Bobby O A Man Like Me

A man like Bobby Orlando is the king of 80's dance music.  Bobby "O" that is, the alias he used.  Bobby worked with so many artists including Roni Griffith, Claudja Barry, The Flirts, Divine, The Pet Shop Boys, and others that were really just aliases for him and some vocalists he brought in for one-off's or even two-off's (is that a word) like Barbie & the Kens, Waterfront Home, O Romeo, Eric, Teen Rock and more.

I hate to make sweeping generalizations but in this case I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Bobby O is the most prolific dance artist that ever was.   I think I personally had about 50 singles of his.

Bobby O also became synonymous with one specific sound, High Energy, which was sort of ghettoized as gay music.  Many of his songs were embraced at The Saint and on Fire Island.  Ironically Bobby Orlando was a bit homophobic as legend goes.

Certainly his biggest mark was made with the original version of Pet Shop Boys West End Girls.  They apparently idolized Bobby O and specifically wanted to work with him.  But they quickly got too big for him and were signed away.  I think it may have been an ugly parting and Bobby got paid off kindly in the deal.

Bobby O never really had that pop crossover success that so many dance artists are able to have now. But his classic She Has a Way did crack the dance Top 10 in the states and remains one of the songs most associated with his legacy.

DOWNLOAD A MAN LIKE ME

Thursday live at Rome's Auditorium (Renzo Piano's Italian Masterpiece)

My blog is dedicated to the past.  But sometimes the feelings from the present can bring me to the past.  I've been enjoying the Pet Shop Boys since I got out of high school.  So seeing them again brought back a lot of feelings.  This video snippet is from my favorite song on their last release Electric.  I can hardly believe it was a flop because it simply has everything one would love in a classic synth pop song.

My seats were only so-so but I hope this snippet done with my Iphone 5S is decent enough to transmit some of my joy.

As always I urge my readers to click on the ads.  It's a sure way to show appreciation for my blog.

How shy is rose? I cry for you, you are my desire, only men, and other italo disco gems featuring her yearnings

I'm reposting this blog from a few years ago so I can refresh the links for you.  Show your appreciation click on my ads!

Rose's debut single was I CRY FOR YOU.  Not exactly shy she seemed to be yearning for it.  This italo disco fabulosity came out in 1987 and was quickly picked up by labels around the world.  Including the low quality pressings on the U.S. label JDC which I used to have but sold on EBAY ages ago.  Apparently Japan was the market that went for Rose the most.  This single sold 2.5 million copies there!  SHY HITS GLENN RIVERA EDIT OF I CRY FOR YOU
It was produced by Antonio D'Addezio who had his hand on quite a few italo disco projects during the italo heyday.  His alias was Toney D and he was a Swiss D.J. who even had his own record store in the early 80's.  Here's his My Space TONEY D

The follow-up single made it clear to us that she's not a lesbian, hell not even Bi it was called ONLY MEN.   Another release starting out in Italy and soon licensed throughout the world.  We can see the British release here on Record Shack.  It sounds sort of like a Pet Shop Boys It's a Sin rip-off.

Her last italo disco hit was You Are my Desire from 1989.  Here I've posted a zip with many mixes.  YOU ARE MY ZIP

Her sound continued in it's carefree italo disco frivolity.  A sound that my readers know gives me joy and continues to be a guilty pleasure in 2014.

This last photo is from the cd release which came out in 1994 and is a real collectible if you can even find it.  It was released on Canada's Unidisc.  HERE'S THE RARE CD

Yvonne Elliman, Liza Minnelli and their Love Pains

Don't call Yvonne Elliman a one hit wonder. I'm sure she doesn't appreciate it and neither would I. It's not her fault one of her songs was included on the soundtrack to the most important disco movie of all time.

Years before that she was playing Mary Magdalene in the stage version of Jesus Christ Superstar. Prior to the SNF explosion she had a couple hit singles on RSO. Both Hello Stranger and Love Me made it to #13 on the U.S. Pop Charts. I know I remember cause I bought both 45's at the time and I used to write Casey Casem's American Top 40 down on paper, painstakingly listening to the entire four hour show every week.

Freddie Perren, who also worked with Tavares, among others produced her swan song If I Can't Have You one of the stunning tracks off the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack and incidentally a #1 pop hit.

It was followed up by Love Pains in 1979 which barely dented the Billboard Disco Charts but was well known and liked enough to be re-hashed by Hi NRG disco San Francisco Label Moby Dick in 1982. There it was promoted to the hilt and got a little more attention but didn't exactly bring Yvonne into the nations living rooms.

The Pet Shop Boys produced a fabulous cover version for Liza Minnelli in 1989 but it didn't achieve the success of the albums first 12" Losing My Mind which they produced. It was originally written by Stephen Sondheim from the 1971 musical Follies. Here included in both 12", dub and Vision re-mix.

http://www.mediafire.com/?tfmvmddu3oq


http://www.mediafire.com/?wm3j4l5udkm

This zip includes three version of Love Pains. Enjoy it and patronize my Ebay vinyl store if you can. All you need to do is click on the title of this blog and it will deliver you to my shop. I've got over 1,000 items on offer at the moment and a new category called BARGAINS! where you can find hundreds of records priced at below $5.00. How's that for catering to the crappy world economy at the moment!

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