Early Robyx

I have been reading up on Roberto Zanetti after repeatedly coming across tracks he has produced. By the later 80s his style developed into a very recognizable sound.
And this Robyx production style from the 1980s is having a definite influence on my own music so I wanted to delve deeper into his own development.

His production career developed over time before the release of his first solo single, Don't Cry Tonight under the name Savage. According to an interview on Italo Interviews these are some of his first productions starting with Italian pop in 1978 and moving towards the Italo sound by 1983, the same year he released Don't Cry Tonight.


Santarosa - Souvenir


Taxi - To Miami


Joey Moon - Angelica


G.A.N.G. - Incantations

Lala - Johnny Johnny (prod. by Robyx) *

Johnny Johnny - Lala

Some serious Italo from Lala co-produced by Italo genius Robyx (aka Savage, aka Roberto Zanetti). Full of classic Italo vocal phrasing this one is gonna get me out of these Monday blues.

Johhny Johhny - Lala (download)

Antonio d'Addezio, Shy Rose, Sly & Hunter

I Cry For You - Shy Rose (1986)

Late 80s Italo from Italy and Spain produced by Swiss producer Antonio d'Addezio (aka Tony D). He is still making tracks these days for the dance floor.


Sly & Hunter - No More Visions


Night Girl - Hugh Bullen

Shy Rose - I Cry For You (download)

Sly and Hunter - No More Vision (download)

FM Synthesis, The DX-7 and TX81Z

Since really getting back into the studio I have been reawakening the drive to get the most out of my synthesizers. Analog synths are always fun and easy to manipulate with hands on knob tweaking and turning. But in the 1980s a bunch of scientists came up with a new form of synthesis called FM synthesis. Yamaha adopted this new mathematical form of synthesis and released the DX-7 in 1983 which became a power house synthesizer in the 1980s used by nearly everyone. Here is a video showing off the power of the DX-7 II FD which was a re-release that came out in 1987. You can hear how a lot of Italo songs got their sound from FM synthesis.



Years ago I got a Yamaha TX81Z rack mount synthesizer which is an affordable way to get DX-7 sounds. But editing on the TX81Z can be very difficult given that all you have is a LED screen. Here is a great site that I found that has some helpful hints as well as software to help edit the TX81Z. Also check out this great youtube vid from Muzik4Machines editing his TX81Z.



Nowadays you can get these sounds in software form without all the pain of editing. Native Instruments released the FM-7 and FM-8 which have some great sounds. But of course software sounds still don't always capture the depth of hardware.

Check out Audiopirate to test drive these powerful software tools.

Kano - The Transition to Italo

Been off the game for a while taking care of business and babies. Working on some new tracks that I hope to feature here soon. But in the meantime enjoy some more Italo from Kano. "I'm Ready" is one of the most classic Italo tracks of all time. Kano was instrumental in bridging the gap between disco, R&B, and Italo with tracks like "I'm Ready" and "Another Life." I featured "Another Life" previously but don't miss out on some of their other funky funky tracks.

Mike Rogers (aka Marco Zani)

Just a Story - Mike Rogers

Marco Zani (aka Mike Rogers) recorded this Italo gem in 1984. He had another song Happy Moon in 1986 but it doesn't measure up to the addictiveness of 'Just a Story.' But in 1985 he produced 'Hold Me Tight' for Katy Gray and this one holds some Italo water for sure. And don't miss his work on Reale Accademia's 'She's Mine.'


Katy Gray - Hold Me Tight

Mike Rogers - Just a Story (Download)

Brian Martin - Sex Tonight

Sex Tonight - Brian Martin

Here is a fun song from Brian Martin and an equally entertaining fan video. Recorded in Italy in 1984. And some 'sex tonight' still sounds good to me!

Sex Tonight - Brian Martin

Murder One

Murder One reached out to me to highlight some tracks of his in advance of a tour of Japan, Hong Kong, and the United States in July and August. I love hearing what other knob tweakers are up to and featuring them here if I like what they are doing. Murder One's brand of dance music has a stuttering edge that keeps you guessing and though I hate to pigeon-hole anyone's sound, the drums and size of the sounds he is using are reminiscent of Justice. Driven by arpeggios and big synth tones these tracks are perfect for a crowded club full of lasers, fog machines, and strobe lights. He is currently finishing his debut album to be released in late 2009 on French label Tiffany Records.

Here are a few tracks available for download on ZShare. Enjoy.

Murder One (feat Girl Is Tough) - This Is Love (320k MP3)

Murder One - Outrun (320k MP3)

Italobot podcast 04 : Little Cella's First Italo

Right click and click "Save Target as" (IE) or
"Save Link as" (Firefox) to download

Italobot podcast 04 : Little Cella's First Italo
01. Stop Fantasy - Plus Two -
02. Play the Game - Cool Runners
03. Glow of Love - change
04. Cybernetic Love - Casco
05. I'm Ready - Kano
06. Collision - sphinx
07. Shari Vari - Number of Names
08. Love Again (remix) - Savage


To subscribe in iTunes:
1. Open itunes and go to (Advanced > Subscribe to podcast)
2. Paste this url in the podcast subscription field:

http://feeds2.feedburner.com/Italobot

Just a quick mix of some great tunes dedicated to my newborn baby girl. Enjoy!

Kata - Fires In The Night

Kata - Fires In The Night (Italo-Disco 1985)

Not much to say because I'm running out for the night but I stumbled on this one today. Its fun!!

Rest in Peace Michael

Michael Jackson's music played a dominant role in my upbringing. My mother listened to "Off The Wall" in unhealthy doses and I even had a pair of zipper pants inspired by the Thriller era. Sadly his public personality had loomed large over his musical legacy in the last years of his life. But beyond the tabloids there was a lonely man who seemed to really want to heal the pain of the humanity and longed to be loved. He will be missed and remembered for the great songs he gave us.

Change and TransAtlantic Funk

Change - The Glow of Love

Luther Vandross' voice was perfect soul. Change was a pan-Atlantic collaboration between Italian producers Jacque Petrus and Mauro Malavasi, musicians Davide Romani, Paolo Gianolio and American vocalists Luther Vandross and Jocelyn Brown. There is a great bio and history of the story of Change on this website. Petrus went on to produce a lot of great funky tracks including more with Change.

Sandro Oliva

G.J. Lunhi - Acapulco Nights

Oh man I'm going crazy today with the posts but I have so much to give!

Sandro Oliva had a heavy hand in some amazing Italo titles. I already gave him a nod for his work on Ken Laszlo's Hey Hey Guy but I was excited to find his name on the label of Mark Tower's "You Aren't Fall in Love" and G.J. Lunghi's "Acapulco Nights." The list of titles that have been touched by this guy is long and he still is doing his thing.


Mark Tower - You Aren't Fall In Love (1983)

Mark Tower - You Aren't Fall in Love (download)

FlowChart - Ask the Boss

Flowchart - Ask The Boss

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.

Flowchart - Ask the Boss (download)

Delirium Records

Biba - Close To You (1983)


Barbara York - Tonight (1982)

Delirium Records had a handful of releases between 1981 and 1983 that really showcase a lot of the transition between disco and italo. There is a lot of disco influence in the catalog from those years, the production has a cool electro flair and the vocals are unique. Check out these few selections that have drummed up from Youtube, and explore more on your own.


Amin-Peck - Girls on Me (1982)