70's - The birth of Disco Music
Before 1975, the music that was danced in "Dancing" was the funky, launched a few years earlier by the undisputed King James Brown. After Brown's first single in 1962, the Funk began to take a definite shape in the 1964 single "Out Of Sight" but was later "Papa's got a brand new bag" to change the face of Funk music. In the early 1970s, the Motown label was a factory of musical achievements and launched a phenomenon drummer named Hamilton Bohannon: the "funky-groove" was born, a new musical genre with hypnotic and trance rhythms. In 1972, Timmy Thomas performed in his own venue in Miami, where he played a Lowrey organ and sang "Why can't we live together". The agent of Timmy Thomas was Harry Wayne Casey, (the one who formed the historical group "KC & the Sunshine Band" in 1975) and it was Casey himself who launched George McCrae in 1974 with the song "Rock Your Baby" which remained in head to the charts for two weeks. From 1975 to 1977, the "KC & The Sunshine Band" were the undisputed King of the Disco: "Get Down Tonight", "That's The Way (I Like It)", "Shake Your Booty" and "I'm Your Boogie Man "They all came in first place in the pop charts and" Keep It Comin 'Love "reached the second place. Also in 1975, Lamont Dozier in collaboration with keyboardist Joe Sample and oboist Wilton Felder, recorded a legendary song: "Going Back To My Roots". In that same year "Love to Love you baby", the twenty-six year old LaDonna Adrian Gaines (aka Donna Summer) simulates an orgasm, with a funky-looking keyboard riff, some synthesized bells. The original three-and-a-half-minute version of the disc was extended on the orders of Neil Bogart, head of Casablanca Records. It was then that with the help of Giorgio Moroder, a seventeen-minute version was recorded. The official story says that Donna Summer was playing it at a party and people wanted to hear it and hear it again, so they thought of making it a longer version. Penny McLean, Ramona Wolf and Linda Thompson formed a new Funky group in the wake of the genre created by Moroder by modifying the walking bass and making it a bit robotic. The group was called "Silver Convention" and obtained a resounding success with two hits: "Get Up And Boogie" and "Fly Robin Fly". 1976 was an extraordinary year for bassist Bernard Edwards and guitarist Nile Rodgers: they recruited the singers Alfa Anderson and Norma Jean Wright and formed the "Chic" group. They filled the dance floors with the songs "Dance Dance Dance" and "Everybody Dance" and released the first album with the giant "Atlantic". The story says that in the New Year's Eve of 1977, the group had to go and play in the famous "Studio 54" in New York but something went wrong at the last moment and whipped and depressed, they passed it to Rodgers' apartment on 52nd Street. They smoked marjuan and got drunk, then began to play to play and to sing a song to insult the "Studio 54". They realized that the rhythm and melody that was just born by pure chance was very catchy and changed the text from "Fuck Off" to "Freak Off" (in the final text it will become the title of their most successful song: "Le Freak" ). After having filled the boxes of the "Atlantic" house with money, the "Chic" became producers of a group of promising girls, the "Sister Sledge". "We Are Family" and "He's the Greatest Dancer" were written and composed by Rodgers reaching the top of the Top 10. In the group's third album "Chic", entitled "Risqué", the song "Good Times" is included, a brilliant single among the most beautiful of that period and that influenced Queen in "Another One Bites The Dust". In 1977, with "Do what you wanna do", T-Connection invented a new genre: the "Hi-NRG". Giorgio Moroder precisely on these new rhythms, in collaboration with the producer Pete Bellotte and the singer Donna Summer. he composed the music of "I feel love" which will probably remain his greatest masterpiece. The track remained at the top of all the charts for 3-4 weeks and reached the third position in the pop chart. In that same year, the German Kraftwerk group created a rhythm among the most enduring, imitating with a Doppler effect, a Japanese super-fast train: the song was called "Trans Europe Express". Donna Summer continued to collaborate with Moroder but got tired of playing "the sex machine", refused all proposals of that genre and changed style by recording songs