1. Ken Laszlo: Tonight2. Ryan Paris: Dolce Vita3. Silver Pozolli: Around My Dream4. K.O.T.O: The Visitors5. Scotch: Take Me Up6. Baby's Gang: Happy Song7. Righeira: Vamos a La Playa8. Savage: Don't Cry Tonight9. K.O.T.O: Jabdah10.Valerie Dore: The Night
And, then next 10:
11.Miko Mission: How Old Are You12.My Mine: Hypnotic Tango13.Ken Laszlo: Hey Hey Guy14.K.O.T.O: Chinese Revenge15.Fun Fun: Colour My Love16.Miko Mission: Two For Love17.Gazebo: I Like Chopin18.Brian Ice: Talking To The Night19.Mike Mareen: Voices In The Dark20.Den Harrow: Future Brain
― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Wednesday, 9 March 2005 20:05 (nineteen years ago) link
― jed_ (jed), Wednesday, 9 March 2005 20:11 (nineteen years ago) link
― chuck, Wednesday, 9 March 2005 20:14 (nineteen years ago) link
― lychee mello (Jody Beth Rosen), Wednesday, 9 March 2005 20:16 (nineteen years ago) link
― joseph (joseph), Wednesday, 9 March 2005 20:16 (nineteen years ago) link
11)brand image - love in a summer night12)answering service - call me mr. telephone13)scotch - mirage (la luna)14)fun fun - give me your love15)valerie dore - the night16)gazebo - i like chopin17)brian martin - sex tonight18)italian boys - forever lovers19)katy gray - hold me tight20)lectric workers - robot is systematic
― joseph (joseph), Wednesday, 9 March 2005 20:21 (nineteen years ago) link
1. Ken Laszlo - Hey Hey Guy2. Finzy Kontini - Cha Cha Cha3. Righeira - Vamos a la playa4. Baltimora - Tarzan Boy5. Lucia - Marinero6. Muriel Dacq - Tropique7. Silent Circle - Moonlight affair8. Patty Ryan - I Don't Wanna Lose You Tonight9. Sabrina - Boys (Summertime love)10. Valerie Dore: The Night
― daavid (daavid), Wednesday, 9 March 2005 20:32 (nineteen years ago) link
― jed_ (jed), Wednesday, 9 March 2005 20:42 (nineteen years ago) link
TAFFY - I LOVE MY RADIO (MIDNIGHT RADIO)
― Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Wednesday, 9 March 2005 20:44 (nineteen years ago) link
― Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Wednesday, 9 March 2005 20:47 (nineteen years ago) link
― andrew m. (andrewmorgan), Wednesday, 9 March 2005 20:49 (nineteen years ago) link
http://www.rotovibe.com/files/mysteryx.mp3
(I did that in FL Studio from memory - the song itself is acoustic instrumentation, but sounds sequenced - think Balearic but more Carnivale-esque maybe?). Anyone?
― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Wednesday, 9 March 2005 21:02 (nineteen years ago) link
No idea.. LSD maybe?
― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Wednesday, 9 March 2005 21:50 (nineteen years ago) link
― Sandeman, Wednesday, 9 March 2005 21:52 (nineteen years ago) link
7. Bregan Cekic and tee scott - "Change"
― jed_ (jed), Wednesday, 9 March 2005 21:53 (nineteen years ago) link
― Sandeman, Wednesday, 9 March 2005 23:08 (nineteen years ago) link
sven vath - hessentag in lich
― chuck, Wednesday, 9 March 2005 23:15 (nineteen years ago) link
― gygax! (gygax!), Wednesday, 9 March 2005 23:19 (nineteen years ago) link
― chuck, Wednesday, 9 March 2005 23:24 (nineteen years ago) link
And wasn't most prime Italo from the '80s anyway? I don't recall that there were many seminal releases pre-1980, and the movement had pretty much dried up by 1986.
-- Michael F Gill (rain19...), March 9th, 2005.
"Baby I Love You" by Easy Going was 1978, "Fear" was 1979, and I think "Give Me A Break" by Vivien Vee was also 1979 - I don't know whether those count, but they might.
― Pangolino again, Wednesday, 9 March 2005 23:25 (nineteen years ago) link
And yeah, wow, "Heartbeat" by Vivien Vee is one of the best singles of the '80s in any genre on the face of the earth!
