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.
This is an update of a post from a while back. Since Albert One left the stage on May 11, 2020 it seemed like as good a time as any to dedicate an entire post to him.
His debut single Turbo Diesel came out in 1984 and it was a big pop hit in Italy he performed it everywhere including t.v. shows like FestivalBar.
Better known as Albert One, but in actuality named Alberto Carpani sang many italo disco hits including this debut single under the aforementioned moniker Jock Hattle. Crazy Family (Yes-No) is just simply a classic of the era almost as good as the Joe Yellow record from the same year, Lover to Lover but still an Italo Disco "10" in my opinion.
He's one of the few italo disco figures that was actually recognizable. The year before Gary Low became one of the first with the smash You are a Danger. That same year Gazebo had the second biggest pop single of the year with I Like Chopin (only beaten by Irene Cara's Flashdance - What a Feeling). So by 1983, Italo Disco artists were being presented on RAI alongside new wave and the new romantic British invasion artists like Duran Duran and Human League.
This was originally one of my oldest posts from when I first started the blog in 2008. I have brought it back with some refreshed links and some tracks it never had the first time around.
In my opinion there are two kinds of Italo Disco. The spacey, vocoder spruced, electronic type symbolized by classics like Robot is Systematic by 'Lectric Workers, Spacer Woman by Charlie and Cybernetic Love by Casco (DJ Salvatore Cusato) and the lite and airy high NRG tinged poppy type like Lunatic by Gazebo and You're my First, You're my Last by Linda Jo Rizzo. Casco Cybernetic Love
J.D. Jaber (GianLuca Bergonzi) seems to have been involved with both types. He was the engineer on Memory Records classics Japanese War Game by Koto and Do You by Duke Lake. As well as the vocalist on the more commercial sounding and cheerful Don't Stop Lovin' and Don't Wake Me Up.
Below I have provided a link to a zip with both the original 1986 Memory 12" of Don't Wake Me Up along with the 1986 Swedish Remix on Beat Box records. Those Swedish remixes are quite cool and there are a lot of them. They remixed some major Italo Disco classics like Mirage by Scotch, Jabdah by Koto, Bad Boy by DenHarrow, Real Men by Tom Hooker and many many others. They also did some Freestyle remixes like Alisha's Stargazing and Italo House such as Don't You Love Me by the 49ers.
We've heard me go on and on about Italo disco and 1983 before. But to know me is to know that I like to repeat for emphasis. To have a conversation with me can be frustrating. Every third line I say "what?" or "can you repeat that?" Way too many years of sitting on speakers at The Sound Factory or playing my music scary loud. But I'm just not feeling the hearing aid quite yet. The kind of Italo Disco in this post is just the sort of music I love to blast too.
These are examples of the darker more spacey Italo. Two releases from 1982 from Italy, Robot is Systematic by 'lectric workers on Disco Magic Records and Robot is.... by Message from the Future on Blood records. Most likely my favorite of this style is Spacer Woman by Charlie which came out in 1983 on Mr. Disc records, Italy. All true classics of the genre they greatly influenced a lot of Italo that came out after them. WBMX in Chicago was an early sustainer of this type of italo disco and so it went on to have a great influence on early house music too.
Here above I provide a link for Robot Is.... cause it's one of the hardest to find and also Robot is Systematic, I've also thrown in Spacer Woman by Charlie down below. I've already blogged about that track seperately too. Hopefully you will enjoy this out there spaced out electronic lunacy as much as I do. I'd also like to give a shout out to the memory of CBS the cybernetic broadcast system because it brought a lot of this spacey stuff to my attention. I really miss listening to it on Sunday mornings as was a ritual for me for several years.
I was living in Rome in 1983 and out dancing many a night but I seem to remember much more clearly the campier Italo numbers like Disco King and Shine on Dance by Cararra, various dance records by Gary Low, like I Want You and the out and out Euro Disco of Paris Latino by Bandolero and No Controles by Ole' Ole'. But I may very well have danced to robot Italo and simply forgotten. Oh what i would give to get back some of those brain cells. I've placed a Gary Low zip above. CHARLIE ZIP i'm a spacer woman
Gigi Farina, Franco Rago, X. Monneret recorded as 'Lectric Workers, Atelier Folie, Decadance, Expansives, Message From Future, Wanexa and last but not least Cariocas. Now why they were inclined to use so many aliases if they weren't hiding from the authorities or on a spy mission I wouldn't know. THE MAN FROM COLOURSWanexainstrumental
Regardless I'll have to thank them for their efforts. They are among my all time faves in the spacey italo disco genre. Batida released in 1983 on Proto records was a favorite of Cosmic Baldelli's and is another super synthy italo disco extraordinaire.
Italo Spanish vocalist Gary Low whose real name was Luis Romano Paris Belmont was born in Rome on June 7, 1954 he burst onto the italo disco scene with the hit You are a Danger for il Discotto records Italy in 1982. Produced by italo disco masters Pier Luigi Giomboni and Paul Micioni the record was an unexpected smash.
But I became a fan when I Want You was a smash, hitting #1 in both Italy and Spain and Top 10 in the U.K.. I was particularly drawn to his image he seemed so "out."
But we all know there was a lot of playing with sexual identity looks in the 80's. So was he or wasn't he? Who knows and does it even really matter?
All I know is that I bought my twelve inch maxi single of I Want You at the Corte Ingles in Plaza Catalunya in Barcelona and I played the hell out of it. One of his follow-up hits La Colegiala in 1984, actually a Peruvian cumbia was an even bigger hit and great fun too.
small Gary zip more Gary
By the mid 80's the hits disappeared though there were still a few releases up until the early 90's even.
Colourzone is a DJ based in Canada. He has spun in many places and had a long residency in Acapulco in the 80's. Therefore he knows his Italo Disco! He calls this mix The Buildup cause the tracks are in the 100 BPM range. We will hear many italo disco classics in this fabulous mix including some that crossed-over pop in a big way and others that were more obscure and italo disco collectible.
The very first installment of the ITALO DISCO MIX Sets Project I promised
Michael I would work on. This one is called the Buildup because it contains
tracks starting at 100 BPM.
I will be posting the following volumes as I have time to get them done.
