ExpatMichael's opinion of anything relating to disco, Italo disco, funk and boogie music. Promotion for my Ebay and Discogs stores which concentrate on the sale of Disco, Funk, Italo Disco, Hi NRG, New Wave, morning music, sleaze and anything pressed on vinyl. There's a link to my Ebay store on the bottom of the page, right under the counter widget. Thanks for visiting and feel free to leave comments. Follow my twitter and join the Disco Vinyl Fan Page on Facebook.
Though originally from Guadalope. Jacques Fred made his mark as a D.J. in Milan and collaborating with another italo disco genius Marco Malavisi. His work with the Peter Jacques Band, Change and Revanche were some of the best early italo disco classics coming towards the end of the disco era.
ENDGAMES were formed in 1980 in Glasgow, Scotland and put out a few synth pop records. Several of these have become quite collectible and sound great even today. In my zip I'm going to give you a couple of my favorites both from 1983, Love Cares and Ecstasy. I can't stop listening to Ecstasy. It has just about all the elements I love in a dance song.
Waiting for Another Chance from their 1983 l.p. Building Beauty was a big hit in Germany breaking the Top 30 while Miracle in my Heart the b side of the delicious Ecstasy was later sampled by Heavy D.
If you haven't heard them I suggest you get their two album Building Beauty and Natural. You should find plenty to enjoy.
First, Last for Everything from 1982 is probably their biggest classic and a real seminal electronic dance song that went on to be a WBMX classic spun by greats like Frankie Knuckles.
Anne Clark came up out of the new wave scene. She had a very particular way of singing. You could almost call it talking. In fact she was a poetess who transitioned into music. From 1982 up until even recently she has quite an extensive amount of releases. I have refreshed this blog post from a few years back because I've added some mixes and a few live performances of my favorite Anne Clark songs inclined Our Darkness and Sleeper in Metropolis. The older links below still work too.
The razormaid mix of Our Darkness is astonishing. It was a huge WBMX alterna dance smash. A truly influential record with the synth pop sound on steroids. A personal favorite of mine. It has long been one of the most played tunes in my home. HEAVEN RAZORMAID REMIX
In honor of John Robie's birthday today I'd like to feature one of his prime glories. Annabella Lwin's War Boys from 1986 off her Fever album.
Annabella has a claim to fame only a few elite artists have. She was discovered by the music svengali Malcolm McLaren. Furthermore she was an immigrant from Burma transplanted to the U.K. and had her initial fame at the ripe young age of 13! As the lead singer of Bow Wow Wow she made an amazing splash and was part of one of the most loved post punk bands in history.
A lot of money was later spent on launching her solo career in 1986 but it didn't quite happen. Though as a member of Bow Wow Wow from 1980 to 1983 she had a string of hits two of which made it to the U.K. Top 10.
War Boys had all the magic in it's corner. It was produced and mixed by John Robie featured keyboards by Man Parrish and additional work by Paul A. Rodriguez one of the hottest names in mid 80's dance. It's got that hot electro feel that was synonymous with many of the classic tracks of the era, such as releases by New Order. But it flopped, but to me it certainly was not forgotten. Believe it not or not after this 1986 album release she lost her record contract and didn't surface again until a new album Super Boom!! which came out in 2012.
My two favorite Atlantic Starr songs are the mushy ballad Always and Circles. Circles is one of those songs that for me define pure perfection. When I hear it I feel rushes and ripples of pleasure. I would not change one thing about it from the beginning to the end. I love the vocals. The lyrics turn me and I can relate to them and it's very danceable even though originally there was no hyped extended remix of it. The album version is great just the way it was made.
1982 holds a special place in my heart because it signifies the year that I got out from under my parent's clutches. I became a club monster in no time!
Circles, goin round in circles Circles, goin round in circles You're taking too much time To make up your mind Either you love me or you don't And all the other girls In your crazy mixed up world You said you'd drop them But you know you won't sometimes I think about forgetting you But it's so, so hard to make that choice Cuz boy with you I go to to seventh heaven Just by the sound of your voice Circles, goin' round in circles Circles, goin' round in circles Out a my head That's where I'm going Tryin so hard to deal with you It's not so easy try'n to bare these changes That you're puttin' me thru In my head there's a ball of confusion And I can't figure out just what to do I guess my life will keep on going round and round Until I get away from you
This is a blog post from six years. I've simply refreshed the link. Thanks to my readers for keeping this blog alive.
I don't usually write a blog immediately after a dance icon dies. But in this case I'm gonna jump on the bandwagon. Colonel Abrams 80's house masterpieces bring back so many memories. I danced the night away to so many of them that I couldn't just not dedicate a blog to him.