― chuck, Wednesday, 9 March 2005 23:26 (nineteen years ago) link
― chuck, Wednesday, 9 March 2005 23:27 (nineteen years ago) link
― lychee mello (Jody Beth Rosen), Wednesday, 9 March 2005 23:28 (nineteen years ago) link
― chuck, Wednesday, 9 March 2005 23:28 (nineteen years ago) link
― lychee mello (Jody Beth Rosen), Wednesday, 9 March 2005 23:30 (nineteen years ago) link
http://www.rephlex.com/2001releases/cat146/146cd-150dpi.jpg
― lychee mello (Jody Beth Rosen), Wednesday, 9 March 2005 23:32 (nineteen years ago) link
Queen Of Witches - KanoHappy Station - Fun Fun (especially the Scratch Mix)Happy Children - P.LionI Want You - Gary LowLunatic - GazeboMasterpiece - GazeboExtremix - Novo
Hypnosis - Pulstar was also huge, but I never took to it.
― mike t-diva (mike t-diva), Wednesday, 9 March 2005 23:33 (nineteen years ago) link
― lychee mello (Jody Beth Rosen), Wednesday, 9 March 2005 23:36 (nineteen years ago) link
― lychee mello (Jody Beth Rosen), Wednesday, 9 March 2005 23:41 (nineteen years ago) link
― hmmm (hmmm), Wednesday, 9 March 2005 23:45 (nineteen years ago) link
― Pangolino again, Wednesday, 9 March 2005 23:46 (nineteen years ago) link
Btw. never been that keen on "Happy Station", even though the sample from Donna Summer's "Sunset People" is at least a sign that the Italo disco producers knew their roots.
― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Wednesday, 9 March 2005 23:48 (nineteen years ago) link
"The record is credited to Joachim Sherylee and Junior Claristidge, , pseudonyms of two library writers Bernard Fevre and Jackie Giordiano."
(sez the rephlex site)
― lychee mello (Jody Beth Rosen), Wednesday, 9 March 2005 23:53 (nineteen years ago) link
― lychee mello (Jody Beth Rosen), Wednesday, 9 March 2005 23:55 (nineteen years ago) link
― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 10 March 2005 00:30 (nineteen years ago) link
― Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Thursday, 10 March 2005 00:38 (nineteen years ago) link
― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 10 March 2005 00:52 (nineteen years ago) link
"Let’s start with the prehistory of Italo Disco: In the summer of 1978 LA BIONDA had a smash hit all over the world; "One For You, One For Me". LA BIONDA produced several Italo Disco songs in the eighties. RIGHEIRA is the most successful example. But also AIDA COOPER (‘Stand Back’) and ROBERT BRAVO (‘Love Me Like I Do’) were produced by LA BIONDA. Even in a song like ‘One For You, One For Me’ you can already hear the Italian melodies. 1979 One year later JACQUES FRED PETRUS recorded his first disco hits; ‘Walking On Music’, ‘Fire Night Dance’ by the PETER JACQUES BAND, ‘I’m A Man’ by MACHO and ‘Music Man’ by REVANCHE. MAURO MALAVASI was always involved.
http://www.globaldarkness.com/articles/history_of_italo_disco.htm
― Sandeman, Thursday, 10 March 2005 01:26 (nineteen years ago) link
― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 10 March 2005 01:31 (nineteen years ago) link
http://www.radiostaddenhaag.nl
― Sandeman, Thursday, 10 March 2005 01:53 (nineteen years ago) link
Don't know who did 7-9 but they're faves at the moment.
― Jay Vee (Manon_70), Thursday, 10 March 2005 02:20 (nineteen years ago) link
― lychee mello (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 10 March 2005 03:05 (nineteen years ago) link
― Jacob (Jacob), Thursday, 10 March 2005 04:19 (nineteen years ago) link
kinda basic, but I haven't really gotten into the post-'83 pop stuff too much
― Mike O. (Mike Ouderkirk), Thursday, 10 March 2005 05:31 (nineteen years ago) link
― chuck, Thursday, 10 March 2005 16:33 (nineteen years ago) link
― mike t-diva (mike t-diva), Thursday, 10 March 2005 16:46 (nineteen years ago) link
― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 10 March 2005 18:13 (nineteen years ago) link
― chuck, Thursday, 10 March 2005 18:23 (nineteen years ago) link
amin peck-anxietybb and band-all night longbrand image-all your lovingnaif orchestra-check out fivecharlie-spacer womanmr flagio-take a chancepineapples-come on closergiorgio farina-disco crosslama-love is on the rockx-ray connection-get ready (special freak mix)
― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Thursday, 10 March 2005 20:54 (nineteen years ago) link
Vitalic is really really heavily influenced by it, I feel, and the better for this.