like "Love's unkind", "Last Dance", "I love You" and "McArthur Park ". Also in 1977, one of the greatest products in the history of disco music was born: director John Badham released a film entitled "Saturday Night Fever" starring the unknown "John Travolta" in theaters. This film, in addition to having an amazing soundtrack, had an overwhelming impact on the public; in just one year, the film grossed a hundred million dollars and the soundtrack sold thirty million copies making it the most successful album of all time (later surpassed by Michael Jackson's "Thriller" in 1983). France also proposed 2 new artists: Jean-Marc Cerrone and Alec R. Costandinos. The two began working together in 1972, as members of the Kongas, a group that provided music for the Saint Tropez jet set parties. The Kongas, made themselves known with a couple of "Afro-Funk" songs called "Anikana-O" and "Africanism". Cerrone later became the king of porn-disc with the songs "Cerrone's Paradise" and "Love in C Mirror". The best Cerrone album was undoubtedly "Supernature" probably inspired by Donna Summer's "I feel love" rhythm. Costandinos (aka Alexandre Kouyoumdjiam) was born in 1944 in Cairo, Egypt, a Greek mother and an Armenian father, spent his adolescence in Australia and moved to Paris at the age of twenty-two, was one of the greatest music producers. Returning to the USA, in 1978 in the legendary New York nightclub "Studio 54" the DJ Ritchie Kaczor was fascinated by the B side of a Gloria Gaynor record and decided to play it. The song was called "I Will Survive" and the first few times he inserted it in the lineup, the track was empty. Kaczor continued to play it every night until it became the most popular record of Studio 54. In a short time all the American nightclubs began to put it and the record ended up at the top of all world rankings. In those years we also remember Barry White, Tavares, Trammps, Earth Wind & Fire, Hot Chocolate, Ritchie Family, Boney M., Santa Esmeralda, Michael Zager Band, Patrick Juvet, Baccara, the Grease soundtrack and the Sylvester phenomenon. It was Sylvester, the first discomusic artist to declare himself "proudly" homosexual. Born in Los Angeles in 1947 from a middle-class family, he learned his art in the church, and at the age of eight he toured the South, performing in the gospel circuit. While rehearsing the song "You Make Me Feel" in the basement of the famous San Francisco nightclub "City", it was noticed by lighting technician Patrick Cowley, who was known in the environment for having remixed "I feel love" by Donna Summer. Thus was born an extraordinary collaboration that will remain in the history of Disco Music. Cowley had moved from Rochester to San Francisco in 1971 to study electronic music at City College. Together with Cowley they remixed the famous song "You Make Me Feel", recorded the entire LP "Step" and the single "Do Ya Wanna Funk" then in November 1982 Patrick Cowley died of AIDS. In Italy the Disco arrived in the mid-seventies and in a town on the Adriatic coast where the best Disco music was played. The restaurant was called "Baia Degli Angeli" and was in Gabicce Monte: from 1974 to 1976 two American deejays, Bob Day and Tom Sison, worked there, importing the latest releases and the best songs from Disco Music directly from the United States. In 1977, Bob Day returned to the United States and asked Daniele Baldelli (who was a DJ at Cattolica) to replace him. Baldelli accepted, and together with Claudio Rispoli continued to put the disco and funk music previously played by Day and Sison. The DJ station of the "Baia Degli Angeli" was a glass elevator that went up and down the three slopes of the disco. Daniele Baldelli left the "Baia Degli Angeli" in 1978 and in April 1979 he became the DJ of the "Cosmic" in Lazise, on Lake Garda. The venue could hold a thousand people and was built on the example of the most famous American nightclubs: the track had the same colored lights as the "Odissey 2001", where they had shot "Saturday Night Fever". The 1979 was perhaps the last year of glory of the unforgettable "Bee Gees" that with the album "Tragedy" reached the first places of the classifications. In that year in Italy the Buggles, Gloria Gaynor, Blondie, Kiss, Lipps Inc, Sister Sledge, Amii Stewart, Sheila, The Knack, George Benson, Donna Summer, Patrick Hernandez and Bob Marley with the single “Could You Be Loved ".
