I Know Magica

So on a lark I did search in iTunes podcasts with the term "italo disco" and I came upon a podcast called The Breakfast Club.  Not all of the selections they had were italo disco mixes, they also have other genres and dedications to particular producers like Stock, Aitken and Waterman and Nile Rodgers.

SWEDISH PODCAST THE BREAKFAST CLUB

I found all of their italo disco selections great.  A few I hadn't heard before.  All of them were a pleasant surprise.  This song though I Know Magica by Magika from 1985 on Italy's Time Records had to be my favorite.

It turns out I did already have it on one of my external hd's and I've been listening to it on repeat for a while now.

I KNOW MAGICA

Like many italo disco tracks it was a one-off.  Of course there are names on it that you see on many italo disco productions.  For example Giacomo Maiolini.

 He also brought us Danny Keith, Radiogram, Miko Mission and Silver Pozzoli to name a few.

Then we have Mario Natale who worked on Dan Harrow, Paul Sharada, Tom Hooker, Bravo, Silver Pozzoli and others.

There is also C. Cattafesta, G. Caria and S. Oliva.  I'm not going to list artists for them.  But you get the picture.  In Italo Disco we have many names and artists but they often are working on each others records.  The same artist using many different monikers, or even a variety of made up names.

Time from Can't you Feel it up to Love is the Reason

Italo Disco act Time had their first release in 1982 with Can't you Feel it.  They had a few follow-up singles such as Shaker Shake and Love is the Reason.

I really can't say there is much that distinguishes them from many other italo disco acts from the period.

But as your personal italo archivist it's not like I have to be crazy about everything I post.  It may very well be something that someone else adores.

So in this time of the virus and the contagion and being at home in Rome on lockdown I thought it was about Time I posted again.

TIME

Dario Dell'Aere, Fockewulf 190, Italo Disco Rarities, EAGLES IN THE NIGHT, FRED VENTURA SINGLES

refreshed links


eagles in the night
AN EAGLES ZIP
EAGLES IN THE NIGHT
HEARTBEAT FRED VENTURA
LEAVE ME ALONE FRED VENTURA
THE YEARS GO BY FRED VENTURA
IMAGINE FRED VENTURA 1987 TIME RECORDS
Body Heat
Fockewulf 190 using the voice of Fred Ventura came out with Eagles in the Night by Dario Dell'Aere in 1985 on Market Records Italy. It is now one of the most coveted Italo Disco 12" in existence and in my opinion one of the very best. It is the epitome of Italo Disco kitsch. The male vocals are completely off and he seems to yell "oh wacky co-co" and then after when she sings "oh I will become an eagle that flies only in the night" and he comes back "Uh ho Uh ho." It is simply classic nonsensical Italo at it's best. Why would someone want to become an eagle that flies only in the night anyway?

I was trying to put my finger on what makes the sound of the music so unusual and then it dawned on me it sounds as if in the background they are playing a children's xylophone. Yet the synth work is top notch.

Frank Tavaglione with the ultra rare 12" Tumidanda is also Fockewulf 190. Aliases in Italo Disco seem more common then they would be in a spy movie! Body Heat was their release from 1984 on Market Records. Ironically they wrote on the sleeve of the 12" that Dario Dell'Aere did the vocals but it was actually Fred Ventura (Federico Di Bonaventura).

The 12" cover art work by Tiziana Dell'Aere for Eagles in the Night is quite interesting too and probably ups the value as quite a few collectors I've come in contact with are quite partial to picture sleeves. Especially those who collect Italo Disco.

My love for Italo Disco came quite late in life. Because at the time going out in Rome in the 80's that's the music I heard in clubs and most nights it didn't seem quite so remarkable to me. But now considering how coveted and rare many of these tracks have become and then reading about how many of them had a strong influence on early house music and were staples on the legendary WBMX of Chicago, I realize that I really was quite fond of them after all. It's just that here in Italy in many cases they were simply Top 40 radio fodder so they seemed quite common.

But in the past decade I've become a rabid collector of Italo mp3's.  I guess because I've already accumulated so many of the disco and morning music ones that I wanted to get. Also due to the fact that for several years Italo disco labels like il discotto, Memory, Time, Market, Baby and others were quite prolific it would be almost impossible to know the majority of the releases. Many fell by the wayside during that period and many others were licensed by ZYX records in Germany and those got promoted heavily even though in many cases they were not the best ones.

Don't Stop italo disco by Time with George Aaron

Don't Stop is a 1984 release by italo disco artist Time.  They were one of the more prolific italo disco artists with more then ten 12" releases though they only had the one album.

This particular release is listed as Time with George Aaron.  Don't Stop