― Ronan (Ronan), Thursday, 10 March 2005 21:01 (nineteen years ago) link
And I did that so I could hear some of this stuff in a row...
― Naive Teen Idol, Monday, 12 October 2009 11:53 (fourteen years ago) link
And daavid's:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=74C9865C696E43F7
― Naive Teen Idol, Monday, 12 October 2009 12:05 (fourteen years ago) link
And while we're at it, big ups to K.O.T.O's "The Visitors"...
― Naive Teen Idol, Monday, 12 October 2009 12:09 (fourteen years ago) link
Hey thx Naive!
― one boob is free with one (daavid), Wednesday, 14 October 2009 05:11 (fourteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hn0o88MMfJI
― if you can put a ceiling fan in your van (deej), Monday, 20 September 2010 03:59 (thirteen years ago) link
<3
― camphor jars (c sharp major), Tuesday, 21 September 2010 08:13 (thirteen years ago) link
i could listen to :53-1:08 over & over *goes to make rmx*
― if you can put a ceiling fan in your van (deej), Tuesday, 21 September 2010 12:03 (thirteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJEEsUmsfQo
― dsb, Thursday, 3 March 2011 18:33 (thirteen years ago) link
My Mine - Hypnotic TangoKano - Super Extra Sexy SignTulio de Piscopo - Stop BajonCharlie - Spacer WomanFun Fun - Happy StationSilver Pozzoli - Around My DreamRyan Paris - Dolce VitaIvan - FotonovelaAlexander Robotnick - Dance Boy DanceDoctor's Cat - Feel the Drive
― corey, Thursday, 3 March 2011 18:47 (thirteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19X-g5jHRzI
I just got this one... I think it's from Canada and not Italy, but it certainly sounds like Italo. And holy shit, what a tune! This is probably the best sci-fi disco tune I've ever heard, alongside Cerrone's "Supernature".
― Tuomas, Thursday, 3 March 2011 20:38 (thirteen years ago) link
In fact it seems there were several Canadian disco artists in the late 70s/early 80s with an Italo-like sound: Kebekelektrik, Gino Soccio, Kat Mandu, Lime, The Immortals, etc. Does anyone know if there was some kind of a Italo-influenced scene in Canada back then?
― Tuomas, Thursday, 3 March 2011 20:41 (thirteen years ago) link
The mid-to-late 80s Canadian synthpop scene was kind of Italo influenced too, no? I mean, Men Without Hats, Kon Kan, Trans-X etc.
― You're Twistin' My Melody Man! (Geir Hongro), Friday, 4 March 2011 03:16 (thirteen years ago) link
http://magicwavesradio.blogspot.com/2008/08/disco-canada.html
― jaxon, Friday, 4 March 2011 03:52 (thirteen years ago) link
i didn't realize claudja barry was from canada
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JajtJ3KuuQ
― jaxon, Friday, 4 March 2011 03:54 (thirteen years ago) link
Thanks for the blog link, Jaxon, I'd been wondering about the Canadian disco scene, so that was interesting read.
― Tuomas, Friday, 4 March 2011 10:45 (thirteen years ago) link
That Plustwo track above is definitely my jam of the week.
― farieling thosder chout a bagh an i ballme crantuman (dog latin), Friday, 11 March 2011 12:04 (thirteen years ago) link
where can a man download shit tons of this stuff?
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Wednesday, 21 September 2011 07:47 (twelve years ago) link
download the CBS top 100 - it's easy to find
― jabba hands, Wednesday, 21 September 2011 07:50 (twelve years ago) link
thank you! will get on that
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Wednesday, 21 September 2011 09:17 (twelve years ago) link
me too!
also found this while clicking around on youtube, a great track and apparently produced by Daniel Bangalter father of one Thomas Bangalter of Daft Punk Fame. (french not italian obviouisly)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9lq_sZnsGM
― dsb, Wednesday, 21 September 2011 15:32 (twelve years ago) link
wow is that a bra made out of rollerskates?
man the 1970s had so much to offer
― geeta, Wednesday, 21 September 2011 16:32 (twelve years ago) link
amateurist i saw drive and i think these are relevant to your interests:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0v_jTHHFKUhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=010pIwbjjPIhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9nAL-vIq5I
― ☆, Tuesday, 4 October 2011 09:37 (twelve years ago) link
still waiting for output from the crutis/max neo-italo duo
― 1986 Olive Garden (Z S), Sunday, 11 March 2012 21:21 (twelve years ago) link
this monster jam is so perfect for a saturday night... (nemesy - 24 hours)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KvaRnX5tg0
― brimstead, Sunday, 5 November 2017 02:14 (six years ago) link
is Italo one of those things that just didn't happen in the U.S.? Or did it happen and I just missed it?
