It’s been 35 years since Giorgio Moroder and Cher hooked up for a late-night session to produce “Bad Love,” the diva’s disco rave-up from the soundtrack of the 1980 coming-of-age drama, Foxes.

“We were supposed to start at 2 o’clock in the studio, and who comes in at 2 o’clock punctual? Cher,” Moroder recalls, tickled. “I said, ‘Shit, because with an artist like her – the big stars, you think, if it’s 2 o’clock, they come in at 5 o’clock, if you’re lucky. So she was there at 2 o’clock, and I said, ‘Cher, something is wrong – I was told you’re always late.’ And she said, ‘Yes, I’m always late... except the first time.’”

Decades have passed and music has changed and Cher has not. One other thing remains the same: Moroder still lights up at the mere thought of the ageless icon, how “I loved her” and “she was so funny.” Undoubtedly, Cher, to this day, can still smack you with a punchline. A star, an icon, the diva of all divas – her success is abiding.

Now, returning to the scene at age 75 with his first album in 30 years, Moroder can say the same for his own monumental success.

The Italy-born musical mastermind who unwittingly blazed a fruitful trail of radio hits is the father of such celebrated dance-floor relics as Donna Summer’s “Love to Love You Baby” and Blondie’s ubiquitous No. 1 hit “Call Me.” A cavernous catalog of ’70s-era paragons and Moroder’s unprecedented artistic vision became the catalyst for modern-age dance music. Between 1974 and 1984, Moroder’s creative force was a hot commodity, and everyone who was everyone – Barbra Streisand, Elton John, Janet Jackson, Chaka Khan, Freddie Mercury, David Bowie – clamored for his heyday genius.

During Moroder’s most musically prolific era, the producer, composer and DJ could be found endlessly shacked up in a studio. There, he’d mix until the wee hours, never to succumb to his own burgeoning brand of sonic escapism that coaxed just about everyone but himself – the man behind those very beats – to the clubs.

“If I go back, I remember one year, ’85, when I did the (music for the) Top Gun movie,” he says. “The whole year I was doing several projects, of which most didn’t work out, but I think I had one weekend by myself. I would work like crazy.”

And even that’s an understatement. While producing for an army of iconic artists during the first wave of disco-dance, Moroder was also becoming a booming cinema presence.

He won his first Oscar for his music in 1978’s Midnight Express, and then two more for “Flashdance… What a Feeling” and Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away,” from Top Gun. In 1983, he intensified Scarface with his music (he produced the soundtrack), and also contributed to the 1984 children’s fantasy classic The NeverEnding Story, for which he produced the theme song. 

At 75, his own story, it seems, is neverending. Thanks to a much-deserved salute to Moroder on their latest opus, the track "Giorgio by Moroder" from 2013’s Grammy-winning Random Access Memories, Daft Punk prompted a welcome resurgence. "My name is Giovanni Giorgio, but everybody calls me Giorgio,” he adorably notes during the spoken-word, EDM-charged caper. The song is Moroder’s memoir. And as he looks back on his teenage years, he says “(my) dream was so big that I didn’t see any chance.”

But other dreamers did. Some – for instance, RCA Records, who commissioned his latest offering, Déjà Vu – even gave him the chance.

Love to love him, baby

Could anyone have predicted that Giorgio Moroder would change the future of music? Probably. But in 1969, the only evidence of his ingenuity was “Looky Looky,” a frothy Beach Boys-esque concoction that, while slight, still sounded remarkably ahead of its time.

Fast forward nearly 10 years to 1977, when, with the help of a blossoming singer named Donna Summer, his career boomed beyond his own wildest dreams.

The two made music magic together, storming the charts with the steamy disco number “Love to Love You Baby” in 1975 and, two years later, “I Feel Love,” a slice of synth heaven released in 1977. By incorporating the newly developed Moog synthesizer, which generated a bed of pulsating, writhing throbs, the latter was instrumental in revolutionizing the techno movement. But still, Moroder insists, “I Feel Love” would not have been the same without Summer’s ethereal coos.

Summer, he says, “humanized the machine,” a characteristic that was “one of the reasons it did so well.”

Concerning their first hit together, “Love to Love You Baby,” Moroder recalls reluctantly finding the song a label home. “When I presented that song to some record companies – actually, I didn’t. Somebody did it for me, because I was embarrassed. I thought nobody would ever release this.”

To his surprise, the song surged the charts, eventually becoming recognized as one of the greatest disco-era songs of our time. Moroder credits the song’s success with a 17-minute extended cut of the five-minute single, an idea brought to him by Casablanca Records president Neil Bogart, who was inspired to maximize the track’s running time after hearing it looped at a party in its original form like it was drug. So, Moroder tagged on 12 minutes, which he now calls “the key to its success.”