80's - Italo-Disco and House Music
At the beginning of the new decade there was a great technological evolution, the first computers spread among families around the world and for music there was an innovation with important sound experiments characterized by the use of the first electronic sounds brought a few years before from the German group Kraftwerk then followed by others: Alan Parsons Project, Giorgio Moroder, Rockets, Jean Michel Jarre, Ultravox, etc. In 1980, European discos began to have an unprecedented boom with consequent openings of many new venues. In that year the fillers were Letric Funk, Visage, O.M.D., Diana Ross, Delegation, Dee D. Jackson, Kool & The Gang, S.O.S. Band, Peter Jacques Band and Jimmy Bo Horne. Also in Italy something was beginning to move thanks to the musical duo formed by the brothers Carmelo La Bionda and Michelangelo La Bionda with the song "I Wanna Be Your Lover" and with the musical group formed by Mauro Malavasi, Paolo Gianolio and Davide Romani, known to the public under the pseudonym of "Change". They will be the "Change" together with "Dirty Talk" by Klein & MBO, "I.C. Love Affair "by Gaznevada and" I Need You "by Capricorn the first Italo-Disco tracks to fill the tracks of the most famous American discos. In 1981, the Human League, Barrabas, Quincy Jones, Tom Tom Club, Patrick Cowley, Kool & The Gang, Earth Wind & Fire, Village People, Gino Soccio, Yazoo, ABC, Soft Cell and Men Without Hats are all very popular. Let's move on to 1982, a special year because Madonna made her debut with the single "Everybody"; a new musical genre was born (with a rhythm that went down to 84 rpm) brought by the English group "Imagination" with "Body Talk", "Just an Illusion" "Music & Lights". There was the first great success of Michael Jackson with "Billie Jean" but above all for Italy the phenomenon "Italo-Disco" grows. Paul Mazzolini, born in Beirut but of Italian nationality, recorded for the Baby Records the song "Masterpiece" with the pseudonym of "Gazebo"; he achieved a great European success and opened a new musical trend. In that year we remember Captain Sensible's, Heaven 17, Falco, Divine, Chas Jankel, Tony McKenzie, Cube, Advisser, Forrest, Key Of Dream, Gary's Gang, Bobby "O", Roni Griffith, Twins, Traks, Ph.D, Gary Low and the Thompson Twins. In 1983, the Italo-Disco took over. Stefano Zandri, aka "Den Harrow", although he lent his voice to Chuck Rolando, recorded a worldwide success with "Mad Desire". Later other singers (Silvio Pozzoli, Tom Hooker and Anthony James) lent their voices to Den Harrow, without this hindering the artist's fame. The Lombard Pietro Paolo Pelandi, with the pseudonym "P.Lion" filled the slopes of the discos with "Happy Children", as did Francesco Puccioni "Mike Francis" with "Survivor", Roberto Zanetti "Savage" with "Don't Cry Tonight ", Antonello Gabelli" Duke Lake "with" Do You ", Luis Romano Peris Belmonte" Gary Low "with" I Want You ", Raffaele Riefoli" Raf "with" Self Control ", Manlio Cangelli who created the" Scotch "groups, "Wish Key" and "Flexx". In that year Paul Mazzolini "Gazebo" achieved a worldwide success with "I Like Chopin". Aldo Martinelli and Simona Zanini, whom I had the pleasure of knowing personally, began to get noticed with the single "Voice-In the night". The "Righeira" brothers were the summer hit with "Vamos a la playa". They were extraordinary years for Italian dance music. In that year I also remember the fantastic New York group "Indeep" with the singles "Last Night A DJ Saved My Life", "The Record Keeps Spinning" and "When Boys Talk". Madonna sang "Like A Virgin", Mike Oldfield with "Moonlight Shadow" and "Foreign Affair", Depeche Mode with "Everything Counts", Eurythmics with "Here Comes The Rain Again", Shannon with "Let The Music Play", Frankie Goes To Hollywood with "Relax", Paul Young with "Love of the common people", then Bananarama, Laid Back, SOS Band, Marcel Fobert, Kajagoogoo ... unrepeatable years.
Let's move on to 1984. From Europe, a new German group was depopulated: they were the "Alphaville" with the single "Big In Japan" and "Sound Like A Melody". The United Kingdom proposed three newcomer groups, Talk Talk with "Such A Shame" and "It’s My Life", Bronski Beat with "Smalltown Boy", Wang Chung with "Dance Hall Days". From the United States, Madonna with "Into The Groove", Dennis Edwards with "Don't Look Any Further", Kool & The Gang with "Fresh", Cyndi Lauper with "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" while the Summer smash it was by the Croatian Sandy Marton with the single "People From Ibiza".
