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Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Italobot Podcast 07 - Salty Seahorse Chanson

01. Gary Low - Forever, Tonight and All My Life
02. Jean Louis Levant - Say
03. Ghery M. & Ocean D. - Love's Emotions
04. Images - Corps a Corps (Giani's lazy edit)
05. Art of Love - Looking Through the Night
06. Silvie Stone - Charming Prince
07. Jody J - Les Americans
08. Le Chat - Pussycat
09. Reportage - Madly in Love
10. Time - Can't You Feel It
11. Domina - You Got My Soul

I got a few fun tracks together for you, just in time for New Years Eve! I'm heading to the Salty Seahorse to have some fun and erase parts of the last decade that I would rather not remember. But there is a lot to celebrate and I hope everyone has a healthy and happy celebration. See you in 2010!

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Saturday, December 26, 2009

Happy Birthday Italobot - Automaticamore


Today marks the 1st birthday of Italobot. We have made some new friends and had a lot of fun sharing some great music. If there is anything you want to see here please don't hesitate to let us know and if you want to take part in Italobot in anyway give a shout.

I am away from home for the holidays so to make it easy I'm putting up this highlight from Flemming Dalum's 'Italo Magic' mix.
This hauntingly beautiful track from PatriziaPellegrino, "Automaticamore" is one of those tracks that lies deep in the subconscious. I feel like I have known this track forever but was recently reminded of it when I heard it on Flemming Dalum's 'Italo Magic' mix. Pellegrino has had a long career as an entertainer, singer, and actress and this song reminds me a lot of another actress/model who put out an eerie single in 1981.

Patrizia Pellegrino - Automaticamore

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Gino Palatino



"Vendetta a Parigi" is wonderfully sleazy track from 1982 by Jean Soullier (aka Gino Palatino), a Frenchman singing in Italian. The lyrics grace the back of the cover and here is a rough English translation of a French translation that I had google do for me. Just scroll down to the comments to get a gist of the lyrics. This one was also featured in podcast 2.



Gino Palatino - Vendetta a Parigi

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Range


"Give Me" by Range is a long and funky groove with luscious tremolo strings and punchy bass. The first break is a wonderful disco composition and every time I hear it I am teased into awaiting the chorus. It takes a minute for the vocals to kick in but it is well worth the wait. The team that put this together included Paul Mazzolini, Paul Micioni, and Pierluigi Giombini. Mazzolini, better known as Gazebo, has been featured here before and has an impressive roster of releases throughout the 1980s and beyond. Paul Micioni did some work on Gazebo's "Masterpiece" as well as on Gary Low's "Forever, Tonight And All My Life" and "La Colegiala." Giombini, in turn, also worked with Gazebo on the timeless "I Like Chopin." I featured "Give Me" on podcast 02, check it out there too.

Range - Give Me

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Maurice Cavalieri in the Nexus


Maurice Cavalieri had his hand in some of the quintessential releases of the early 80s (for fans of Italo Disco and 'Boogie'). I would exhaust myself trying to showcase all of them in this post but he did work with Sangy on Firefly's 'Love is Gonna Be On Your Side,' 'Don't Stop' and more. But recently I have been jamming on another release he did for Mr Disc Organization in 1983. 'Stand Up' by Nexus is a simple two chord groove with a loose synth bass that would immediately have boogie enthusiasts clamoring to get it into rotation. And you might recognize that decaying and choppy synthesizer that demarks the chorus from another one of his releases, the eerie and unforgettable 'Spacer Woman' by Charlie.

Nexus - Stand Up
Charlie - Spacer Woman

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Ace Records


Ace Records released a few covers including Steely Dans "Do it Again" and Santana's "Oye Como Va." But the real shining stars of their catalog are "Le Chat" by Pussycat and "Don't Stop" by Asso. Both tracks were arranged and produced by Victorio Pezzolla. "Le Chat" was originally written by Albert Verrecchia and Roberto Conrado and was released in 1977 by Verrecchia as the Weyman Corporation. The chanting French female vocals in "Le Chat" are festive, alluring, and addictive. Asso's "Don't Stop" is the funky B Side to "Do it Again." It is at parts funky but sometimes treads into a light jazz sound. Overall it is the shining side of the release.


Asso - Don't Stop

Pussycat - Le Chat
Asso - Don't Stop

Friday, December 11, 2009

Primadonna



A classic duet from 1984, Flashing on the Floor is driven by big synthesizers and the haunting voices of the male and female leads of Giorgio Dolce and Stefania Dal Pino. Also check out their 1986 track 'Angel You.' Stefania also sang on Savage's 'Loosing You,' as Rose on 'Magic Carillon,' and on G.A.N.G.'s 'Incantations.'



Primadonna - Flashing on the Floor (download)

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Alek Stark's Electric Dreams



Here is an Italo Disco flavored release from our new friend in Spain, Mr. Alek Stark. Electric Dreams has a hi-nrg vibe to it complete with vocoded vocals, orchestra hits and aggressive tom fills. Released on his own label 158.8MHz Records, Stark has done his homework and composed a contemporary track that remains faithful to the sounds of mid-80s Italo.

Check out more music from Stark at his blog.

Alek Stark - Electric Dreams (limited download)

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Agostino Presta



Agostina Presta was a DJ and producer in the early 80s who hailed from Italy. Though he became more famous for his song "Computer (in My Mind)" Ago had a string of near perfect Italo Boogie tracks in 1981-1982 that were compiled together in an album for Full Time Records in 1982.




Ago - For You (download)
Ago - Stop Your Life (download)
Ago - Trying Over (download)

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Gigi Maini, Raff Todesco and Goblins


Rizzo - Hot Desire

Rizzo's "Hot Desire" is a late release but it packs in some great changes. Produced by Frankie Vaccari, Gigi Maini, and Raff Todesco in 1988 for On The Road. Todesco and Maini both have some fun tracks under their belt but I thought I might highlight this cool cover of Goblin's "Profondo Rosso." Goblin was an Italian prog rock band that put out the original in 1975.





Goblin - Profondo rosso

Rizzo - Hot Desire (download)
City Center - Profondo Rosso (download)

And since its the holiday season and I haven't been updating here as often as I would like here is one by Madigan that also featueres the team of Todesco and Maini.

Madigan - Ice Cold Love (download)

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Sue Sadlow Blows Up Disco


Another production from Maurizio Dami (aka Alexander Robotnik). It was co-produced and written by Marzio Benelli who has some classics in his stable as an engineer and producer including the italo boogie classic 'Go On Do It' by Victor (featured in podcast 02). 'My Man' was also co-written by Mya Fracassini, the vocalist on 'Hesitation.'


Sue Sadlow - My Man

Sue Sadlow - My Man (download)