ITALO DISCO '80

Italo disco

Italo disco is a very broad term, encompassing much of the dance music output in Europe during the 1980s.
It is one of the world's first forms of completely electronic dance music and evolved during the late 1970s and early 1980s in Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and other parts of Europe.
Italo disco music has a distinct, futuristic and spacey sound, which was created using synthesizers, drum machines and vocoders.
The term "Italo disco" was marketed only in Europe in the early 1980s by the German record label ZYX Music.

Den Harrow - Future Brain

Terminology

The term "Italo disco" originates from the 1983 Italo Boot Mix series, a megamix featuring Italian and German disco music, by Bernhard Mikulski, the founder of German-based ZYX Music.

Prior to 1983, the music was simply considered dance or disco music from Europe.

The presenters of the Italian music show Discoring (produced by RAI) usually referred to Italo disco tracks as "rock elettronico" (electronic rock) or "balli da discoteca" (disco dance) before the term "italo disco" came into existence.

Baltimora - Tarzan Boy

History

Origins: 1976–1985

The entry of synthesizers and other electronic effects into the disco genre produced electronic dance music, including America's Hi-NRG and Europe's space disco. Dancers and listeners experienced something new because the artists' use of new music-shaping technologies created the perception of being in a very large space and because of the discothèques' lighting displays.

Italo disco's influences were Italian producer Giorgio Moroder, French musician Didier Marouani, a couple of hits by the French drummer Cerrone, electropop (Kraftwerk, Telex, Devo and Gary Numan), and the early Hi-NRG albums of San Francisco producer Patrick Cowley with such singers as Sylvester and Paul Parker.

By 1980, Italo appeared as a fully developed form in Italy and other parts of Europe. Songs were sometimes completely electronic and featured drum machines, catchy melodies, vocoders, overdubs, love-song lyrics sung in English often with heavy foreign accents, and, occasionally, nonsensical lyrics (due to artists' poor command of the English language).

To predominantly non-English-speaking audiences and artists, the voice was considered an additional musical instrument, rather than something meant to deliver a message. Along with love, Italo disco themes deal with robots and space, sometimes combining all three in songs including "Robot Is Systematic" (1982) by 'Lectric Workers and "Spacer Woman" (1983) by Charlie.

Italo disco was widely played on radio stations and in discothèques in Europe, but in the English-speaking world, it was mostly an underground phenomenon that could be heard at nightclubs.

1982 and 1983 saw the releases of the irony-laden "Dirty Talk", "Wonderful" and "The M.B.O. Theme", three tracks cited as influential in the development of house, by Klein & M.B.O., a side-project developed by Davide Piatto of the Italo disco duo N.O.I.A., with vocals by Piatto and Rossana Casale.

Many see 1983 as the height of Italo, with frequent hit singles and many labels starting up around this time.

Such labels included American Disco, Crash, Merak, Sensation and X-Energy. The popular label Disco Magic released more than thirty singles within the year.

It was also the year that the term "Italo disco" was reputedly coined by Bernhard Mikulski, the founder of ZYX Music (Germany), when ZYX released their first volume of The Best of Italo Disco series.

Sabrina - Boys Boys Boys

Derivative styles: 1982–1989

During the late 1980s Italo faded and was replaced by Italo NRG (a.k.a Italo House) which combined high-paced Italo and house.

Canada, particularly Quebec, produced several remarkable Italo disco acts, including Trans X ("Living on Video"), Lime ("Angel Eyes"), Pluton & the Humanoids ("World Invaders"), Purple Flash Orchestra ("We Can Make It"), Tapps ("Forbidden Lover"), etc.

Those productions were called "Canadian disco" during 1980–1984 in Europe and Hi-NRG disco in the U.S.

In Germany, where the name "Italo disco" was originally coined and then marketed by ZYX Records in 1983, many other genre names were used to describe it as well. Euro Disco, Discofox were common in Europe, while in the English speaking countries, the actual language of most Italo Disco songs, it was still called Italo disco and HiNRG.