It's Italy? Also 1984 was a special vintage for our country as far as disco music is concerned: Aldo Martinelli with three highly successful singles ("Comanchero", "Under The Ice", "Cinderella"), Fabio Roscioli "Ryan Paris "With" Dolce Vita ", the group" Novecento "with" Movin 'on ", Pier Michele Bozzetti" Miko Mission "with" How Old Are You ", Alberto Styloo" Styloo "with" Pretty Face ", Monica Stucchi" Valerie Dore "That in" The Night "the voice was lent" by the singer of the group "Novecento" Dora Nicolosi (born Carofiglio) and in the following passages by Martinelli's vocalist, Simona Zanini. 1985: really difficult if not impossible for Italian musicians to repeat the last two extraordinary years. Marco Grati, Remo Zito and Glauco Medori form the group "Via Verdi" that with the song "Diamond" managed to sell 3,500,000 copies and reached the first position in the ranking in Italy. Then we remember "Den Harrow" with Future Brain and Tullio De Piscopo with the smash "Kalimba de Luna". 1985 was the year of the global success of Duran Duran, Simple Minds, Princess, Modern Talking, Dead or Alive, Sandra and her husband Michael Cretu, Pet Shop Boys, Mr. Mister, Opus, Double, Level 42 and Nick Kershaw. Year 1986 - An extraordinary year for dance music. Simply Red's first success with "Money Too Tight To Mention" From Germany, Propaganda with "Dr.Mabuse" and "P Machinery" and A-Ha with "Take On Me". From the UK, Samantha Fox records her most famous single "Touch Me (I Want Your Body)", London-based Tina Charles brings out a remix of her old 1976 hit "I Love To Love" and The Blow Monkeys "Digging Your Scene". From the United States, Madonna repeats a global success with "La Isla Bonita", Linda Wesley with her unique masterpiece "Wild On The Isle", the Nu Shooz couple sing "I Can't Wait", and William Pitt with "City Lights ". For Italy we remember the first great success of Ivana Spagna with "Easy Lady" and the production Roberto Lodola with "Zanzibar" sung by Helen. In 1987 there was the birth of a new musical genre: the House Music. The name House derives from Warehouse, a Chicago local historian whose resident DJ Frankie Knuckes is recognized as the creator. My first record House purchased was The House Master Boyz with the mix "House Nation", then we remember Adonis "Do It Properly", Jack and Makossa "The Opera House", Beatmaster ft.Cookie Crew "Rock Da House", Marshall Jefferson "Move Your Body", MARRS "Pump Of The Volume", Farley Jack Master Funk "Love Can't Turn Around". As fills dance music in that year we remember Swing Out Sister "Surrender", Black "Wonderful Life", Mel & Kim "Respectable", Prince "Sign The Times", Mandy Smith "I Just Can't Wait", Breakfast Club " Right On Track ", Bangles" Walk Like An Egyptian ", Rick Astley" Never Gonna Give You Up ", Taylor Dayne" Tell It To My Heart ", Spain" Call Me ", then Living In The Box, Pet Shop Boys, George Michael, Joyce Sims, Europe, etc. 1988 was the year of the consecration of the House Music; Fingers Inc. "Can You Feel It", Adeva "Respect", S. Express "Theme From S. Express", Kraze "The Party", FPI Project "Rich In Paradise", Don Pablo's Animals "Ibiza", The Beatmasters " Burn It Up ", Bomb The Bass" Beat Dis ", Inner City" Big Fun "and" Good Life ". As Music Dance there was the great success of Afrika Bambaata "Reckless", The Yazz "The Only Way Is Up" and "Stand Up For Your Love Rights", Rick Astley "Together Forever", The Pasadenas "Tribute" and "Riding On A Train ”, Betti Villani“ De Nuevo Tu ”, The Adventures“ Broken Land ”and the Milli Vanilli (Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus), which in reality were just two dancers who borrowed the voice from other singers. In 1989 a new musical genre was launched: the "Garage Music". My favorite "Garage" vinyl was Kariya "Love Me Love You For Tonight", then of that year, I remember ColdCut Ft. Lisa Stansfield "People Hold On", Lil Louis "French Kiss", Black Box "Ride On Time" , Chicco Secci "Whip Of The Rhythm", Technotronik "Pump Up The Jam", C&C Music Factory "Gonna Make You Sweat". In that year Madonna sang "Like A Prayer", Roxette "The Look", 49ers "Touch Me", Soul II Soul "Keep On Movin". The last days of December, a new band called Hip Hop released two mix albums entitled "The Power" and "Ooops Up"; the group was called "Snap" and the vocalist called himself "Turbo B". The "Eurodance" was born.
90's - Eurodance
1990: a new decade begins, the period of Eurodance Music begins. The Snap, after having climbed all the peaks of the international rankings, bring out a new single "Mary Had A Little Boy". Planetary successes also for London Beat "I've Been Thinking About You", Billie Ray Martin "Your Loving Arms", Rozalla "Faith", DNA ft.Suzanne Vega "Tom's Diner", Beats International "Dub Be Good To Me" , Soul II Soul "Back To Life", Twenty 4 Seven "I Can't Stand It". From Italy it was noted the DJ Stefano Secchi with "I Say Yeah", the FPI Project "Let's Go" and "Everybody" and the very good "Black Box" that proposed "I Don't Know Anybody Else" and "Fantasy", a remake of an old piece from Earth Wind & Fire.