I've never heard any of these songs. I've never even heard of any of the performers (except Moroder)
― Lee626, Sunday, 5 November 2017 18:05 (six years ago) link
exactly one italo song happened in the us - "tarzan boy". (and italo wasn't really ever about the performers, so it's not terribly meaningful that you wouldn't have heard of them - i think it was mr. master where the producer just found some random guy on a beach and got him to sing the song.)
― bob lefse (rushomancy), Sunday, 5 November 2017 19:49 (six years ago) link
Den Harrow's "Broken Radio" has amazing lyrics and incessant hooks throughout:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqxXcWVnztA
― Spencer Chow, Sunday, 5 November 2017 22:07 (six years ago) link
"self control" by laura branigan is an 'italo' cover:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3zP3ziq738
― brimstead, Monday, 6 November 2017 00:47 (six years ago) link
xpost to lee
The early Madonna singles like Holiday and Intro the Groove are essentially Italo too.
Italo artists were never really promoted abroad, the main driver for Italo success was through holidaymakers bringing the occasional Italian summer hit home, but the vast majority of ‘real’ Italo hits were a local thing only.
At the time, you mostly had local artists in each market emulating the style (Modern Talking in Germany, Pet Shop Boys in UK, the Sabadell Sound in Spain, Madonna in the US, etc) rather than the actual Italo artists being successful. The Italo rediscovery post-2000 did more for Italian artists than the original wave ever did, really.
― Siegbran, Monday, 6 November 2017 09:22 (six years ago) link
Yeah this has been my understanding too. Along with 'Tarzan Boy' I think the only other one that made any impact on the UK charts was 'Dolce Vita' - I wonder why these crossed over and so many others didn't (I guess timing must be part of it).
I was thinking about this recently after watching some of those 'Top of the Pops 198x' programmes - on one episode Kid Jensen talked about how they'd occasionally make these half-hearted attempts at covering international charts which never really took off.
― Gavin, Leeds, Monday, 6 November 2017 11:52 (six years ago) link
xp Funny how that worked out. I mean, it would be weird if there was suddenly a big global interest in French language 80s zouk music and er... whatever you call this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2IScq44jts
― Fox Mulder, FYI (dog latin), Monday, 6 November 2017 12:09 (six years ago) link
@siegbran - yes I was also thinking to my ears alot of this sounds like the first Madonna album, the Hi-NRG and other alt-dance music on the sidelines in early to mid-'80s America, though rarely on the pop charts. By 1981 the term "disco" had become poison in the US and was considered hopelessly passe, even though disco was all over the charts just two years earlier and elements of the music itself were occasionally still present in new releases. But there was still a market for danceable music, though it was around this time that mainstream pop hits and dance/club tracks seemed to completely diverge; before that the disco hits you heard on pop radio are what you heard at dances (and I don't mean exclusive, trendy big-city venues but rather the real clubs young suburbanites could go to). By the mid-'80s even low-rent college dorm dance parties were relying on 12" DJ mixes of club hits rather than dance-pop radio hits.
There was a big change in the overall sound too. Gone were the elaborate orchestral production from late-'70s disco, replaced with the new drum machines, synths, and sequencers. This further increased starting in 1983 when MIDI quickly became ubiquitous and enabled easy programming of sequenced, synchronized electronic sounds from an array of different sources. But also missing from most of the Italo tracks i've been listening to are the strong melodies (and sometimes lyrics) that typified '70s disco. What they really remind me of is going to music stores as a teen and playing with all the new Fairlights and DX7s and LinnDrums and the early digital synths and samplers i couldn't come close to affording. Many of them were pre-programmed with Italo-esque rhythm tracks that could be used as is or modified as desired.
― Lee626, Monday, 6 November 2017 16:31 (six years ago) link
I'm not sure I entirely agree with this. While it's true that not many people cared about the artists themselves, italo records were definitely being played abroad. I remember this was at least true in Mexico (where I grew up) and some parts of South America. I also read somewhere that Italo records were big in some parts of Asia.