Colonel was there on the ground floor. When his first dance single came out in 1984 no one was even using the term House music.
Through the mid 80's he amassed a long string of hits. Some of these even crossed onto the U.S. R&B charts and the U.K. pop charts. For instance Trapped made it all the way to #3 in the U.K. in 1985. But four of them hit #1 on the U.S. dance charts including the aforementioned Trapped, I'm not Gonna let and How Soon we Forget.
Colonel was huge at all the clubs I frequented in those years. By the late 80's the hits dried up. He continued to record but without much impact. His last album was released in 1996.
I’m a Spacer Woman
Don’t you worry 'bout me?
I don’t want to hurt you,
I just want to love you!
We can start it over
Come on be my lover
You will be my danger (?)
Let me be your stranger!
I want to know
I need your love
I can’t go on
I must be sure
I come from Space
I want to know
If I can do
My love is true Charlie is composed of Gino De Stefani andMaurice Cavalieri. Charlie
There is very little I can say about Spacer Woman other then it is one of the absolute best of one of my favorite genre's. It also just happens to be from the 1983 the absolute best year for Italo Disco music. enjoy the rip cause it's very rare
When Germanys ZYX picked up the record in 1984 they changed the title to Space Woman or it's a misprint.
There was also a 2005 bootleg release. So be careful collector's. Don't risk paying alot unless you're absolutely sure.
Refreshed with more music.
Does it really matter that Den Harrow didn't really sing the songs he is attributed to have sung? His image and his dancing were also a part of the magic weren't they? I'm not gonna defend him. This marketing tool has been used in Italy often and in other countries too. So in a way it's not really his fault is it? Fat Den Zip
There is no doubting that he had a long string of hits from 1983 right up to the end of the 80's. In fact there was enough interest in him that in Germany he even had some releases into the 90's and he received the Bravo Golden Otto award in 1987. This signified that he was Germany's favorite male vocalist, even ahead of Michael Jackson!
The first release To Meet Me in 1983 was one of many greatly produced Turatti and Chieregato tracks that propelled Italo Disco so much in the 80's.
In the 2000's he was once again in the public eye in Italy. As a contestant on Isola dei Famosi, a strange mixture of Survivor and Celebrity Big Brother. He often cried on air and definitely had a hard time on the island.
The zip contains most of the hits and even a few of the lesser hits. GET SOME DEN
They are a perfect mirror of the italo disco genre because he had songs representing all of the types of the genre. Some better then others but in any case still a great peek into the sound.
I was so sure that I had already written about Pretty Face. I can't believe it. It was one of those italo disco tracks that I was never able to get out of my head. Even when I wouldn't hear it for years on end.
It was of course Styloo's debut single from 1983. They never were able to come up with a better follow-up though Why from 1986 isn't bad so I included it in your zip.
Giorgio Spagna was also Mike Cannon among other projects.
Likely his most well known italo disco release was the breezy Polaris. Which also happened to be the first release under that name in 1984. There were several follow-ups and even an album and the all had varying degrees of dance-floor success.
Baltimore native Debbie Jacobs only released two albums but after that she had a few successful dance singles. Her best tune is the disco classic Don't You Want My Love from her debut l.p. in 1979. Ironically it was a b side that took off and overshadowed the A side of her maxi single. She originally worked with the sassy Paul Sabu.
Her singles released as Debbie Jacobs Rock were more on the Hi Nrg tip and definitely less successful their her initial splash as a disco singer. But her version of Maybe This Time from 1982 was the definitive one at The Saint (you can grab one on Discogs for a mere $500). Unfortunately it ended up not being officially released and was only to be found on a very limited release promo only single. I wrote about this a few years ago and you can check that out by using the search function up above.
Posted again with a refreshed link MINISTRY TUNES Al Jourgensen hates this album. I think it's Ministry's best. Their first single was released on seminal punk and new wave and industrial label Wax Trax. By 1983 they were signed to Arista and With Sympathy was released. Apparently they remixed and changed the l.p. in several ways before it was released.
Here's a picture of us at The Saint. It was during a Lene Lovich concert at a PETA benefit on a Friday night.
It was huge on the New York City disco radio in 1981. The only hit using this moniker. It's a classic.
Though originally from Guadalope. Jacques Fred made his mark as a D.J. in Milan and collaborating with another italo disco genius Marco Malavisi. His work with the Peter Jacques Band, Change and Revanche were some of the best early italo disco classics coming towards the end of the disco era.
Likely his most well known italo disco release was the breezy Polaris. Which also happened to be the first release under that name in 1984. There were several follow-ups and even an album and the all had varying degrees of dance-floor success.
