Synth-pop
1986: “Bioconstructor” plays at the Moscow Rock Laboratory. Zodiac from Riga, Alyans with “Na zare”, Electroclub with Tukhmanov - fifteen Soviet synth-pop recordings from 1980 to 1992. Polivoks, Aelita, tape albums and the Melodiya label.
Eurodance
February 2025: Julie Bergan releases EURONITES - an EP in the 90s Eurodance formula. Cascada, Lasgo, Nathalie Aarts, MHM, 7dance - fifteen projects releasing fresh Eurodance in the 2020s. Three renaissance factors: TikTok, production accessibility and the collector community.
Artists
1985: Silver Pozzoli releases “Around My Dream” on Many Records. Germany №9, France №21, South Africa №1. One melody that outlived the era. A breakdown: Silvio Pozzoli, recording, charts, versions, reissues and why a four-note melody won't let go forty years later.
Artists
1984: on the Memory Records label, Brian Ice's “Talking to the Night” is released - Italo Disco with vocals by Fabrizio Rizzolo and production by the Turatti/Chieregato team. Memory Records - the label of Koto and Hipnosis. A breakdown: production network, vocal substitutions and the track's place in the Italo Disco canon.
Synth-pop
1981: the Human League take №1 in the UK, Kraftwerk finish Computer World, and in Montreal Men Without Hats assemble a demo of “The Safety Dance”. International synth-pop bands do not form a single front - each city dictates its own timbre. A guide to seven national scenes from the British hit-factory method to Soviet techno-romanticism.
Italo Disco
2024. A new spacesynth album drops on Bandcamp - the cover looks like Laserdance 1987. New space disco: revival or synthwave? A breakdown of the boundary and 12 modern projects.
Synth-pop
1984. Alphaville release 'Big in Japan', Propaganda record 'Dr. Mabuse'. Germany in the 80s - an independent synth-pop scene with cities, studios, and sound. 12 groups, a map of Germany.
Artists
1985. The German label ZYX Records releases 'Colder Than Ice' - the voice of American Grant Miller, producer Fancy. American vocals in the German italo machine, cold sound and a bass line that never lets go.
Italo Disco
1986, West Germany. ZYX Records releases the 12-inch maxi-single K.B. Caps "Do You Really Need Me" (ZYX 5516). Producer Cay Hume, arrangers Bendorff/Post/Leis/Pohle. Five singles in three years, a 1998 reissue, and silence. A studio project of German italo-disco without concerts or television.
Producers
28 November 1956, Massa, Tuscany: Roberto Zanetti is born - Savage as artist, Robyx as producer. From Don't Cry Tonight (1983, Germany #2) to Ice MC, Double You and Alexia in the 90s. Debunking the Eiffel 65 myth: Bliss Corporation was founded by other people.
Artists
1977: Meco and Space give the genre its name. But space disco was not built by them alone. From Cerrone and Dee D. Jackson to Latvian Zodiac and Italian Automat - a map of 15 projects, six countries and three peak years that are less known than Space and Rockets.
Eurodance
2004, Bonn: Cascada launches and within two years sells 30 million records. Eurodance of the 2000s is not a revival of the 90s formula but a mutation into hands up, vocal trance and dance-pop. A country-by-country breakdown: Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain.
Tracks
1983, Terni, Italy: the trio My Mine records Hypnotic Tango on Progress Record. Germany #5, 18 weeks in the chart. 7-inch 3:44, 12-inch 6:10. The song outlived its creators by 40 years: Bananarama interpolated it in 2005, Benny Benassi remixed it in 2023.
Artists
9 November 1949. Uwe-Michael Wischhoff - the future Mike Mareen. From Hamburg's Star-Club via the merchant navy to Eurodisco. Hits: Dancing in the Dark and Love Spy on ZYX.
Eurodance
1993. 2 Unlimited pushed No Limit to the top of the charts, and the genre got its name. Beyond the obvious names - Snap, Culture Beat, Haddaway - stood dozens of projects whose singles sold millions while producers hid behind studio walls.