He’s on just about every album from Wonder’s classic ’70s run, and he plays lead guitar on Wonder’s 1977 #1 single “ Sir Duke.” From there, Sembello moved to Los Angeles and found work as a session musician and songwriter. Sembello grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs, and he earned a place in Stevie Wonder’s band when he was a 17-year-old jazz guitar student. Sembello wasn’t quite 30 when “Maniac” reached #1, but he’d been kicking around the music business for well over a decade. The mania that Sembello describes is simply ambition - the most insanely sane type of mania. In its final form, though, “Maniac” might be the fluffiest, most optimistic #1 single of its moment. Many of the big hits of 1983 were driven by fear and darkness and paranoia: “ Billie Jean,” “ Beat It,” “ Every Breath You Take,” “ Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This).” If “Maniac” had kept its original lyrics, maybe it would’ve fit in better with that bunch, though it never would’ve had the chance to join them at #1. Maybe it’s telling that “Maniac” didn’t have to change too much in its journey from acid black comedy to uptempo dance-pop strivers’ anthem. “Maniac” got a rewrite and became an early-’80s aerobics-class time capsule. That cat-killing lyric wouldn’t really work for the Jennifer Beals sweat montage.
Ramone liked “Maniac” the best of Sembello’s songs, but he suggested a crucial change. Sembello sent over a tape, not realizing that he’d accidentally included “Maniac” on it. Ramone was working as the music supervisor for Flashdance, and he called Semebello to ask if he had any possible songs for the soundtrack. Sembello was friends with Phil Ramone, a producer who’d worked on big hits from Paul Simon and Barbra Streisand and Billy Joel.
The song’s original chorus: “He’s a maniac, maniac, that’s for sure/ He will kill your cat and nail him to the door.” (I would like to hear that version, but sadly, the demo has been lost to history.) Sembello and his songwriting partner Dennis Matkosky wrote “Maniac” after seeing a slasher flick - possibly Maniac, possibly The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Instead, it was supposed to be a song about a vicious pet murderer. “Maniac” wasn’t supposed to be a song about a Steeltown girl on a Saturday night.
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