Searching the site…
Try a search
Site search
Search covers page content as well as titles.
Nothing found. Try another word.
Sixth track already - save favourites and download without limits
Sign upDeep dives into single hits - sound anatomy, chart history, legacy.
135 articles newest first
March 1983: a song about balloons mistaken for a missile strike. #2 Billboard in German, #1 UK in English. The first German-language song in the US top 10 since 1961; 5 million copies by 1984.
September 1984: German duo Alphaville release a ballad about fear of nuclear war. At release - #10 Germany, #65 US. Forty years on - 20M streams a month, lifted by Jay-Z, Stranger Things and Bob Dylan. A 60s chord progression dressed in 80s synths.
October 1986: an unknown model from Lorraine cuts a single in six weeks for 180,000 francs at CBE Studio. A year later - #1 in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, Norway, Sweden and Israel. 5M copies by 1989, 480M streams by 2024. Built on a JX-8P, DX7 and Fairlight CMI.
September 1982: Peter Schilling releases the German answer to Bowie's “Space Oddity”. Four months later - #1 in Germany for seven weeks; a year on, #14 US and #1 Canada. Cut at Union Studios Munich on a Prophet-5. The track hit the Cold War nerve; Bowie heard it on BBC Radio 1.
December 1984: Virgin Germany releases a single by an unknown Sandra Lauer. By April 1985 - #1 in five European countries, seven weeks at the top of the German chart, 2.5M copies. Michael Cretu rebuilt a rejected Arabesque recording, made Sandra do 23 takes and set the chorus in C Mixolydian.
A detailed look at the mixing process for Italo Disco tracks in the mid-'80s - the technology, the approaches, and the engineers' tricks.
How much do original Italo Disco records cost on Discogs in 2024? A price guide from mass hits to rarities with concrete examples and tips for collectors.
Neon light, smoke machines, signature costumes, color grading - a step-by-step guide to shooting a retro Italo Disco video in 2024 with a budget from 500 dollars.
Italo Disco melodies you've heard a thousand times but can't name the artist for - here's how to figure out which tracks they are.
A selection of significant Italo Disco compositions released in 1986 - when the genre reached maturity and delivered its last wave of classic hits before transformation began.
1987 - the final year of the classic Italo Disco era. Boys Boys Boys, Flames of Love, Touch in the Night, Dance Control - ten compositions on the edge of peak and decline.
1983 - the birth point of Italo Disco as a mass genre. I Like Chopin, Dolce Vita, Vamos a la Playa, Happy Children, Disco Band - ten defining compositions of the era.
1988 - the turning-point year of Italo Disco. Sabrina's All of Me, Bad Boys Blue's Lady in Black, Koto 3 - ten tracks on the edge of the classic era and the new Eurodance genre.
A selection of the most significant Italo Disco compositions released in 1984 - when the genre hit full stride and delivered hit after hit.
The story of one of Italo Disco's defining anthems - and the man who performed it, though someone else wrote it.
Favourites, the live chat and requests come with the account.
Free of charge. Favourites, the live chat and playlists come with the account.
Enter the email your account is registered with - we will send a reset link. It is valid for 1 hour.
Enter the 6-digit code from the email and the account is ready.
The link from the email works too - it is valid for 24 hours.
Loading your saved tracks…
