Are you Lonely? Do you need somebody to hold on to?

Refreshed link from a post I did in 2008 when this blog was just a baby.

In 1983 Street Level Records Canada released Are you Lonely? by Hipnotic. A duo of brothers from Canada. It was co-written and produced by Alan Felder who have written great soulful tracks for the O'Jays, Kim Covington and others. It is five minutes and ten seconds of sheer joy. I'd have to call it a grower. When a customer of mine, a plastic surgeon from Florence, Italy brought it to my attention several years ago I remember thinking this is kinda catchy but so are a lot of 80's R and B Boogie type tunes.

I simply wasn't that impressed that every time I saw this record on Ebay it sold for hundreds of dollars, in some cases even above $600.00. I always thought to myself, that damn lucky vendor. Another auction where they slap Modern Soul or Boogie on the title line and the bidders get into a frenzy. Is this record even rare? What makes it special?

But by nature I'm not cynical. So I listened to it again and again. It only got better. The deep chocolate soulful vocals, the gorgeous melody, the amazing synth, the flute, the funky break, it just churns and churns and churns. The boogie is so damn infectious you just have to play it again the minute it's over. It's remained among my most played on iTunes for several years now. Oww! Oww! Oww!

"Lonely, do you want my mind, body and soul? Lonely! Lonely, Are you Lonely? Do you need somebody to hold on to? Are you Lonely?"

For those who want immediate gratification while the mp3 downloads, several you tube members posted video of the record playing on a turntable. Here's one by an Italian you tuber. Now who would go to the trouble of filming a record on a turntable and then posting it on you tube? Now that may be another blog post, or maybe not. Live and let live I always say.



ARE YOU LONELY?

My buddy Paul Goodyear just did a new re-edit.  You should get it on Beatport.

Pretty Poison from variation new wave to variation freestyle an Eighties success story

I just added even more to this blog post.
Philadelphia based Pretty Poison broke with Catch Me I'm Falling.  But they actually had a string of single releases and ep.'s before that.  NIGHTIME  NIGHTIME DUB  CATCH ME

There's download stuff sprinkles all throughout this post.
a pretty zip
More Pretty

I love Jade Starling's vocals, their look was very big hair 80's. Here's her MySpace

I'm enclosing a zip which features several versions of Nightime including the totally electrifying dub and the Shep Pettibone Mix and their huge #8 hit from 1987 Catch Me.  And another zip which contains a funky version of Nightime entitled In the Heat of the Night.   The original 12" release made it up to #14 dance in 1984.  Catch Me took it up to #1 and then the re-release with new mixes of Nightime peaked at #13 in 1988.  I didn't really follow their other releases though When I Look into Your Eyes squeaked out a Top 10 dance spot in 1988 too. 

Here are the lyrics to Nightime:

Come, feel the steady rhythm of the nightlife

And hear excitement in the air.
Baby, when the night comes down, 
You know where I can be found, 
Dancing in a midnight fantasy.

Chorus:
In the Nightime
Blame it on the Nightime.
In the Nightime
Baby, that's the right time.

I feel a strange desire in the moonlight
Dreams of another dance in my eyes.
Baby, when the stars shine bright, 
Dance with me all through the night.
Be my lover til the light of day.

Chorus:
In the Nightime, 
Blame it on the Nightime.
In the Nightime yeah, 
Baby, that's the right time.
Right time for me.

Nightime is the right time
Nightlife is for me.
Dancing til the break of day, 
No place I'd rather be.

Nightime is the right time; 
Nightlife is for me.
Dancing til the break of day, 
No place I'd rather be.

In the Nightime, blame it on the Nightime.
In the Nightime, baby, that's the right time.
In the Nightime, blame it on the Nightime.
In the Nightime, yeah, baby, that's the right time.
Right time for me.

Nightime is the right time
Nightlife is for me
Nightime is the right time
Nightlife is for me
Nightime
Nightlife is for me.

All in all it's a sound I can really appreciate.  Not quite freestyle, not quite electro and not really house either.  It's a unique record and is clearly influenced by many sounds at the same time.  When it was originally released on Svengali in 1983 it went pretty much unnoticed and under the radar.  It took the more commercial sounding Catch Me to give Nightime it's second life.  Here I've enclosed their entire Laced e.p. from 1983.  It's sort of new wave and not quite as straightforward dance as their later releases.  If  you click on the title of this blog you will be directed to my ebay listing for this collectible e.p.  LACED EP

A1		Seal It With A Kis	3:57
A2		Let Freedom Ring	6:15
B1		Expiration	3:59
B2		Tempest Nightmare	5:15

Their first single from 1981 is very rare and very new wave.  It's called Gimme Gimme (your autograph).  It was on the label Poison Pops and was only released as a 7" single.

