I've got nothing but love for "You're My Heart, You're My Soul" and I'm glad it placed. I might have even voted for "Brother Louie" had it been nominated.
― daavid, Monday, 9 February 2015 21:32 (nine years ago) link
Back when I was still DJing Italo I always threw in a Modern Talking instrumental somewhere along the line (Cheri Cheri Lady for example has an awesome bassline), always got great response as people invariably recognise the tune but can't identify it without the vocals.
― Siegbran, Monday, 9 February 2015 21:42 (nine years ago) link
http://i.imgur.com/GADSgQ8.jpg
40 IVAN "Fotonovela" [117 points, 4 votes]http://youtu.be/3XNscCzSL6s
― daavid, Monday, 9 February 2015 21:43 (nine years ago) link
^pleasantly surprised that this placed!
that YT is blocked
heres another link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L5YJRtvebE
― tayto fan (Michael B), Monday, 9 February 2015 21:46 (nine years ago) link
Great great tune.
― Siegbran, Monday, 9 February 2015 21:47 (nine years ago) link
12" version of Fotonovela is ALL TIME. Definitely the best Spanish Italo Disco song ever, if you are keeping track. Best use of strings in an Italo record? May also be the only Italo track with xylophones and accordion (which you can hear more on the 12").
― Michael F Gill, Monday, 9 February 2015 21:58 (nine years ago) link
Absolutely astonished that "You're My Heart, You're My Soul" has had over 44 million YouTube views...
― mike t-diva, Monday, 9 February 2015 21:58 (nine years ago) link
Three tracks so far that I have (knowingly) danced to in actual nightclubs in the actual Nineteen Eighties: Gazebo, Trans-X, Modern Talking.
― mike t-diva, Monday, 9 February 2015 21:59 (nine years ago) link
up next, the first entry on the list with a 1st place vote...
― daavid, Monday, 9 February 2015 22:06 (nine years ago) link
Doesn't surprise me at all, AFAIK Modern Talking was the second best selling disco act of all time after Boney M.
― Siegbran, Monday, 9 February 2015 22:07 (nine years ago) link
that's a very loose definition of "disco", though
― daavid, Monday, 9 February 2015 22:09 (nine years ago) link
Now I guess, but at the time this was disco to 99% of the population.
― Siegbran, Monday, 9 February 2015 22:11 (nine years ago) link
they were immensely successful, no doubt about that
― daavid, Monday, 9 February 2015 22:11 (nine years ago) link
something doesn't quite add up for me in "Fotonovela" but it does scream "Classic".
― skip, Monday, 9 February 2015 22:12 (nine years ago) link
I guess "disco" in the eighties was more or less a synonym for "club music".
― daavid, Monday, 9 February 2015 22:13 (nine years ago) link
xpost - Perhaps that the xylophone riff doesn't really fit, melodically, with the rest?
― daavid, Monday, 9 February 2015 22:15 (nine years ago) link
I think that't it for me but it's also what makes it great.
― daavid, Monday, 9 February 2015 22:16 (nine years ago) link
yeah, it's like that is just one element too many - but it's also the best one!
― skip, Monday, 9 February 2015 22:17 (nine years ago) link
daavid stop dragging this out, got a horrible feeling my first to show will be my number 1 now.
― ewar woowar (or something), Monday, 9 February 2015 22:17 (nine years ago) link
I think it's the clashing overtones in the xylo.
― skip, Monday, 9 February 2015 22:18 (nine years ago) link
http://i.imgur.com/ptDsWnS.jpg
39 LOUI$ "Pink Footpath" [122 points, 4 votes, 1 first place vote]http://youtu.be/plXB4MFZSMw
― daavid, Monday, 9 February 2015 22:18 (nine years ago) link
And there you go... :(
― ewar woowar (or something), Monday, 9 February 2015 22:19 (nine years ago) link
Can only assume this is so low cos most haven't heard it, it's peerless and unique.
yeah, I'm not familiar with this one. Almost jazzy in the first 2 minutes.
― skip, Monday, 9 February 2015 22:20 (nine years ago) link
xps
I was thinking about this during the nominations thread but don't think I ever put it out there: who was the audience for non-crossover Italo releases? Was it mostly nightclubs? How many young people in Italy (or France or Spain) in the 80s have heard e.g. "When I Let You Down" or "Hey Hey Guy"? Were there clubs in the UK playing this? (I guess mike t-diva addressed that one a bit)
― ⊤ℝolliℵg M∃th H∑a∂ (seandalai), Monday, 9 February 2015 22:22 (nine years ago) link
i think that's a glockenspiel in "Fotonovela" not a xylophone
― example (crüt), Monday, 9 February 2015 22:22 (nine years ago) link
I personally like my Italo to be on the pop side, but I didn't vote anyway.