Not all of Moroder’s projects managed the same level of commercial clout, however.

Janet Jackson’s second studio album, Dream Street, which Moroder produced when the entertainer was just 17 years old, didn’t fare as hoped. In fact, it didn’t really fare at all. Peaking at No. 147 on the Billboard 200 upon its release in October 1984, the pop icon’s coming-of-age sophomore release was, in retrospect, a stepping stone, a small push to a big breakthrough: 1986’s Control.

“Janet was such a darling, but at the time, she was so young,” Moroder says. “She was working on her voice, and I know that the father (Joseph Jackson) was involved with the production not directly but indirectly. It was difficult.” 

That same year, Moroder produced Freddie Mercury’s first song as a solo artist, “Love Kills.” Their collaboration, however, wasn’t a Janet-like situation – it was just the opposite.  Freddie Mercury was so seasoned, he left Moroder feeling “intimidated.”

“Freddie was relatively difficult,” Moroder reveals. “He was such a great singer, composer, lyricist, performer, diva, dancer, icon that (I thought), ‘Am I going to tell Freddie that that high note he sang was not perfect?’ So between that and the little problems we had before we even started, it was a tough production.”

Tech advancements have certainly alleviated any potential social anxieties, but not, of course, without their own set of challenges. The process nowadays, Moroder says, is impersonal, two people – the artist, the producer – conceiving a song in a virtual world. Sia, Britney Spears and Kylie Minogue all appear on Déjà Vu, but during the recording, they and Moroder weren’t even in the same time zone.

“Compared to Donna Summer – she was busy but nothing like singers are busy now,” he says. “Sia, for example, is all over the world. One day she’s in Australia; the next day she’s in London. They don’t even have time to go into the studio with me as a producer. That’s the new way. The only problem is the communication – and that’s a big problem.”

Deja woo

With a cluster of white-robed men ogling a bearded Moroder, and a steamy haze obscuring the scene, the subliminal marketing of Moroder’s Knights in White Satin cover wasn’t exactly subliminal. By suggesting Moroder was gay by way of a not-so-subtle bathhouse setting – and changing “Nights” to “Knights” – Casablanca Records’ Neil Bogart could expand the producer’s already growing gay following. Moroder, though, was oblivious to the fact that he was being baited.

“For months, I didn’t even notice,” he recalls, snickering. “I realized that (Bogart) was giving this to the gay community, which is great. But what a sneaky guy! I was just surprised at how cleverly he changed the title. And I was happy. It was absolutely OK with me. Although, I must tell you: I’m not gay, but I love gay people. It’s absolutely in my… feelings, actually.” 

In his “feelings”? In his thick, lovable Italian accent, Moroder clarifies, making you wish he were your smartphone’s knowledge navigator – your Siri.

“I love gay people; although I’m not, I love them.”

The feeling was mutual, as Bogart soon discovered.

“‘Love to Love You’ with Donna Summer was a big hit in the discotheques,” he says. “And since I never really went to discotheques, I did not really know exactly what was happening. But everyone was saying that the gay community made that song a hit. Now, I hear other people, especially with the song ‘I Feel Love,’ (saying) that it became a little bit of an anthem for the gay community. But, at the time, I didn’t really realize it.”

In fact, he wasn’t conscious of a gay following until just a decade ago, during his 60s. As Moroder savored his semi-retirement, he discovered – along with, obviously, Bogart’s calculated assistance – that he’d wooed a rather significant queer following over the years. On occasion, while casually perusing gay press, Moroder says he’d see him come up in reference to the EDM sound he had pioneered years before. His influence on today’s dance music-makers du jour – Avicii, Dr. Luke, Calvin Harris and David Guetta – is as inescapable as it is indelible. 

“I noticed more and more the (gay) audience describing that production, which was similar or inspired by me,” Moroder says. “That made me think that maybe I have some (gay) following, at least with regard to the music.”

He does. He must. And Déjà Vu, with a smoldering line-up of gay-loved ladies, is just the beginning of a new beginning. In between DJ sets and solving one small booklet of crossword puzzles a week – which, he says, has kept his mind sharp (“I’m solving the same puzzles as I did 30 years ago”) – the music pioneer continues to dedicate ample time to his still-coveted artistry. Coming soon: a collaboration with Lady Gaga, who has recruited Moroder for her next album.

How is Moroder feeling about his sudden reemergence? Overwhelmed. Humbled. But, mostly, thrilled.

