, Moog Source (bass), Oberheim OB-8 (string pad), and Yamaha DX7 (melodic part). Oakey wrote the vocal melody overnight in his hotel room.
The lyric is addressed to “you” - either a lover, or a computer (the song is deliberately ambiguous). “Only time will tell, if we stand the test of time” - the chorus leans into a future escape where love does prevail. Inside the film it's the computer's farewell; outside it plays like a pop ballad for two humans.
“Philip walked into the studio, I showed him 16 bars, and 45 minutes later he was singing the whole chorus. I've never worked with a vocalist who found a song so fast. He heard what I heard: this is an anthem.”
- Giorgio Moroder, Synthtopia, 2013
Sound anatomy
The “Together in Electric Dreams” instrumental is classic Munich Sound 1984. Moroder uses his usual kit:
- LinnDrum LM-1 - rhythmic backbone
- Moog Source - bass, eighth notes on root and fifth
- Oberheim OB-8 - string pad on the verse
- Yamaha DX7 - “bell” melodic figure on the intro (preset E. PAK 11)
- ARP 2600 - arpeggiated sequence on the bridge
The key move is the modulation into C major on the last chorus. The song sits in B-flat major throughout; at 3:42 Moroder bumps it up a whole tone. This gives the finale its emotional lift - the listener feels an “ascent” that matches the lyric “we'll always be together”.
Oakey's vocal was cut in one take. Oakey later said: “Moroder has no patience for takes. He says: „That was good, moving on". And you sing better because you don't want to disappoint him”.
- Key: B-flat major → C major (whole-tone modulation)
- BPM: 117
- Length: 4:58 (album), 4:00 (single)
- Album: Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder (July 1985, Virgin)
- Soundtrack: Electric Dreams Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (August 1984, Virgin)
- UK sales: 400,000 singles (Silver)
Chart history
The single came out on 17 September 1984 - the week the film opened in the UK. UK peak #3 UK Singles Chart (held off by Paul McCartney “No More Lonely Nights” and Stevie Wonder “I Just Called to Say I Love You”). France - #5. Germany - #7. Australia - #8.
The US release arrived only in 1985, six months late, and failed to chart on Billboard Hot 100 (the US theatrical run was an even bigger flop). Canada reached #22; Denmark - #1.
Why Oakey said yes
In 1984 Philip Oakey was in an awkward spot. Human League's 1983 Hysteria had sold a tenth of Dare (1981). Oakey needed a solo hit to prove to Virgin that he could work outside the band.
Moroder offered him favourable terms: 50% of writing credit and a guaranteed £500,000 promotional budget from Virgin. Oakey said yes immediately. “It was the single best decision of my 80s”, he told NME in 1996.
After “Together in Electric Dreams”'s success, Oakey and Moroder recorded three more tracks: “Goodbye Bad Times”, “Be My Lover Now”, and “Now”. None matched the title song. The 1985 album sold 200,000 UK copies - respectable for a solo side project.
Why the song outlived the film
Electric Dreams is forgotten. But “Together in Electric Dreams” is one of the most played songs of the cyberpunk aesthetic era. In the 2000s it was sampled in club music: Robyn “Show Me Love” (2005), Adam Ant “Wonderful” (1995). In 2017 it re-entered rotation after appearing in Black Mirror (“USS Callister” episode, December 2017).
The long life comes from the theme. “Together in Electric Dreams” is one of the first pop songs about loving technology. In the 2020s that topic is current again: AI assistants, chatbots, algorithmic dating. The 1984 lyric lands modern in 2024: “only time will tell if we stand the test of time” reads as a question to the future of artificial intelligence.
What to listen to next
For Moroder's Munich Sound arc: Donna Summer's “I Feel Love” (1977) → “Flashdance…What a Feeling” (1983) → “Together in Electric Dreams” (1984) → “Take My Breath Away” by Berlin (1986). Four chapters of Moroder as producer, from the discotheque to the Oscar.
To hear Philip Oakey working in parallel inside Human League, try “Don't You Want Me” (1981) and “Human” (1986). One voice, three different producers - League, Moroder, Jam & Lewis. It's rare for a singer's sound to survive this many producer fingerprints, but Oakey does.