Giorgio Moroder / Ratatat cover / Iconic computer composer Giorgio Moroder got his start writing and producing pop music in Germany, but a chance encounter with American session singer Donna Summer would change the course of his career. When fellow college alums Mike Stroud and Evan Mast ran into each other in Brooklyn and decided to jam together, they realized they had a penchant for making catchy yet cerebral instrumentals, their newly formed band, Ratatat, featured smart interplay between guitar, synthesizers, and crisp beats. With Chic, Nile Rodgers and partner Bernard Edwards created sophisticated dance music draped in mystery and anchored in the unison singing of a rotating cast of female vocalists—Norma Jean Wright, Luci Martin, Alfa Anderson, Robin Clark, Diva Gray, Michelle Cobbs, and newcomers Folami Ankoanda-Thompson and Kimberly Davis. In the 1970s, Ohio’s blue-collar cities started churning out the hardest-working musicians in the business. As the drummer for the R&B band Slave, Dayton native Steve Arrington quickly rose to take over as lead singer, which led to a successful solo career.