Here is a seductive and haunting number from 1985. Produced and arranged by Antonio d'Addezio for XYZ Records, Jules' "I Want You" relies heavily on the standard melodic tools of other Italo ballads but still manages to deliver a unique romantic flair.
Yikes! My last post was nearly a month ago so let me dust the cobwebs off of the feed and try to play catch up. I just bought a house that is in need of some tender love and care so that has consumed a lot of my mental energy as of late. Looking forward to a fresh start, reconfiguring the studio and harnessing a new feng shui for my life. I consider myself a pretty lucky guy so how better to celebrate than Ryan Simmons' song of the same name.
'Lucky Guy' is just fun Italo pop from German pop sensation Dieter Bohlen of Modern Talking and Blue System. Despite featuring the ubiquitous group chant of 'oh ee ohh' this songs has some unique qualities including the spacious synth pad and percussive guitar strums. I featured this on podcast 06, check it out in that context.
International Music System put out this infectious number in 1984 on Emergency Records. The melody of the chorus and thick synthesizer pads truly has healing qualities. What else can you expect from Maurice Cavalieri and Gino Stefani, the geniuses behind Spacer Woman?
Zenobia cut this pop number in 1985 for Streetwise Records, co-produced by Michael Wooten. I have a personal preference for the dub version because it leaves a lot to the imagination. The vocal single is pretty good and has a tinge of a yacht rockin feel. Before dropping this she had a hand in song writing for a few soul numbers in the 70s and 80s including one or two for motown. Check out this immaculate rare soul number she did for Platinum Hook, produced by Deodato.
Orlando Riva Sound, or O.R.S., was a disco outfit from Germany in the late 70s that put out some serious heat. "Body to Body Boogie" is slow and sensuous but to me the real star is the B-Side to the Ariola re-release of "Body to Body," "Dream Machine." "Dream Machine" is a great space disco number that has a little more depth in my humble opinion, but you can be the judge of that yourself. I guess it depends on whether you feel like an evening of back rubs or contemplating singularity.
Both tracks were produced by Anthony Monn who did some wonderful work in the genre through the 70s and 80s and he apparently produced Bolero's "Hold Me in Your Arms" which is a staple in my rotation (See podcast 01).
My attention had been drawn to ZYX Records recently after doing a discogs search for Flow Chart's "Go Ask the Boss," a disco drenched I tune from 1983. I was a little confused by their seemingly massive reach over Italo releases on discogs but a little more research realized that ZYX did a lot of compilations, best of, and re-releases over the years. So it turns out that "Ask the Boss" was originally released on Maximus. Well, Maximus delivered some serious funky disco cuts. And so my schizo post that was supposed to be a focused survey on a record label has descended into a random assorted selection of stuff.
Regardless of whether they released the originals, the list on ZYX's discogs page is a good sweeping survey of some of the greatest Italo tracks ever, as well as some more obscure ones. Just put some of those titles into youtube and let it rip.
"Fabrice Cuitade was a young label manager at Barclay in the seventies. He founds Egg Records as a side project with a view to compete with Virgin (first artist signings include Heldon among others). Right after seeing "Star Wars" for the first time, he decided to make a concept album out of it." (from discogs.com)
And here's more space disco from Space who I featured earlier.
Mike Mareen sure has a thing for espionage. Here are two tracks of his that illustrate my point. There is a pretty thorough bio of him on discogs that I have included here.
"Mike Mareen was born on November, 9th 1949 in Berlin (West Germany). First, he was a drummer, but later he was the singer of the group Cemetery Institution (non-disco) and performed in Hamburg´s legendary 'Star Club', where The Beatles used to play in their beginnings.
Then he became a sailor, went to New York and spent some years there. Back in Germany again, he released his biggest success hit "Love Spy" in 1986, followed by "Dancing In The Dark" and "Agent Of Liberty", a great disco track as well. In the same year Mike released his first album entitled: "Dance Control". After one year later in 1987 he released his second album called: "Let's Start Now". This album included his new super-hit: "Don't Talk To The Snake". Both albums were released by well-known Germany Label Zyx Records.
Apart of Mike Mareen, he also sang using pseudonyms like Amadeus Liszt with such smash hits like: "Win The Race" and "The Devil Win", but his successful career have been with the Mike Mareen releases."
Fancy has a some great tracks and these are a few of my favorites. According to Fancy's website he had a few singles make it onto the Top 10 Dance Charts in the United States, yet it neglects to say which ones. Check out the website to read up on the history of Fancy and while you are there book him for a show.
German group Blue System was formed by Modern Talking member Dieter Bohlen and this "Magic Symphony" was one of their greatest hits along with "Sorry Little Sarah."
Check out his work with Modern Talking. This video is what my life should look like.
Been busy setting up a website for the Happy Boys so I haven't been able to get a new podcast together. Hopefully this feel good German slow jam from Morris will put your mind at ease for the weekend. Its hard not to bob your head to this song's addictive chorus.
Been pretty busy juggling a few projects but had to get these guys up. A friend pointed me to Bad Boys Blue and these guys are the real deal. They have enjoyed much more widespread fame than most of the other artists I have featured on here. From Cologne, Germany they had large audiences in Eastern Europe, Russia (USSR), and South Africa. Check out what they are up to now.
Andrea - I'm a Lover (1984) Executive Producer - Dario Farina , Martin Hoffman Written By - Chuck Rolando , Dario Farina , Martin Hoffman
Ok, so I don't usually do two posts a day but I stumbled on this one that I heard months ago and had to get it up before I forgot. I love guy in this group. His bow tie and sleazy style reminds me of someone very close to me. It seems Giani Velcreaux has a doppleganger wandering somewhere around Europe . I guess he's Russian if their song Oo Seven is any tell. Check out another one of their hits, Macho Man. I have included both the music video, choreographed by Jimmy Cameron and a live version as they are both amazing.
More Italo Disco from the Germans. I didn't think that they were ever able to make a song as tight as Hypnotic Tango. They had a follow up in 1984 called Zorro and I did a little more research and found this jewel, Cupid Girl.
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