| Italo disco | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | Post-disco - Electropop-Synth Pop - Pop - Hi-NRG - Disco - Space disco - Euro disco |
| Cultural origins | Late 1970s and the 1980s in Italy |
| Typical instruments | Synthesizers - Drum machine - Sampler - Keyboards - Sequencer - Vocals |
| Derivative forms | Eurobeat - Freestyle - Eurodance - Italo house - Italo dance - Chillwave - Italo techno |
| Other topics | |
| Artists and songs | |
Italo disco (alternatively spelt Italo-disco)[1] is a subgenre of disco music which originated in Italy in the early 1980s. Whilst the genre developed early in the decade, according to an article in The Guardian, the term was coined in the mid-part of the 1980s, circa 1985, by Bernard Mikhulski.[2] One of the earliest forms of electronic dance music, it eventually faded by the late-1980s as it merged into other genres of electronic and European dance music.
Italo disco borrowed elements from traditional disco music, yet was more electronic. The genre made strong usage of drum machines and synthesizers, giving it an almost spacey and futuristic style, and combined elements of pop music with "melancholy melodies, weird sounds and unorthodox production techniques".[3] Italo disco music occasionally dealt with technological themes, and its lyrics were often love-related and sung in English. The genre enjoyed commercial success and popularity in its native Italy during the 1980s, as well as other parts of Europe, except the United Kingdom where it was never particularly succeessful. Nonetheless, several electronic acts such as the Pet Shop Boys, Erasure and New Order are said to have been influenced by the genre.[4]
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The term Italo, a generic prefix meaning Italian, had been used on pop music compilation albums in Germany as early as 1980, such as Italo Top Hits on the K-Tel label and the first volume of Italo Super Hits on the Ariola label.
There's no documentation of where the term Italo-Disco first appeared, but its origins are generally traced to Italian and other European disco recordings released in the German market. Examples include the phrase Original Italo-Disco on the sleeve of the German edition of "Girl On Me" by Amin-Peck in 1982, and the inclusion of Italo-Disco in the title of the 1983 compilation album The Best of Italo-Disco. These records, along with the Italo Boot Mix megamix, were released by Bernhard Mikulski on his relatively widely distributed ZYX label. The Best of and Boot Mix compilations each became a 16-volume series that culminated in 1991. Both series primarily featured disco music of Italian origin, often licensed from independent Italian labels which had limited distribution outside of Italy, but they also frequently included songs in a similar style by German and other European artists.
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.
A related term is Euro disco, referring to all European disco or subsets thereof, especially that which markedly differs from American disco music from the same era.
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. 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 often featured drum machines, catchy melodies, vocoders, overdubs, and heavily accented, sometimes nonsensical, love-song lyrics sung in English. 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 limited to 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.
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, Italo disco is called Euro Disco and Discofox. In English-speaking countries it was called Italo disco and HiNRG. German productions were sung in English and were characterized by an emphasis on melody, exaggerated production, and a more earnest approach to the themes of love; examples may be found in the works of Fancy, American-born singer and Fancy protégé Grant Miller, Bad Boys Blue, Joy, Lian Ross, C. C. Catch, etc.
During the mid-1980s, spacesynth, a subgenre of Italo disco, developed. It was mostly instrumental, featured space sounds, and was exemplified by Koto, Proxyon, Rofo, Cyber People, Hipnosis and Laserdance.
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. Italian Italo disco artists began experimenting with harder beats and the "house" sound; German production of Italo disco ended later that same year.
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.
As of 2005[update] several online radio stations stream the genre. The renewed popularity is inspiring re-releases and new mixes on many of the original Italo disco record labels. 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.
An Italo disco revival is also contribuited by northern european labels as "Iventi d'azzurro" (The Netherlands) and "Flashback records" (Finland), with rearranged releases of the old hits and unreleased demos resung by the original Italo singers, but also new songs by these. Recording artists like Joey Mauro and karl otto, Diva, Mark Fruttero, Fred Ventura and George Aaron have been recently releasing new albums, and a special place within the scene is occupied by Peter Aresti, formerly known as "Peter Arcade" (though room gossips, in order to explain the apparent "age paradox," claim about a "music project" involving at least two different singers impersonating the P.A. character) which represents an unusual case in the Italo disco world, not belonging to the '80s, officially having started his career in the '90s, and actually one of the most popular performing italo artists, challenging many pop singers, in South America (Mexico among all), where a huge, growing Italo disco and High energy community dwells. Another new person became popular in these last years on italo scene, the talented keyboardist Joey Mauro able to recreate any sound of '80s with his synthesizers and keyboard collections.
New Italo disco has been contributed by I-Robots (the 2006 song, "Spacer Frau"), Tobias Bernstrup (whose elaborate costumes and make-up are reminiscent of Klaus Nomi), Master Blaster (the 2003 album, We Love Italo Disco), Harre Money (pronounced Àrmani, like the Italian designer; his 2006 album, The Picture of Dorian Gray), and Sally Shapiro.
On 2010 Mark Zonda started a Neo Italo Disco movement inspired by Sally Shapiro and Tommy February6, gathering independent artist in the production of a collection of new Italo Disco songs called "U.N.DISCO," published by Kingem Records.
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