Disco | Boogie Vinyl 446 Items

This summer, dive with us into the often-overlooked sea of late '70s/early '80s Italian Soul, AOR and Disco. Compiled by journalist, producer and digger extraordinaire David Nerattini (with a little help from our own Pierpaolo De Sanctis), Paisa' GOT Soul is the smooth and near-danceable soundtrack to a decade that is somehow still with us. A time of gentle grooves, summer loves and sweet escapism – one beautifully captured by Claude Nori in his photographs of Italian beaches and summer holidays. Welcome to the mood of an era.

Welcome to our last instalment from Eryk and Antoinette McClinton. Brother and sister duo who recorded these demo tracks with Detroit legends Mike Theodore and Dennis Coffey. Recorded around 1979 these cuts were a spotlight on the duo's talents, hoping land them a record deal. Both had been active in the past with various recordings. Erik & the Vikings, and together as Eryke and Aronnette on Honey records. Here we have Four cracking disco fused funky songs, "Love doctor" made it on to our record store day lp "Long Distance Love Affair" so you may have already heard this. Accompanying this track are two more disco funk cuts. "Its all in your mind" & "Funky time Saturday night". Last and not least is the 2 step jam of "Recollections". All four cuts included some tasty breakdowns.

Black vinyl, insert

Giorgio Moroder in Finland

The pioneer of electric pop music, Giorgio Moroder (born April 26, 1940 in Ortisei, Italy) is an internationally acclaimed songwriter and producer who left his trace also in Finnish popular music. Several Moroder’s compositions and productions were released in Finland with Finnish lyrics in the 1970s and 1980s, when Moroder had his most creative peak. This compilation includes twelve Finnish Moroder-covers from early bubblegum pop to electronic disco.

Giorgio Moroder began his musical career as a singer. He gained success performing bubblegum pop in the late 1960s. He wrote some of his hits himself, but he also sang songs written by others. During his singer years he succeeded with songs Looky Looky (1969) and Son of My Father (1971). The latter became well known also in Finland, where it was covered by one of the most famous Finnish singers in 1960s and early 1970s, Ilkka Lipsanen alias Danny. The song found its way to Finland via Britain, where British band Chicory Tip had covered it first and made it to the charts with the song.

Danny was not the only Finnish singer in the early 1970s who looked at Moroder’s repertoire when searching for good songs. Koivistolaiset was a singing and dancing duo of sisters Anja and Anneli Koivisto who were well-known celebrities in 1970s Finland. They released Moroder’s composition Good Grief Christina as On siitä aikaa in 1973. This song was also discovered from Chicory Tip’s repertoire.

Cheerful and danceable bubblegum pop was an early 1970s phenomenon and in Finland it was the most popular music played in discos during those years. In the mid-1970s the style called disco music was born and the popularity of bubblegum pop faded. Also Moroder quit writing bubblegum pop and got interested in disco and electronic music. Synthesizer and drum machine technology developed and created new possibilities for producing electronic disco that can now be seen as proto-techno.

Virve Rosti was one of Finland’s most popular disco and pop singers in the late 1970s with her strong soulful voice. Rosti’s fourth solo album in 1979, Oon voimissain, was packed with her versions of late 1970s disco hits like Ring My Bell, I Will Survive and Knock On Wood. The album included also two Moroder’s compositions originally released by American disco group The Three Degrees, Antaudun (Giving Up, Giving In) and Ohari (The Runner). Both are excellent cover versions compared to the originals, even though the long instrumental section in the middle of The Runner is cut to a shorter one in the Finnish version. Rosti’s singing performance is also high quality.

Among Rosti one of Finland’s most popular female disco singers was Mona Carita, whose second album in 1980 was called Soita mulle and named after her cover version of Moroder’s composition Call Me, originally released by Blondie in the same year. Mona Carita’s version with lyrics by Raul Reiman is still among the best known Finnish disco and pop covers of the era.

Moroder’s most creative era ended in the early 1990s, though he has returned to music business within the last ten years. Finnish record producers also began looking in other directions when searching for songs. During the 1980s it became less and less popular to make Finnish cover versions of international hits. There were several reasons for this, from the improving quality of Finnish compositions to improvement of Finnish people’s understanding of other languages. When the audience began to understand the English lyrics of international songs, there was no need to make Finnish versions of them anymore. However, Moroder’s work is still recognized and played frequently today, and the same goes with the best Finnish cover versions of his compositions.

It's hard to believe we are now up to Volume 5 of our renowned Record Club series. Curating these compilations, where we share our latest musical discoveries and old favourites from the global stage, is always a labour of love. This selection is less dancefloor-driven than our previous volumes, as fewer opportunities for live events drove us to explore other paths and styles in the musical spectrum. But, whether you're DJing for a kitchen or a club, there is still a generous serving of spicy dancefloor magic. For Volume 5, we looked to a broad church - from Brazil to Cuba, Ghana, Jamaica, Japan, Mauritania, South Africa, Sweden, Trinidad and Tobago, the UK, and the US. We pulled songs from the 70s up to the present day and feature a stellar cast of artists. There’s an exclusive track from Sven Wunder which was recorded solely for this compilation. We also have a track from Admin which was released as a private press 7" at the start of 2021 and one we felt was far too good to only be available for the lucky few. You’ll also discover one of our most treasured Gyedu Blay Ambolley productions, a full-force African disco colossus! We hope you will enjoy this selection of seventeen eclectic songs as much as we do.

