Italo disco
Italo Disco started in Italy, in the late 1970s and was mainly produced in the 1980s.
The genre employs electronic drums, drum machines, synthesizers, and occasionally vocoders.
Italo Disco is tied to the german ZYX record label, founded in 1971 by Bernhard Mikulski.
The ZYX label specialized in disco, house music and 1990s techno began licensing and marketing the music outside Italy in 1982.
In 1982 appears hi-NRG with its fast tempo, staccato hi-hat and four-on-the-floor rhythms), with intense vocals and basslines.
Italo disco faded after 1986, then split into many genres : Eurobeat, Italo house, Italo dance.
1980 – 1981
1982
1983
Euro-disco refers to disco-pop songs that have a strong influence from Italo- disco.
This style dominated the German music industry with the labels Hansa, Ariola, RCA, Sony BMG starting in 1983-1984 and gained popularity in several other European countries such as France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
Just like Italo-disco, it includes mixing electronic sounds and disco rhythms together with a strong synth prominence to create a bittersweet tune accompanied by vocals which are often contemporary-themed.
It fell into obscurity in the 1990’s, its influence lived on through the following genres such as Eurodance or Eurobeat.
1984
1985
1987
From left to right : Pietro Paolo Pelandi aka “P. Lion“, Laura Branigan, Den Harrow.