Honestly, I think it just skipped the US.
― daavid, Monday, 6 November 2017 21:27 (six years ago) link
i mean, there was synthesized disco music in other european countries too, it all folds into EURODANCE or DISCOFOX
― brimstead, Monday, 6 November 2017 23:30 (six years ago) link
Hmm there are a lot of italo threads to choose from, idk if one is preferred. Since this one was mentioned recently…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZhOkYj_F0o4 M International - Space Operator (Donato Dozzy Cadillac rhythms reshape)
― recovering internet addict/shitposter (viborg), Friday, 8 October 2021 11:51 (two years ago) link
My bad, it’s still Bandcamp Friday isn’t it. https://goodymusicproduction.bandcamp.com/album/space-operator
― recovering internet addict/shitposter (viborg), Friday, 8 October 2021 11:56 (two years ago) link
There's a ton of awesome retro/pastiche italo around, like this one
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twbw2JvvIWg
― Siegbran, Friday, 8 October 2021 12:50 (two years ago) link
Sure I don’t doubt there are multiple threads dedicated solely to Italians Do It Better. Donato Dozzy tho, it’s like we’ve come full circle. I just noticed the YouTube link I posted is only a preview but the full track is in the Bandcamp link sorry. Giulia Tess is an interesting Italian DJ who I’ve heard mix some italo with other styles. The most recent mix I heard from her was headed in a trancey breaks direction tho, hopefully that was just some exploration. Sadly it does seem like the (‘nu’) disco edit movement is slowly merging with prog house.
― recovering internet addict/shitposter (viborg), Friday, 8 October 2021 17:40 (two years ago) link
Guess it’s like my OG DJ friend told me when I asked her about when trance started to infiltrate house music dance floors, how she could tell what was trance and she said she knew it was trance when she heard the whooshy sounds (they were pretty similar initially). cosmic disco - whooshy sounds - trance - prog house
― recovering internet addict/shitposter (viborg), Friday, 8 October 2021 17:46 (two years ago) link
a pure slice of disco faboulosity! Yes, I want to funk with you, Sylvester, thought you'd never ask!!Sylvester - Do you want to funk with me (video mix)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ9lXRy7ys0
― Swanswans, Saturday, 9 October 2021 12:40 (two years ago) link
My friend played me the vinyl of this last night, a track I hadn't heard in years, and I've listened to it about 20 times today. It is perfect.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXNe1vQNQ5k
― I'm a sovereign jizz citizen (the table is the table), Monday, 29 November 2021 22:19 (two years ago) link
It’s a good one! Instrumental is nice too, it popped up on my playlist earlier this year. Synths remind me of early/Please-era Pet shop boys.
― Michael F Gill, Tuesday, 30 November 2021 04:26 (two years ago) link
Just came across this nice slow track - Schiffer "Get It Right"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFYNESk9GKc
― skip, Tuesday, 30 November 2021 05:24 (two years ago) link
Vocals (by Albert one?) are a bit too sleepy on that for me, so I prefer the other mix, but the production / synth melodies are classic!
― Michael F Gill, Tuesday, 30 November 2021 21:10 (two years ago) link
This thread is delivering! Just catching up and after hearing Dozzy remix italo I know want to see him DJing stuff like it for 5 hours. I started searching and noticed a year ago he put out a dreamy synth-pop too> https://raster-raster.bandcamp.com/album/il-quadro-di-troisi
Love the Lisa G and Schiffer tunes posted too.
― Chewshabadoo, Saturday, 4 December 2021 21:17 (two years ago) link
Anachronistic question: any recommendations for essential compilations in 2021? In one of the other threads here someone recommended the Italo Dance Classics series, and then ZYX has a zillion comps of what I imagine are varying quality. Wish there were a comp that had both sides of B.W.H.'s "Stop"/"Livin' Up" on it.
― eatandoph (Neue Jesse Schule), Saturday, 4 December 2021 22:09 (two years ago) link
Hadn't heard this before. Instant classic:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJKvf5B772kAgatha de Co - Avion de nuit (1988)
― ArchCarrier, Saturday, 18 June 2022 17:25 (one year ago) link
xp there’s this comp of Casco’s productions that has both BWH tracks: https://www.discogs.com/master/881058-Casco-The-Cyber-Album
― brimstead, Saturday, 18 June 2022 23:15 (one year ago) link
That's a great track
― Chewshabadoo, Sunday, 19 June 2022 14:24 (one year ago) link