Autumn 1984. Twenty-two-year-old Giacomo Maiolini from the village of Pedrocca, near Brescia, founds the label Time Records. The first release: "Funny Dancer" by The Atrium, catalogue number TRD 1001. Over the next twenty years the label will release 1,959 records, sell 30 million compilation copies in Japan alone, and reach number one on the British chart four times. The story of Time is the story of how italo disco from a Brescian province reached Tokyo, London, and the world.
The beginning: Brescia, Farina-Crivellente, and Discomagic
Maiolini was born on 8 March 1963 in Pedrocca - a village near Brescia. After graduating from accounting school in 1982, he worked in a field far from music. He created Time Records in 1984, teaming up with the production duo of Mauro Farina and Giuliano Crivellente, who became the label's artistic directors from day one. Farina - the writer behind Radiorama's hits and one of the most prolific italo disco producers - was responsible for the sound. Crivellente for the arrangements. More on Farina in the Mauro Farina profile.
Distribution of the early releases was handled by Discomagic Records - the Milan label of Severo Lombardoni, which in those years was the largest distributor of Italian dance music. Time Records became a Discomagic partner, but from the outset kept its own catalogue series (TRD with sequential numbers) and its own brand. By 1996 Maiolini had moved distribution to Self Distribuzione - the label was large enough by then to operate without intermediaries.
Farina-Crivellente: the studio team
The production model of Time Records was simple and efficient: Farina and Crivellente wrote the songs, programmed the synthesisers, and assembled the vocalists. Session singers recorded their parts under pseudonyms - Albert One, Aleph, Fred Ventura, Vanessa, Gipsy & Queen, Sophie, Max Coveri - names that meant nothing outside the studio but became brands on vinyl labels.
Many vocalists recorded under several pseudonyms at once. Claudio Magnani sang for Atrium, De Niro, Dave Hammond, Mike Hammer, and half a dozen other projects. Elena Ferretti for Alexis, Helena, Karina, Rose, Vanessa. Emanuela Gubinelli for Angie Davies, Anika, Giselle, Jilly. Milan session vocalists are a separate story, but Time Records was their main employer in the late 80s.
The studio process was conveyor-like. Farina and Crivellente worked with sequencer programs on Roland TR-808 and TR-707 drum machines - confirmed by italo-disco.it, which explicitly states that releases by Farina/Crivellente (Asia, Flea, FCF Records and Time Records) feature these machines. Synthesisers included the Roland JD-800 for pads and leads, the Korg M1 for organ timbres. Vocals were recorded in one or two days: a singer arrived at the studio, received the lyrics and melody, recorded a couple of takes, and within a week the single was on a vinyl label.
The Time Records catalogue grew fast. In 1984 - two releases (TRD 1001-1002). In 1985 - fourteen (TRD 1003-1017). In 1986 - twenty-three. By 1990 the label was releasing thirty singles a year. Each received a sequential catalogue number without gaps - a system that let collectors and distributors track releases to within a week.
Japan and the birth of Eurobeat
In 1985 Maiolini released the Aleph single "Fly to Me" (TRD 1015) - and licensed it to Japan. It was the first Italian recording to reach the Japanese market. The reaction exceeded all expectations: Japanese audiences, raised on the melodies of Patrick Cowley and Bobby Orlando, embraced the Italian sound as their own.
Maiolini spotted the niche and named it "Eurobeat" - a genre derived from the melodies of Cowley and Orlando, with faster tempo and simplified structure. From 1985 to 2004, Time Records produced 1,959 records. Compilations assembled from these singles sold 100,000 copies a month per release in Japan, and the peak - "Super Eurobeat vol.100" - reached 800,000 copies. In total, the compilations sold more than 30 million copies in Japan. Five Grammy Awards (in the Special Album category) went to Super Eurobeat compilations - a rare feat for an Italian independent label.
The Japanese Eurobeat phenomenon was not accidental. The Japanese label Avex Trax licensed Italian recordings and packaged them into the "Super Eurobeat" series - monthly compilations sold in discount stores next to manga and video games. Para Para - a dance style based on synchronous arm movements to eurobeat - became a cultural phenomenon in Japan in the 90s, and Time Records was its main soundtrack. Clubs in Roppongi and Shibuya played Italian eurobeat six nights a week.
The SAIFAM Group - a publishing company linked to Farina/Crivellente - held publishing rights to most Time Records songs. This meant that every time a track from the Time catalogue played on Japanese radio or in a club, royalties flowed through the chain Avex → Time → SAIFAM → producers. The chain worked without breakdown for nearly twenty years.
