Italo Disco Classic TANTRA celso valli's crowning glory Hills of Katmandu

Though the output of the act Tantra was only between 1979 and 1982 the impact of their sound is nonetheless unforgettable.  Italian Disco Genius Celso Valli was the man responsible for so many acts but Tantra must be considered his crowning glory.

  The Hills of Katmandu is simply his Stairway to Heaven.  It first appeared in 1979 and then in various forms and remixes after that.  It's one of the crucial bridge tracks because it's not only disco and space disco but it's considered an early example of Hi NRG and a seminal Italo Disco masterpiece.  In the zips I've provided a variety of versions including a Hot Tracks edit and great remix by the Australian DJ Paul Goodyear, twelve inch versions, album versions and more.  http://www.filefactory.com/file/45a7lby5tvnb/zip2.zip 

http://www.filefactory.com/file/6ch9muas3aj5/zip1.zip

Lest you might think that Tantra is a one song act it's simply not the case.  But the fact that Hills was able to fly all the way up to #2 on the Billboard Disco Charts in 1980 (the most transitional year of disco music) was definitely a feat to be considered.  

Get Happy and Ma-Cum-Ba had some happy dancers but then the genius Patrick Cowley got his hands on Hills of Katmandu and this extended the life of the classic even longer, not to mention the fact that a Spanish version was also recorded to satisfy worldwide demand. 

I couldn't resist posting this fab photo of Patrick in my city at the Colosseum.  To think that back then it was a major cruising spot and people could walk around in it even at night! 

If you'd like to explore the Celso Valli sound further I suggest you check out Macho, Passengers, and especially Azoto to name a few.

Which were the Gayest disco album covers of all time?

The first one that came to mind was Slide...Easy In from 1977.

Then the Italian disco record by Macho...I'm a Man, from 1978.

They then followed it up with another Roll in 1980.

Another Italian release was the sublime Easy Going with the classic Baby, I Love You.  This 1978 gem features Claudio Simonetti who went on to become one of the most important names in italo disco and club D.J. Paolo Micioni who also had quite a list of accomplishments after this early endeavor.

This back cover is quite camp but that would have to be featured in a whole other post in the future at some point Disco Camp album covers.

The Ritchie Family's Bad Reputation from 1979.  What were they thinking?

Prince's 1980 release Dirty Mind before he had really broken big on the pop charts.  Prince is a jehovah witness and has never come out as gay or bi-sexual, no comment.

Then we have the 1984 Hi NRG twelve inch by The 501's We are Invincible.

I'm going to give The Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers l.p. from 1971 an honorable mention because it's not disco.  

I consider this one of the best album covers of all time.