Great episode on a genre that is a prominent part of the scope of the newsletter I write every week, "The Twelve Inch." You're absolutely right—the unique style of English in Italo disco is quite remarkable 😁. The goal was to make it "sound good" probably, rather than to make perfect sense. But there's a deeper connection between Italo disco and American disco. The Italian diaspora in the US and Canada played a significant role in the later stages of (American) disco's development. The rise of electronic instruments made disco production more affordable, and the genre's popularity drew in countless producers. As a result, cost-effective options thrived. Italy became the most crucial market for disco in Europe. If you search for obscure disco records today on sites like Discogs, you'll often find that the Italian pressing is the only European version available. Unlike in the US, where the 1979 "disco sucks" backlash pushed the genre underground, disco never faced such a decline in Europe. Italians kept the momentum going, and Italo disco offers a glimpse into what American disco might have evolved into if the Comiskey Park riots had never occurred.
That's such a great point you touch on at the end there- on paper, Italian disco and house are not so far apart, yet simultaneously they sound worlds apart in their vision of post-American disco futurism.
Great episode on a genre that is a prominent part of the scope of the newsletter I write every week, "The Twelve Inch." You're absolutely right—the unique style of English in Italo disco is quite remarkable 😁. The goal was to make it "sound good" probably, rather than to make perfect sense. But there's a deeper connection between Italo disco and American disco. The Italian diaspora in the US and Canada played a significant role in the later stages of (American) disco's development. The rise of electronic instruments made disco production more affordable, and the genre's popularity drew in countless producers. As a result, cost-effective options thrived. Italy became the most crucial market for disco in Europe. If you search for obscure disco records today on sites like Discogs, you'll often find that the Italian pressing is the only European version available. Unlike in the US, where the 1979 "disco sucks" backlash pushed the genre underground, disco never faced such a decline in Europe. Italians kept the momentum going, and Italo disco offers a glimpse into what American disco might have evolved into if the Comiskey Park riots had never occurred.
That's such a great point you touch on at the end there- on paper, Italian disco and house are not so far apart, yet simultaneously they sound worlds apart in their vision of post-American disco futurism.