― daavid, Monday, 9 February 2015 22:22 (nine years ago) link
I am definitely in the minority who find "Pink Footpath" overrated, but it gets a super amount of love from even non-italo fans.
― Michael F Gill, Monday, 9 February 2015 22:24 (nine years ago) link
xxpost, you are right. The bars in a xylophone are made out of wood. But what's a marimba then? I'm confused.
― daavid, Monday, 9 February 2015 22:27 (nine years ago) link
The first time I heard Pink Footpath (in an old Aeroplane mix iirc) was one of those moments you just know right away you're hearing a song that will be an all-timer.
― ewar woowar (or something), Monday, 9 February 2015 22:29 (nine years ago) link
Seandalai: there's an interview here, in which a Venice DJ talks a bit about the perception of Italo in Italy at the time:http://thump.vice.com/words/bottin-and-mike-simonetti-obsess-over-italo-disco
I feel Italo also appealed to record collectors as well as clubbers: so many devoted labels and sublabels, so many strange aliases and one-offs to geek out over.
― Michael F Gill, Monday, 9 February 2015 22:35 (nine years ago) link
oh awesome, thanks!
― ⊤ℝolliℵg M∃th H∑a∂ (seandalai), Monday, 9 February 2015 22:37 (nine years ago) link
Xylophones and marimbas are made out of wood, I believe. Glockenspiel has metal bars. Probably more likely that it's a glockenspiel in Fotonovela, but it looks like a xylophone in the video.
― Michael F Gill, Monday, 9 February 2015 22:38 (nine years ago) link
LOL at his example of bad Italo. That really is bad.
― skip, Monday, 9 February 2015 22:41 (nine years ago) link
Interesting interview but both of those guys sound like Italo rockists.
― daavid, Monday, 9 February 2015 22:47 (nine years ago) link
…especially Bottin.
― daavid, Monday, 9 February 2015 22:48 (nine years ago) link
http://i.imgur.com/mAasX49.jpg
38 VALERIE DORE "Get Closer" [123 points, 4 votes]http://youtu.be/DkQu9CPrrfw
― daavid, Monday, 9 February 2015 22:50 (nine years ago) link
My top 5 dropping like flies all of a sudden
― ewar woowar (or something), Monday, 9 February 2015 22:51 (nine years ago) link
way too low but i'm guessing Valerie Dore was sabotaged by people nominating like 10 million of her tracks
― example (crüt), Monday, 9 February 2015 22:52 (nine years ago) link
maybe 38/39 isn't dropping like flies idk
― ewar woowar (or something), Monday, 9 February 2015 22:53 (nine years ago) link
And a quick look at my actual ballot shows I only had this at number 10 so my bad.
― ewar woowar (or something), Monday, 9 February 2015 22:54 (nine years ago) link
Also agree that "Get Closer" placed too low. The delay on that synth is classic.
― daavid, Monday, 9 February 2015 22:56 (nine years ago) link
I like how "Get Closer" is pretty much the same song as "The Night" but just as awesome.
I think someone nominating the entire Valerie Dore Lancelot album was amusing. Love the title track from that though.
― Michael F Gill, Monday, 9 February 2015 22:58 (nine years ago) link
Yes, they just shifted the chords and tweaked the melody a bit… but the instrumentation is identical.
― daavid, Monday, 9 February 2015 23:01 (nine years ago) link
who was the audience for non-crossover Italo releases? Was it mostly nightclubs? How many young people in Italy (or France or Spain) in the 80s have heard e.g. "When I Let You Down" or "Hey Hey Guy"? Were there clubs in the UK playing this? (I guess mike t-diva addressed that one a bit)
I was living in West Berlin in 1983/84, and heard Italo in gay and mixed-gay clubs alongside hi-NRG, as well as on the radio. I doubt it had much traction outside gay cubs in the UK, give or take the odd Ryan Paris crossover hit.
― mike t-diva, Monday, 9 February 2015 23:02 (nine years ago) link
Get Closer is a good example of a particular type of pop alchemy then, it does something much more with those parts than The Night imo.
― ewar woowar (or something), Monday, 9 February 2015 23:17 (nine years ago) link
http://i.imgur.com/tHniMTb.jpg
37 FANCY "Slice Me Nice" [129 points, 4 votes]http://youtu.be/Nlnoa67MUJU
― daavid, Monday, 9 February 2015 23:21 (nine years ago) link
Maximum dodgy accent points.
― Siegbran, Monday, 9 February 2015 23:22 (nine years ago) link
Slice Me Nice is a total classic. The video is properly creepy.
― Rainbow DAESH (ShariVari), Monday, 9 February 2015 23:26 (nine years ago) link