Italo Disco Legacy (Documentary)

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"Italo-Disco Legacy": The romance of vinyl

Pietro Anton's documentary "Italo-Disco Legacy" tells about one of the currents of the today's musical trends to incendiary rhythms.

Director: Pietro Anton
Premiere: January 2018, Germany

Music trends change faster than others, but some trends not only have an impact on followers, but also do not lose relevance and fans decades after their inception. Alternating interviews with musicians and documentary footage from concerts and parties, the authors immerse the viewer in the atmosphere of the early dancing 80s. Then, with the light hand of the German record company ZYX, the term "Italo-disco" arose, which gave the name to a new style on their releases. The musical genre, as we learn, was the result of the application of electronic effects to classical Italian disco.

Tracks in English with a pronounced Italian accent were played at discos and broadcast from pirate radio stations. They instantly gained popularity and influenced, for example, such iconic electronic artists as Depeche Mode and Kraftwerk. The narrative from the mouth of producers and disc jockeys of the Mediterranean dance genre is comprehensively shrouded in romance. It is present both in the lyrics of the songs and in general in the attitude of people to their work.

In the absence of digital technology, musicians were chasing coveted records, traveling the world. For example, from 1600 kilometers away from the Netherlands, where the iconic Italian disco radio station Stad Den Haag was formed, to Milan, which was one of the distribution centers of rounded carriers with Italian hits. The founders of the radio could make 15 such business trips in a short period of time, and they remember these routes with genuine nostalgia, which gives the picture sincerity.

The viewer is pampered with funny documentary footage from the everyday life of "hunters" for disco music. On one of them, enthusiasts are trying to tamp dozens of vinyl records into the trunk of a tiny car. And we seem to be transported to other realities, where in the absence of Spotify & SoundCloud, tracks that seem a little funny now became legendary. Especially touching in the modern context are the revelations of performers who share their emotions from very recent concerts. It turns out that more than 30 years later there are still fans of the genre who meet them with no less ovations than during the boom of Italo-disco.

We also learn that modern DJs often use once-popular "cosmic" tracks as a basis for their mixes, thereby giving them a fresh sound and a second life. Even an indifferent attitude to an outdated, but iconic musical style does not prevent you from enjoying watching the picture. The movie, like Italo-disco itself, loses in drive and dynamism to modern raves, but compensates for this lack with a sense of touching a bygone era, traces of which can be found in the modern musical culture that has rushed so far.

Italo Disco Legacy (Trailer)

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The official soundtrack to the movie was also released on double vinyl and in a digital version. Some of the compositions have never been published before. You can find and buy it, for example, here: https://priv4te.bandcamp.com/album/ital ... soundtrack.

1. Fred Ventura - The Years (12" Maxi Version) (06:16)
2. Body Electric - Magic Electronic (previously unreleased 12" Maxi Version) (07:16)
3. Simona Sierra - Muchacho (12" Maxi Version) (05:59)
4. Alba - Philomena (06:45)
5. The Hacker - You (07:17)
6. Miss Plug Inn - Come On (previously unreleased) (04:36)
7. Alexander Robotnick - Cybernetic Move (previously unreleased 1980's production) (03:44)
8. Alba & Fred Ventura - Without You (06:45)
9. Expansives - Life With You (06:53)
10. Cariocas - Batida (07:21)
11. Marc Almond, Starcluster - Get Closer (04:30)
12. Flemming Dalum & Steen - Danish Revenge (previously unreleased) (06:30)
13. Codazzi feat. Rago & Farina - With You (previously unreleased) (04:30)
14. Wanexa - The Man From Colours (06:41)
15. Expansives - Life With You (06:30)
16. Expansives - Life With You (Instrumental) (06:30)

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Italo Disco Legacy (Full Original Documentary)

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The movie repeatedly mentions the fact that Italo-disco became popular not without the help of pirate radio stations.
Some CD/vinyl buyers decide to purchase them after listening to pirated tracks.
Of course, piracy is bad, but there are bright exceptions, aren't there?

