Italo In The Disco
A pair of early-mid 80s gems
This newsletter has lay dormant for the past year or so, it has been superseded by a newsletter that focuses more directly on politics called International Blue. As well as been sidelined due to my day job.
However, there is a pipeline of albums and songs that I have plans to write essays about. So I’ve been thinking of ways to keep this newsletter active while I find the time to do so.
What I’ve come up with is some small weekly posts on some obscure (and maybe not so obscure) gems.
One of the genres that the YouTube algorithm is excellent at feeding you amazing songs is Italo-Disco – the movement of disco-adjacent and synth-pop from Italy in the late-1970s and early-1980s.
Plustwo have taken advantage of having their long-lost songs resurrected by the algorithm, and re-record their song Melody with a bit more beef on its bones. Which now has 17 million streams of Spotify (after being discovered by dancing teens on TikTok).
However, a single released the same year Stop Fantasy is a bit more in my wheelhouse. The 12” version is slightly faster than the single version (which is available on Spotify) and is vastly superior as a result.
The second track leans more to the synth-pop end of the Italo-Disco genre. This somehow didn’t become a hit (a shorter radio edit might have made it more acceptable to commercial radio). The incredible ESL title – Lover Boy (You’re My Favourite Choice) – also may not have helped. The band, or performer, seems to have completely disappeared after this song. No doubt disgruntled at such an amazing song getting no great traction. But maybe we can give it the respect it deserve here?