NO TEARS

I'm adding their goth single from 1982 No Tears and it's b side.

super early pretty poison

And finally their goth single Expiration from 1983.  A real Kennel club Philadelphia classic.

SENSITIVE DRIVING AND GIVE ME ITALO DISCO HEAVEN AND HOLY GRAILS

I'm gonna bring back this old post from 2010 and again from 2013 for those of you who didn't get a chance to download this masterpiece.


Gigi Vavassori, Salvatore Pileggi, Sergio Bonzanni are Sensitive. They created some of the most mysterious, melodic, synthesized, sheer Italo Disco magic of all time. I really can't be more enthusiastic about these tracks as they are for me the pinnacle of a genre I hold so dear.

I've only heard of two singles. The 1984 12" release on Gong Records Italy "Driving" and it's 1985 follow-up double A side follow-up on Sensation records Italy "Give Me" and "Don't Stop". At the risk of sounding banal I'm just going to let the music speak for itself.
a Sensitive zip
Driving
I sold a copy of Driving for a friend of mine who happened to have two. It stopped just sort of $600.00 in Ebay. I've actually seen copies go for near a grand. Imagine if someone had a sixth sense about this record and bought a hundred copies and kept them sealed in a box somewhere just waiting to unleash them!

In 2009 a previously unreleased version was released.  When I figure out which external HD I put it on I''ll refresh the link.

Adolf Stern's 1979 italo disco double A side disco dream

Rare and super tasty.  The only thing I wish it that I would have had the pleasure to dance to this one. A super early example of italo disco.  Highly collectible!

BOTH SIDES OF THE 45

A super early Italo Disco masterpiece....ADOLF STERN

Now this is an out and out Italo Disco beauty.  And so early in the game.  This double sided single came out in 1979 on Ciao records.  It features all of the best qualities of my favorite Italo Disco tunes from years later.Here in my zip you will be able to enjoy a more recent edit by the master Alkalino.  It's hard to believe that Britney Spear's producers ripped this record off but just think of her Gimme More  and tell me it doesn't at least remind you of this song.

LISTEN FOR YOURSELF 

As usual I ask that you click on the ads on my blog.  I appreciate your support.  

Move Your Body & Law and Order Le Roc Le Cop Holy Grail Private Press Disco

A scarce release from 1979 on the private Press K. Shavonne label.  Someone just paid $1,500 for it on eBay so I thought you'd like to check it out.

DOWNLOAD IT HERE  HERE IS LAW AND ORDER (sorry for the low quality on this one, if I get a better one I'll replace it)

Please enjoy my other blog posts, post comments when you feel and most importantly click on the ads!

David Bowie Heroes given an Italo Disco makeover Big Ben Tribe

David Bowie's 1977 art-rock single from his Brian Eno, Berlin influenced period is a highly coveted 12" promo. But who'd have thought that it would have lent itself so well to the Italo Disco makeover it was given in 1983 by The Big Ben Tribe?

Well given that it was mixed by Italo Disco Mastermind Tony Carrasco the genius behind Klein M.B.O. and many other Italo Disco classics would be reason enough to give it a serious listen. The breezy, light and accessible disco sound and the highly capable and enjoyable female vocals gave Heroes a new life. Kudos to the Big Ben Tribe for having the audacity to give a David Bowie song a whirl.

Many Hi NrG covers of standards and rock songs are total crap compared to the super high quality production Heroes was given in 1983. Unfortunately Big Ben Tribe was sort of a one hit wonder act. Though they did have several other releases including Hot Love and Tarzan Loves the Summer Nights they did not equal the Italo Disco magic of Heroes again.

BIG BEN ZIP

The group followed Heroes up in 1984 with the campy Italo Disco tune Tarzan Loves the Summer Nights.  It's a super collectible hard to find twelve inch from the seminal italo disco label Gong.  I've included it in my zip of Heroes.

Presage For Sale Baby Records Space Disco Classic

Presage was produced and arranged by Gian Piero Reverberani.  He also was responsible for the classic Rondò Veneziano.

Presage

A seminal space disco release on the classic italo disco label Baby it was released in 1983.  I have offered nine of the twelve tracks here.  I would have liked to find more information on this act, including the album cover but I did not succeed.  Not even on popsike.com or gemm.com which really surprised me because I'd imagine it's quite rare.  In any case I'd imagine you'll enjoy it.  It was a staple on the Cybernetic Broadcasting Network.  You can hear them nowadays on Intergalactic FM.

For sale was a side label of Baby Records.

ALIVE by BAZOOKA ultra rare synthy italo disco

A one-off italo disco release from 1984 on Hiss records.  What can I say?  I love it. NOT BUBBLEGUM

ONLY ONE by PAUL FABER ultra rare italo disco

1988 it was quite late in the italo disco game but Only One is clearly italo disco all the way.  This 1988 release on Italy's Cruisin' records is worth a couple hundred dollars if you can even find a copy.  Oh the rabid italo disco collector.  A man after my own heart.