Italo disco meets Balearic ethno-funk in the third installment of re-edits from DJ collective Siffleur. Side A is your leftfield, sensual 80s nostalgia, your introspective, post-multiverse ‘club tropicana’. Side B will take you on a dreamy night-journey through city streets where love is a pink neon light.

Mike Maurro does it again. Another slice of Philadelphia International Records gold from the legend Lou Rawls, officially licensed, taken from the master tapes and given that signature Maurro touch. Two all-time classics ‘You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine’ and ‘See You When I Git There’ re-worked for the modern dancefloor.

Sophie Lloyd returns to Classic Music Company for another stunning soulful delivery, this time teaming up with Faithless vocalist Pauline Taylor on ‘Angels By My Side’. Much like Sophie’s previous works on Luke Solomon’s imprint, this record brims with the same joyous energy sure to uplift, as live recorded strings, horns and keys give an added richness to the release. With Sophie’s Classic debut ‘Calling Out’ a modern day dancefloor anthem with 10 million streams and counting, and her latest offering garnering early support from the likes of NYC legend Danny Krivit, there is no doubt ‘Angels By My Side’ will follow suit as an essential record for discerning selectors.

SAM Records was one of the labels at the forefront of the Disco Genre when the format was at its creative peak. This was the late 70’s and early 80’s, when the producers and artists involved were all using top notch professional recording studios with live instrumentation and their focus was on songs and rhythms that would make the dance floor move. Sam Weiss the founder of SAM was involved with various aspects of the music industry in addition to his role running the label, but the Sam Records imprint was his greatest passion, and that energy comes through in the songs that make up the catalogue. In this compilation we have engaged some of the world’s premier producers of the current disco inspired sounds that are blowing dance floors worldwide. They have used their talents and appreciation of the genre to mix, edit and master these classic jams into disco inspired productions that are fully equipped to ignite DJ sets and dancefloors worldwide.

Twisted percussion-forward kosmiche club brilliance from Düsseldorf’s Niklas Wandt. Stepping cosmic house, new beat hypnotism, tribal piano breakdown madness & wavey vocoded synth make up the four track EP for the Animals Dancing imprint’s first release of the year.

Formed in Ohio, Dayton were formed by: David Shawn Sandridge (lead vocals / guitar) Chris Jones (lead vocals / keyboards / trumpet), formerly of the group Sun. Other members were: Dean Hummons (keyboards) Derrick Armstrong (vocals) and Jenny Douglas (vocals) who originally recorded as Magnum. Kevin Hurt (drums / percussion) Rachel Beavers (background vocals) Elaine Terry (background vocals) Rahni P. Harris (lead and background vocals, piano and synths) and Karen Harris Chappel (lead and background vocals) We chatted to Shawn Sandridge who presented us with a few previously unissued cuts. Many hitting the funk sound that was very en vogue around the 1980's. But our pick of the bunch was the smooth syncopated drum sound of "Sky's The Limit". It jumped out straight away and hit all the right buttons at SDE Hq . Criminally overlooked for some reason as an lp cut. With the release you get the full 6 mins version on the B-Side. Whilst we trimmed it down for a nice loud radio friendly cut on the A Side

Equally renowned for her song writing as much as her amazingly sultry soul vocals, Barbara Mason was widely known for her early solo ‘60s hits as well as her ‘70s collabs with the likes of Curtis Mayfield before her late ‘70s/early ‘80s disco/boogie dancefloor phase…but the heads at Selector series have unearthed a never released LP of classic cover gems from this evergreen diva of Soul. Limited press.

Favorite Recordings presents Dark Is The Color, the first LP by Alan Shearer reissued on vinyl for the first time. Despite being initially composed and produced for the French library label PSI, this rare and obscure in-demand gem from 1985 sounds retrospectively like a proper album with great coherence and sophistication all along. Indeed, these 11 tracks will delight synthesizers addicts. Expect deeply emotive instrumental compositions, with ingenious analogue sequencing on stimulating chord progressions. The result is a highly retrofuturistic album, sometimes almost anticipating 90's videogames scores. Just imagine Wally Badarou in a bunker with Talking Heads watching New York 1997 from John Carpenter. Composed mostly step by step on a Sequential Pro-One synthesizer, Dark Is The Color is the product of the exciting state of mind from the 80's era with new sounds, new tools and new trends on the music spectrum. Influenced by bands like Talking Head or Japan, the sirens of the new wave scene strongly resonate here with Alan Shearer's familiarity and craftmanship with synthesizers. Back in the days, Alan Shearer aka Frédéric Viger was working for his father’s music label, “Musique Pour L'image”, and their sublabel “psi”. He started with Marathon Life under his real name before taking the Alan Shearer monitor. These records were produced for radio, TV and cinema industries but as well for companies’ internal communication. They represented a real investment from the label and these catalogues are usually full of amazing music from great artists such as Martial Solal, Vladimir Cosma, Joël Fajerman, Harlem Pop Trotters and even Manu Dibango. About his musical illustration process, Alan Shearer tells: "Soundtracks are indeed my biggest influences and I'm a real fan of American composers as Jerry Goldsmith or Elmer Bernstein. I've always considered soundtracks as the new classical music or classical music of our century. There is a real state of mind producing music for illustration: you have to stick to the video. You should not tell what the image is saying but accompany what it is saying. You have to find a unique link, people always told me music should not be noticed for itself in a movie, that's what makes it good.”