“I remember I was on a press tour in the limelight – this was about 40 years ago, late ’70s, beginning of ’80s – and now I’m almost back as big and as known as then, and it’s quite something,” he says, uttering a blissful sigh. “Sometimes I think, ‘Shouldn’t I be playing with little dogs and having my hobbies?’ I’ve worked for two and a half years on this album and I’m happy. I’m absolutely not complaining. I mean, it’s a lot of work, but I guess it’s what keeps me happy.”

Five-year-old Tedi Bowler was “totally into” sports. But in Duluth, Minn. in the 1980s, she says, “girls were not allowed to do that.” So she grew wary of following her passion.

Two years later, she rode her first BMX bike. That too was a bit odd for a girl. But she loved everything about it – the tough terrain, the danger, the adrenaline rush – and she kept riding.

In seventh grade, Bowler came out as a lesbian. “It was a mess,” she recalls. “I was a loner. Plus, I had anger issues.” Being biracial, and born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, added to her stress.

Yet she kept riding. On a BMX bike – also called “bicycle motocross” – she felt free. She performed tricks. And Bowler was getting much-needed exercise.

Bowler gained the confidence to join team sports. She played ice hockey, flag football, softball and basketball, but extreme sports were the best.

At 35, after watching the X Games, Bowler began skateboarding.

For more than a decade, Bowler says, “I’ve been able to fully enjoy extreme sports.”

She’s worked two or three jobs at a time, since she was 19. Her Fetal Alcohol Syndrome made it hard to keep any one job, she says, so she has done mostly temp work. The variety appeals to her. “Otherwise, she says, “I’d be bored and agitated.”

“Boredom” is not something that BMX riders, skateboarders and other extreme sport athletes suffer from. They constantly seek the next challenge.

For Bowler, that challenge means getting extreme sports into the Twin Cities Pride celebration. And not just for the traditional participants: men.

About 10 years ago, Bowler says, women’s skateboarding was added to the X Games. However, BMX racing still has not made it into ESPN’s annual homage to extreme sports.

Bowler says that, very quietly, women have become a presence in the extreme sports world. But she knows of very few who self-identify as lesbian, or are open about it.

“We’re already being judged as women by the extreme sports community,” Bowler explains. “Most lesbians probably keep quiet. They don’t want one more issue to contend with.”

She assumes there are “tons” of lesbians – and “probably plenty of gay guys too.” But, she says, extreme sports is one place where homosexuality is still not discussed.

She recalls one “aggressive” inline skater who came out in the 1990s. Bowler says his disclosure did not go over well.

Google searches for “gay or lesbian BMX riders” come up empty. There are a few online discussions about whether anyone is out in the sport. The level of discourse is not high. “It’s too manly a sport,” is one comment. Speculation about a rider with a pink bike is another.

After Tim Von Werne’s career was cut short under what one magazine called “a cloud of controversy,” gay skateboarders seem to have remained in the closet too.

Bowler has vowed to increase visibility of extreme sports, and of the lesbians and gay men who love it.

She envisions BMX racing, skateboarding and more as part of the 2016 Twin Cities Pride festival. “I’m tired of walking around every year at Pride, feeling like I’m ignored,” she says. “This is a real sport.”

The celebration at Loring Park already includes several sports, Bowler notes. Minneapolis and St. Paul are filled with gyms; cross-training is very popular. Why not add extreme sports into the mix?

She also hopes her work will bring visibility to the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome community. If others can see that she’s gotten involved in something athletic, daring and fun, they might be tempted to ride a bike or skateboard too.

Dot Belstler is in charge of Twin Cities Pride. Her title is executive director, but it’s not as if she runs a huge staff. Virtually everyone else is a volunteer.

She points with – well, pride – to the day-long men’s volleyball tournament held on Saturday every year. On Sunday there are tournaments for soccer, rugby, touch football, softball and men’s and women’s basketball. The “Studs vs. Femmes” women’s basketball event creates particular energy; bleachers are brought in to handle the crowds that watch.

In addition, many sports organizations march in the Pride parade. “The rugby boys are favorites,” Belstler says. WHAM – the Women’s Hockey Association of Minnesota – “marches” on rollerblades.

Professional and amateur teams staff booths in Loring Park, including the Minnesota Lynx of the Women’s National Basketball Association, and two women’s full-tackle football teams: the Minnesota Vixen and Minnesota Machine. Minnesota United FC – a professional team in the North American Soccer League – offers demonstrations.

But, Belstler says, adding extreme sports may be easier said than done. Ramps and other equipment must be trucked in, and Loring Park is already filled to capacity.

Still, Teri Bowler is undeterred. She has a year to “ride” to the rescue of extreme sports.