Ferenc E. van der Sluijs's words:

I discovered Italo-disco, thanks to pirate radio stations. I was living in The Hague at the time. There was a huge pirate culture there. In fact, the whole of Holland was infected with pirate culture. My friend was a very good designer, he made transmitters. We put them in elevator shafts, on roofs, etc., and broadcast recordings from cassettes that we mixed at home. I've always had a desire to share them with the rest of the world. I couldn't enjoy it alone.

Gwen De Bats's words:

Radio Stad Den Haag was famous for Italo-disco. We played all the songs that you couldn't hear on the state radio. And that's why these pirate radio stations were so famous.

Marcello D'Azzurro's words:

In the late 70s, early 80s there were a lot of radio pirates. Each radio station had its own chart. What was the point of making another one? Then I thought: OK, I specialize in Italian music and no one has done it yet. Maybe because I really like Italy and its artists. Why shouldn't I do this? So I created a TOP 20 chart. It is so called because "venti" is Italian for "twenty". And "azzurro" is blue, it is the national color of Italy. The name "I Venti D'azzurro" sounds almost like a song, like a wave. And this is a musical wave. It was a bomb.

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A review of the movie from one of the reputable Spacesynth producers (translated):

Synth Elements (Slava Ruvinskiy) wrote:

Hello to all the friends!!! I want to share my impressions about the Italo Disco Legacy movie. A very interesting picture, although it touches more on the beginning of the development of the style. First of all, I realized for myself that this music was created with the first analog synthesizers that could replace the ensemble, hence the concept of electronic music. Secondly, the musicians who started working in this style were considered second-rate and most were amateurs, not professionals, large record companies did not want to take them, hence small companies began to be born mainly from the same musicians who wanted to realize themselves and along the way more musicians of this style. And this has been brought into the pirate movement, as it were, parallel to pop culture. The circulations were so scanty, and the demand was great, which gave fans an additional interest in finding a rare record. Third, ZYX is the biggest of all record companies, which came up with the name Italo Disco for the electronic style, I knew it before, I was once again convinced of this, which gave a big boost to the music industry. Fourthly, this music was not shown on television and did not sound much on the radio, except on pirated ones, and therefore there was some kind of intimacy in the style that it was not for everyone, but for the elite and you could listen to it everywhere at discos.
In continuation of the theme, the film did not fully open the curtain of that time, but opened it only a little, I felt a lack of famous faces of that time, about how music was born & written, how composers & producers found singers, how they punched their music. A lot of interviews with DJs and few with those who created and sang it. A separate section was supposed to receive our Spacesynth style, there is also a lot of interesting things there, at least a little bit from Koto sounded there. And the last conclusion from the film, everyone still has their own vision of Italo Disco and their own preferences, and the rhythm, melody and sounds of instruments of this style connect us!!!

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In 2021, another documentary movie "Italo-Disco: The Sparkling Sound of the 80s" by Italian-German director Alessandro Melazzini was released.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14198358/

Italo Disco. The sparkling sound of the 80s immerses listeners in the musical universe of the era. Epochs when millions of young Europeans broke away to the wild rhythm of music consisting of synthetic and mesmerizing melodies, more or less strange English texts, electronic rhythms and visionary clips. These were cybernetic tracks fueled by the hopes and dreams of young musicians capable of producing mind-blowing pop music, constantly moving between thrash and genius. It was the world of Italo Disco: born in Italy, strengthened in Germany, made the whole planet dance.

This documentary, which tells about the birth and development of a multi-souled musical genre, analyzes the production and business aspects of what was the music industry & a social phenomenon. Conducted in-depth archival research and interviews with artists & leading figures of the time, such as Sabrina Salerno, Linda Jo Rizzo, Johnson Righeira, Savage, the brothers La Bionda, as well as today's DJs, including DJ Hell & Mathias Modica. Italo Disco pulsates in an exciting rhythm of tracks of that era & also reveals lesser-known cult songs unknown to the general public. The sparkling sound of the 80s sends the viewer on a journey in search of sound, both commercial and futuristic.


Italo Disco. The sparkling sound of the 80s - Trailer

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An interesting message from ZYX Weekly News

You can buy this movie, for example, here: https://zyx.de/produkt/dokumentation-it ... f-the-80s/