1991: let's start with my favorite songs from this year: Banderas "This Is Your Life", Those Guys "Tonite" and Incognito Ft. Jocelyn Brown "Always There". The most dances I would say Crystal Waters "Gypsy Woman", Joy Salinas "Rockin 'Romance", Afrika Bambaata "Just Get Up And Dance", Shanice "I Love Your Smile", Dr. Alban "Hello Afrika" and the Italian Dj H ft. Stefy "Think About".
1992 - Snap in the winter publish "The Color Of Love" and before the summer "Rhythm Is A Dancer", which will be the most danced song of the year, their biggest and last success. The covers of C.O.R.O. "Because The Night", Felix "Don't You Want Me", Chris Rea "Josephine" and Double You "Please Don't Go". How not to remember then Rozalla "Are You Ready To Fly", Marvin Gardens "My Body And Soul", UBQ Project "When I Fell No Luv", Robert Owens "I 'll Be Your Friend". 1993 is one of the best years of "Eurodance". From Sweden a new group is launched that is compared to the Abba: they call themselves "Ace Of Base". Immediately with the first album "All That She Wants" they enter the Top 10 all over the world. The American Robin S makes herself known with two international successes "Show Me Love" and "Luv 4 Luv", then Haddaway "What Is Love", Culture Beat "Mr.Vain", Captain Hollywood "More And More", U.S.U.R.A. "Open Your Mind", 2 Unlimited "No Limit", Chapel "U Got 2 Know", Bliss Team "People Have The Power", Gabrielle "Dreams", The Beloved "Sweet Harmony", Urban Cookie Collective "The Key: The Secret ”and the remake of“ Living On My Own ”by the timeless Freddy Mercury who died a couple of years earlier.
1994 - We are going through the best period for dance music in the 90s, this is the year of many successful newcomers. Model Olga de Souza lends her face to video clips and public performances when in reality the voice is not hers but the vocalists Jenny B and Sandy Chambers. He calls himself "Corona" and the song "The Rhythm Of The Night" will be the summer hit. From Denmark, the 24-year-old Whigfield leads all European Championships with the song "Saturday Night". Also in this case, the singer is accused of not singing with her voice when in live shows, the tone was very different. Now let's talk about a great voice, that of the American Melanie Thornton. In 1994 Melanie lends her voice to the group "Le Click" which achieved great success with the single "Tonight Is The Night" and then in the same year she formed the group "La Bouche" and recorded a very successful remake of an old piece of the Eurythmics "Sweet Dreams". Even Italy has a very good singer to launch, the Ligurian Alessia Aquilani gets great success as vocalist of the group "Ice MC" with the songs "Think About The Way" and "It's A Rainy Day" then she will continue her career as a soloist with the stage name "Alexia". Also from Italy the Netzwerk group with "Passion", Playahitty with "The Summer Is Magic", Da Blitz with "Let Me Be" and Mauro Pilato with "Gam Gam". Then we remember the German group "Jam & Spoon" that with their Croatian singer Plavka Lonich sang "Right In The Night". Overseas were made to notice the 20 Fingers, who aroused fame and clamor because of their text with precise sexual references in "Short Dick Man", Indian "All I Need Is Love", 2 Brother On The Floor "Dreams" and Argentina Marie Claire D'Ubaldo "The Rhythm Is Magic".
1995 - Roberto Concina is a Swiss-born Italian composer and DJ who for years has dedicated himself to numerous genres and variations of electronic music. He has a song that he must absolutely record and when he finally finds the producer, he records what will be the most successful of 1995. We're talking about Robert Miles and his "Children". A worldwide success will also be "Missing", sung by the English duo of "Everything But The Girl". New proposal also from Italy with Gala Rizzatto, aka "Gala" which is noted with "Everyone Has Inside". We confirm "La Bouche" with "Be My Lover", Whigfield "Think Of You", Crown "Baby Baby", Alexia "Me And You", Bliss Team "You Make Me Cry", Netzwerk "Memories", 20 Fingers " Lick It ”, TI.PI.CAL. "The Color Inside". I greatly appreciated Ruffneck ft.Yavahn "Everybody Be Somebody", Frank O’Moiraghi "Feel My Body", Duke "So In Love With You" and Jestofunk "Can We Live". The strangest song? Surely that of the stuttering jazz singer Scatman John with the song "Scatman".
Some recent photo of Ciancio DJ (2017-2018)