15 Essential Italo Disco Tracks

If you fancy yourself an electronic music scholar you have to know Italo disco. At first listen, some might sound really cheesy, but it's an integral

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If you fancy yourself an electronic music scholar you have to know Italo disco. At first listen, some might sound really cheesy, but it's an integral block in the edifice of current electronic dance music. The name "Italo-disco" can be misleading. It doesn't sound like what we would traditionallly classify as disco. It's indebted to disco, mostly the late period disco of producers like Cerrone and Georgio Moroder, who relied more on electronic sounds, and also owes much to the music of Karftwerk. It came about because there was an drastic drop in the price and increase in simplicty of electronic music instruments, which meant that more people than ever could make music.

As you'll hear in the tracks we've selected, the result, though diverse, had certain unifying qualities and themes. It's music that, at it's heart, is very simple. The drum programing is often repetitive, the music is not complex, the words are often nonsense, but when it works, it works perfectly. It shouldn't come as a surprise if you're a current fan of global bass. Time and time again from Brazil to Angola to Baltimore we've seen amazing music emerge from the most simple of ingrdients. Thematically, much of the music is about technology and love, which have recurred throughout electronic dance music history from acts like Cybotron, Daft Punk, and Robyn. Before we hop into the music, know that this list is not meant to be exhaustive. This was a very prolific scene with hundreds of tracks coming out every year. Everyone has their secret favorites. Feel free to add yours in the comments.

Helen - "Witch"

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Year: 1983
Label: Out

Helen is an act that is typical of Italo-disco music. There was no actual "Helen." It was made up of various different producers and female vocalists at different times. Makes you think a lot of how the whole contemporary issue with ghost producers is nothing new. The drum programming in this track is crazy.

Cyber People - "Void Vision"

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Year: 1985
Label: Memory Records

This one is such a certified masterpiece and has all the elements of an Italo disco classic. The synth is amazing, the vocoder is on point, and the drum programing is tight. To me this sounds like the intro soundtrack to a wacky anime film. It's such an interesting song. Do yourself a favor and check out this slowed down version, which some would argue is better than the original.

My Mine - "Hypnotic Tango"

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Year: 1983

Label: Progress

This track might have one of the best basslines ever. It was so powerful that I remember hearing this track once as a child. It stayed with me for almost 20 years and then after I started getting into Italo disco I finally discovered what song it was from. If there was one Italo disco track to like, it's this one. This track was so influential it was both remixed by Frankie Knuckles and sampled by Carl Craig.

Casco - "Cybernetic Love"

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Year: 1983

Label: House Of Music

Casco is the stage name of the late Salvatore Cusato. Looking him up on Discogs, he only did a few tracks under the Casco name. Doesn't matter, though, because this one is so incredible that it makes up for a thin catalogue. It's almost unbelieveable that this came out in 1983. Everyone in the world should listen to this track.

Fake - "Frogs In Spain"

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Year: 1984
Label: CGD

This track sounds really low tech and that's why I love it. I also like the "ba ba ba" vocal back and forth going on between the guy and the girl in this track. Fake were Swedes but the had all their biggest hits in Italy. Another awesome aspect of this track is the completely nonsense English lyrics that were obviously written by people who didn't speak English very well.

Rose - "Magic Carillon"

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Year: 1984
Label: Discomagic Records

This is another hands down Italo disco fave. I could see how people could hate it but I find it so melodic. Rose is another one of those acts that involved different people at different times so it's hard to pin down who was involved on this specific track. This is a big guilty pleasure.

Miko Mission - "How Old Are You?"

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Year: 1984
Label: Blow Up Disco

Everything about this track is perfect. It has a super long intro that lasts for more than two minutes. It has a beautiful vibe to it that makes me think of how it would have felt at the end of senior year in 1986 if I was old enough to be in senior year 1986. And then there's the lyrics. They're what put this song over the top for me and make it an all time fave. They make absolutely no sense. This guy is just reciting English phrases that sound like they should be in a song. And even if the chorus isn't mean to be statutory rape-y, it just comes out like that.

Louis - "Pink Footpath"

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Year: 1985
Label: Blow Up Disco

I discovered this through an article from last year about Classixx's 10 favorite Italo disco tracks. I agree with them, the guitar on this track is sexy as hell. This track gets people pregnant.

Mike Mareen - "Love Spy"

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Year: 1986
Label: Night'n Day Records

This track is here because it bangs and it's unabashedly wacky. Even though Mike Mareen was a German, his music was considered among the best and most well known of the Italo disco era. This song is really intense and crazy.

Scotch - "Penguin's Invasion (Hot Version)"

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Year: 1983
Label: American Disco

"Penguin Invasion" is the biggest track from the Italo disco group Scotch, who were big in Europe but not at all in North America. I put this version of the track because the vocal version sounds too corny (it's literally about penguins invading). You can check the original version, though, if you really want to.

Kano - "Now Baby Now"

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Year: 1980
Label: Full Time Records

Of all the acts mentioned on this list, you're more likely to have heard of Kano. They did have a huge monster hit in "I'm Ready" which was a certified classic. I chose this track instead because it was sampled on Felix Da Housecat's album Kittenz and Thee Glitz, which was partially responsible for getting me into Italo disco.

Pink Project - "Amama"

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Year: 1982
Label: Baby Records

Pink Project, the product of producers Luciano Ninzatti and Stefano Pulga (the man behind the group Kano) is notable as one of the first mash-up acts. What they did was take parts of tracks from Pink Floyd and Alan Parsons Project and put them together (thus their name). This was more than 20 years before the big 2000s mashup explosion.

Plustwo - "Melody"

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Year: 1983
Label: MIO Records

I love this track. It's so damn catchy. If you take the time to listen to the whole track, you might recognize the breakdown. Do you hear it? No? OK, well it was definitely the inspiration for Daft Punk's "Veridis Quo." Listen to them.

Baby's Gang - "Challenger"

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Year: 1985

Label: Memory Records

Baby's Gang was this project by producer Alfredo Pignagnoli and songwriter Ivana Spagna who were behind many Italo Disco projects (Pignagnoli still works today, having produced music for Benny Benassi). It's called Baby's Gang because, as you can hear, the decided to have kids do the vocals. There are other more famous Baby's Gang tracks but I like this one the most because it's about the Challenger space shuttle and very optimistic. Little did they know that that space shuttle would explode into pieces in 1986, killing all the astronauts on board.

Charlie - "Spacer Woman"

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Year: 1983
Label: Mr. Disc Organization

This one from 1983 is a cult classic. It's got a very '80s electro break dance beat. It kinda seems like a bridge between Afrika Bambaataa and later freestyle music. It's very sparse to the point of being cold, which gives it a sad feeling.

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