The eurobeat sound differed from classic italo disco not only in tempo (150-160 BPM versus 115-128) but also in structure. In italo, a track lasted 6-7 minutes and developed from verse to chorus through breaks and solos. In eurobeat, the structure became modular: intro - melody A - melody B - break - melody C - finale. Each section lasted 30-45 seconds. This format was designed for Para Para dancers: they changed choreography at each section change. Japanese Avex compilations often sped up the original tracks by 5-10% to hit the Para Para tempo corridor.
Detail: the Time Records catalogue ran on strict numbering - TRD 1001, TRD 1002, TRD 1003 - without gaps. From the catalogue number you can determine the year of release: TRD 1015 - 1985, TRD 1042 - 1986, TRD 1165 - 1990. This makes Time Records one of the best-documented catalogues in italo disco.
Five vinyl label designs
Over twenty years of vinyl releases, Time Records changed five label designs - and each became a landmark for collectors. First (1984-1986): lavender blue with painted stars, from TRD 1001 to TRD 1029. Second (1986-1987): clock-tower logo against a background of buildings, sky-blue, from TRD 1030 to TRD 1056. Third (1987-1991): white top, grey bottom, pastel pink lines - the most recognisable italo design of Time. Fourth (1991-1998): dark lavender background, red oval with white "Time" - the transition to the eurobeat era. Fifth (1998-2003): minimalist white, with the Avex logo alongside - the Japanese era of full control.
The label design is not cosmetic. It shows which period a track was recorded in: which production approach, which synthesisers, which tempo. Italo disco of 1984-1986 (first and second design) - 115-128 BPM, melodic synths, romantic lyrics. Eurobeat of 1991-1998 (fourth design) - 150-160 BPM, accelerated arpeggios, Japanese audience. The label is like a stratigraphic cross-section.
From Italo Disco to Eurodance: expansion
By the late 80s italo disco had exhausted itself. Maiolini, unlike many of his colleagues, did not close the label - he reoriented it. In 1989 he created the sub-label Italian Style Production for house music. In 1992 - the label Downtown for early eurobeat. A third sub-label, Power Records, continued to release italo disco for the residual market.
In 1992 Maiolini launched the "Deejay Parade" compilation, tied to a radio show on Radio Deejay. The series became a commercial hit and cemented Time Records' position on the Italian dance market. In parallel, the label broke out beyond Japan: the British charts gave the number-one spot to Time Records releases four times.
- 1995: The Outhere Brothers - "Don't Stop (Wiggle Wiggle)"
- 1995: The Outhere Brothers - "Boom Boom Boom"
- 1998: The Tamperer feat. Maya - "Feel It"
- 2000: Black Legend - "You See the Trouble with Me"
Maiolini is the only Italian label owner to have topped the British sales chart four times. The transition from disco to eurodance at the genre level and at a single label level is the same trajectory.
Key singles that defined different stages: Aleph "Fly to Me" (1985, TRD 1015) - the entry point to Japan. Albert One "Secrets" (1986, TRD 1030) - transition to the second label design. Aleph "Black Out" (1988, TRD 1066) - first album in the catalogue. Gipsy & Queen "Love" (1988, TRD 1062) - the most prolific project on the label. Silver Pozzoli "Love Is the Best" (1989, TRD 1099) - Silver Pozzoli on Time Records. Maltese "It's All Right" (1991, TRD 1179) - start of the fourth design and the eurobeat era.
The 2000s and beyond
In 2008 Maiolini withdrew Time Records from the eurobeat industry, focusing on other directions. By then the label had dominated the Japanese market for nearly two decades. Later successes came from the mainstream: O-Zone "Dragostea Din Tei" (2004), Alex Gaudino feat. Crystal Waters "Destination Calabria" (2007), Dennis Lloyd "Nevermind" - the first billion streams on Spotify for an Italian independent label.
Time Records continues to operate - with a YouTube channel of over a million subscribers and releases that regularly chart. In 2025 Maiolini was awarded the title of Knight of Merit of the Italian Republic. By his own count, he has run the label for over forty years - the only Italian independent label owner to have travelled from vinyl 12-inch singles to a streaming billion.
TRD 1001 - "Funny Dancer" by The Atrium, 1984. TRD 1959 - the last vinyl release in the catalogue, 2003. Between them: twenty years, 1,959 records, 30 million copies in Japan, and four British number ones. From Pedrocca to Tokyo - a distance covered by one man with one catalogue series and one partnership that never fell apart in forty years. Time Records is still standing.