ONLY ONE DOWNLOAD

The only other Paul Faber release I know of is his 1984 dance single Happy Music that was released on Italy's Poker Records and is listed as a duet with Ray Allen.

GREEK ITALO DISCO GEM COMPUTER GUY by PALMER

Here's a rare one.  It's an italo disco record made in Greece.  It was released in 1986 on the Eva & L.A. label.  It's by DJ Palmer who was a successful DJ in Greece in the 80's.  COMPUTER GUY

If you've got a copy you can probably pay a nice stack of bills with it.  Here are some prices the record got in auctions recently.

Here's a little entry from Discogs.com

aristomas

 as reviewed by aristomas Feb 18, 2008

The song "Computer guy" was a huge hit in Greece circa 1986 and should have been covered more by the media! The track featured many talented Hellenic names that went on to bigger and better things! The co-producer of the project was Vassilis Dertilis, founder of Power Music Productions. The lyrics were written by the International recording artist, Aris Tomas and founder of Wizard Records who also wrote the classic Hellenic (Den boro n'antistatho) Se Thelo and International hits ie. Beautiful Lady, Goin' Up!, ect.

Arpadys rare French Space Disco Magic

If there is another thing I love as much as italo disco it's spacey disco.  The one and only release in 1977 by French act Arpadys is a classic of the genre.  I sold my copy years ago on Ebay for about $200.00.  It continues to be a collectible though it has been re-issued (as a bootleg) which often screws up bidding on the original because bidders are afraid that the re-issue is being passed off as the original.

Arpadys
Berlin Machine Edit of Funky Bass

Living in your Eyes CLOSED italo disco

Closed was founded in 1986. At that time, the group was made up of two components: Gabriel and Olga Tintó.

Living in your Eyes Their first single Living in Your eyes came out in 1987 and is now a highly coveted italo disco rarity.  Interestingly enough they are Spanish and not Italian so not all italo disco records are Italian.

INSANELY RARE VOCODER FUNK the pinch SHOT OUT

A limited edition 7" inch single on a small Texas label called Spider-Mo Records has become a highly collectible record. Shot Out by the pinch is a Electro vocoder romp.
GRAB IT
I don't go on much about my Vocoder fascination but it is one of my passions. It's featured on lots of classic Funk, Italo and Electro records that I'm fond of.

Maybe it reminds me of Peter Frampton. I loved his talk box vocals when I was in Elementary school. But not long after my passion turned toward disco.

The 12" single is a re-press and is not collectible like the original 7" single.

JAMES MASON

http://www.mediafire.com/?hdw1vjeegny

I got this off answers.com since I was researching this l.p. for my Ebay auction.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=190363966913&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

What can I say other then it's all that!

Jazz-funk fans, believe the hype: James Mason's Rhythm of Life is every bit the overlooked classic its small but fanatical cult following has built it up to be. Smoothly soulful (but not slick) and spiritually uplifting throughout, the album's blend of funky fusion and progressive R&B is hardly the stuff purist dreams are made of, but anyone who loves the deep grooves of Donald Byrd or Mason's former employer, Roy Ayers, will immediately understand why this is considered a masterpiece in acid jazz circles. Breezy ballads and ferocious up-tempo groovers alike benefit from Mason's sure sense of songcraft and his knack for full-bodied arrangements. Mason plays all the guitars and loads of vintage synths (two different ARPs and Fender Rhodes electric piano among them), so he's largely responsible for the instrumental meat of every track. And though he's a strong soloist when he chooses, his focus is more on creating luxurious textures and working the grooves. And work them he does -- the faster tracks are amazingly driving for the jazz-funk genre, taken at tempos that would be fast even for R&B or rock, with lots of frantically slapped bass from Gene Torres. Clarice Taylor's vocals are far more soulful than the charmingly amateurish jazz-funk norm; what's more, the songs -- all but one co-written by Ninoska Escobar -- aren't just perfunctory groove vehicles, but feel more substantially structured than is typical for the genre. At least four -- "Sweet Power Your Embrace," "Free," "Funny Girl," and "Slick City" -- have become rare-groove club standards, and the title cut is an absolute monster. Records like Rhythm of Life -- catchy, funky, richly textured, and utterly joyous -- are a huge reason the acid jazz movement came into being; since their virtues aren't as prized by hardcore jazzers, they might otherwise be consigned to oblivion. Thankfully, this one was rescued. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide

Sweet Power your Embrace and Free were released as a double a Side single in 1977. While Sweet Power Your Embrace and Funny Girl received a limited 12" release in 1977 too.

They also pulled out I Want Your Love in 1996 but I haven't heard it so I don't know what they did to it.

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