German productions were also exclusively in English and were characterized by an emphasis on melody, exaggerated overproduction, and a more earnest approach to the themes of love; examples may be found in the works of Modern Talking, Fancy, American-born singer and Fancy protégé Grant Miller, Bad Boys Blue, Joy, Lian Ross, C.C. Catch, etc.

Also during the mid-1980s spacesynth developed, mostly as a sub-genre of italo.

This style is the crossover of Italo disco and space disco and it was mostly instrumental, with a focus on space sounds than the earlier pop-oriented songs, as exemplified by the sounds of Koto, Proxyon, Rofo, Cyber People, Hipnosis, Laserdance and Syntech.

Italo Disco - Megamix

Evolved and interrelated genres

As Italo disco declined in Europe, Italian and German producers adapted the sound to Japanese tastes, creating "Eurobeat".

Music produced in this style is sold exclusively in Japan due to the country's Para Para culture, produced by Italian producers for the Japanese market.

Though the Eurobeat genre originally sounded almost identical to Italo disco, today's modern Eurobeat features greatly increased BPM and faster synth-lines and vocals, though many recent releases have a slower BPM.

The two most famous Eurobeat labels are A-Beat-C Records and Hi-NRG Attack.

Two traditional Italo disco labels, S.A.I.F.A.M. and Time, now produce Eurobeat music for Japan.

Around 1989, in Italy, Italo disco evolved into Italo house, which became Euro house music (called "Eurodance" in the U.S.).

Italian Italo disco artists began experimenting with harder beats and the "house" sound; German production of Italo disco ended later that same year.

This music is also labeled as Euro disco, and Italo disco in the U.S. (labelling all non-American Hi-NRG dance tunes as Italo disco).

One Night in Bangkok

Revival: 1998–present

A big comeback of German Italo disco, began in 1998, when Modern Talking re-united.

German Italo disco artists C. C. Catch, Bad Boys Blue, Fancy and Sandra, Italian Italo disco artists Gazebo, Savage and Ken Laszlo, and others remixed their hits in a Euro house style, giving them a new life and a new fan base.

Rete 4 channel in Italy, "hits 24", "Goldstar TV", and Prosieben channels in Germany, and the program "Nostalgia" on Spain's TVE channel started to broadcast Italo disco.

This has caused new interest in Euro disco in general, since most of these videos were very rarely seen, even back in the 1980s.

Greece seems to have the biggest Italo disco revival, with it played on three Athenian radio stations in 2007 (Blue Space, Radio Boom Boom and Free FM).

As of 2005 several online radio stations stream the genre, and underground clubs are playing the records widely again.

Its renewed popularity is inspiring re-releases and new mixes on many of the record labels that initially released Italo disco.

ZYX records has released many new CD mixes since 2000. and labels like Panama Records and Radius Records have gone through great lengths to find the original artists of obscure Italo tracks for re-release on vinyl.

The German group I-Robots has released several mixes incorporating obscure Italo disco tracks, and in 2006 released a German-language cover of Charlie's "Spacer Woman" called "Spacer Frau".

Swedish performance artist and musician Tobias Bernstrup has since 1997 been making music performances and releasing records characterized his heavily Italo disco-inspired sound and use of elaborate costumes and make-up reminiscent of Klaus Nomi.

German group Master Blaster released an album called I Love Italo Disco in 2003.

Many hits of that group are Italo disco covers with an uplifting house twist.

In the UK, that twist seems to lead to "Scouse house".

Swiss artist Harre Money (pronounced Àrmani, like the Italian designer) released an album called The Picture of Dorian Gray in 2006, which included many Italo disco-like tracks.

His shows are also characterized by a theatrical performance reminiscent of the eccentric 1980s style.

Swedish act Sally Shapiro has made Italo disco music which has been championed in the indie community, particularly by Pitchfork Media.

Modern Talking - You are my Heart You are my Soul