Searching the site…
Try a search
Site search
Search covers page content as well as titles.
Nothing found. Try another word.
Sixth track already - save favourites and download without limits
Sign upVideos, fashion, cinema, sleeves, TV - Italo Disco as part of the era.
54 articles newest first
1983: ZYX releases “The Best of Italo Disco”. Discomagic presses thousands of singles but only a handful of albums. Italo Disco lived on 12-inch maxi-singles and compilations. The “Italo Boot Mix”, “Italo Maxi-Hits”, “I Love ZYX” series. How to tell an album from a compilation.
500 euros for an original Savage “Don't Cry Tonight” on Discomagic - or 30 euros for a bootleg. How do you tell an Italo Disco bootleg from an original? Seven signs: matrix, label, vinyl, cover, catalog number, pressing country and price. A checklist with examples of Italian releases.
The Goldmine scale - Mint, Near Mint, Very Good Plus, Very Good - is adopted by Discogs as the standard. The Italo Disco collector meets it at every purchase. A breakdown of how NM, VG+ and VG really differ, what signs show under the lamp, typical seller mistakes and why Italian pressings are noisier than German ones.
1984. Discomagic Records presses the Savage 'Don't Cry Tonight' vinyl. Thirty years later - a 180g reissue. Sound, packaging, matrix, condition: how originals differ from reissues.
The runout zone of a vinyl record - the smooth strip between the last groove and the label. Matrix number, stamper generation, pressing plant code, mastering engineer initials. How to read an italo-disco single matrix and distinguish an original Italian pressing from a German licence.
June 1975: Frankie Valli releases the first wide-scale 12-inch promo - 10:32 on one side. The format was invented by accident by Tom Moulton. We break down how maxi-singles, 7-inches and album versions differed in Italo disco: duration, dynamics, breakdown and DJ intro.
1974: Tom Moulton and Jose Rodriguez create the 12-inch single - a hybrid with a wide groove and maximum volume. A 7-inch holds 3 minutes; a 12-inch holds 9 minutes at 4-6 dB louder. Why Italo Disco lived on this format.
1 October 1981 - Australian release. January 1983 - Billboard #1 for 4 weeks, UK #1 for 3 weeks. Greg Ham's flute line (F-G-F-E♭) - the track's most recognisable part. In 2010 the Federal Court called it an infringement of 1934's “Kookaburra”; in 2012 Ham was found dead in Melbourne.
27 February 1981: Springfield writes his debut hit in 2 hours after a stained-glass class in Pasadena - a real woman called Karen, her boyfriend Gary (a coincidental surname match). Billboard #1 for 2 weeks from 1 August 1981, 1982 Grammy for Best Male Rock Vocal. Same months he was Dr. Noah Drake on General Hospital.
19 November 1984: Mick Jones writes the melody in 40 minutes at The Mayfair Regent's lobby. Billboard #1 for 2 weeks, UK #1 for 3 weeks. New Jersey Mass Choir - 20 voices cut in 5 hours on 8 October, including Jennifer Holliday (1982 Tony for Dreamgirls). The band's first and only #1.
23 January 1984: written solo by Roger Taylor after his 3-year-old son said “radio ca-ca”. UK #2 (blocked by “Relax”), Billboard #16. The video uses Lang's 1927 “Metropolis” footage via a Moroder deal. At Live Aid on 13 July 1985, 72,000 fans did the synchronized double-clap on cue.
26 October 1981: Queen and David Bowie release a track born from a 24-hour jam at Mountain Studios, Montreux. UK #1 for 2 weeks, US #29. John Deacon worked out his seven-note bassline on a smoke break. In 1990 Vanilla Ice sampled it for “Ice Ice Baby”, denied the borrow on MTV, then settled out of court.
June 1985: Knopfler overheard delivery workers at a New York appliance store and put their words into the lyric. #1 Billboard for 3 weeks, UK #4. Sting sings “I want my MTV” - for a 25% writing credit. The $350K video, with pop's first full 3D animation, became MTV Europe's first clip in 1987.
January 1984: Van Halen with an Oberheim OB-Xa synth - alien to hard rock. David Lee Roth and the band hated it; Eddie insisted. #1 Billboard for 5 weeks - the band's only #1. 5150 Studios, producer Templeman. Roth shot the $600 video himself. Album: 10M US copies. Roth quit nine months later.
October 1987: the 24-year-old George Michael writes, produces and performs his solo debut alone. Title single #1 Billboard for 4 weeks, album 25M copies, 12 weeks at #1. Grammy Album of the Year 1988 - a first for solo pop. Gibson J-200 12-string and TR-909.
February 1982: David Paich writes “Africa” on a Yamaha CS-80 after a PBS doc. No Toto member had been to Africa. #1 Billboard 1983, 11 vocal tracks on the chorus, 2.3B streams after the Reddit revival.
May 1985: Swiss duo Yello (Meier+Blank) drop “Oh Yeah” on Stella. #51 Billboard - not a hit. 1986: editor Paul Hirsch slots 3 seconds over a Ferris Bueller scene, John Hughes greenlights it in 5 seconds. Since then - 200+ films, $40M in licensing. Yello have never played a live show.
Favourites, the live chat and requests come with the account.
Free of charge. Favourites, the live chat and playlists come with the account.
Enter the email your account is registered with - we will send a reset link. It is valid for 1 hour.
Enter the 6-digit code from the email and the account is ready.
The link from the email works too - it is valid for 24 hours.
Loading your saved tracks…
