from The Philip Lynott Album (1982)
My friend turned me on to this amazing video the other night—after he went to Dublin and visited every spot in it!
There’s truly nothing better than a walk around town to brood about a breakup and parade yer sad face, ain’t it true? But only Phil Lynott can be so debonair about it…
“This boy is cracking up! This boy has broke down…”
Great write-up on the Lollywood/Bollywood disco scene at Your Heart Out.
(screenshot from the 1982 film Star, with soundtrack by Biddu/Nazia Hassan)
Traks — Long Train Runnin’
live on Italian television
It’s Aax Donnell in the fuckin chaps again!! With a codpiece!! DO NOT MISS THIS
Traks — Love Train
from Long Train Runnin’ (1982)
Um guys.. get a load of this. Not only does the album cover qualify for the 80s cheeze Hall of Fame (please tell me those aren’t chaps!!).. but this instrumental italo disco track itself is WILD. The chord change about 50 seconds is GENIUS. Great mix of slap bass, clean guitar pickin’ and a danceworthy beat if I ever heard one.
Another splendid production by the Micioni brothers… oh and by the way the title track of the EP is a equally funky italo-disco cover of the 1973 Doobie Brothers tune.
If you want this… if you NEED this… check Saltyka’s blog.
Meiko Nakahara (中原めいこ) — Fantasy
from Friday Magic (1982)
You guys were probably worried that I’d lost interest in Japanese disco, right? Well… never fear. I would never let you down…
Meiko Nakahara grew up in the Tokyo suburbs, learning piano and dreaming of becoming an idol singer. That dream came true in 1982 with her Latin-influenced track ‘Tonight only: Dance Dance Dance,’ from the album Coconuts House.
She followed that up with Friday Magic, a set of disco-ish J-pop numbers like this. ‘Gigolo’ is another great track. (“I want your love for only me…”) Good luck, Meiko…
I heard this track on the terrific ‘Daijoubu’ mixtape by Jiro over at Ying/Yangs… one of my favorite blogs. ‘Daijoubu’ (大丈夫) means ‘ok’ in Japanese.
Haruko Kuwana — Downtown
from Moonlight Island (1982)
More Japanese disco bliss. Here Haruko Kuwana covers the 1975 classic ‘Downtown’ by Tatsuro Yamashita’s short-lived pop group Sugar Babe. But she sings it in 英語 kids: Downtown Saturday Night…
I would love to track down this album.. hit me up if you have it! (Mas disco…)
Testpattern — Techno Age
from Après-Midi (1982)
Gorgeous technopop from Japan… half video game soundtrack, half zen meditation.
Tipped off to this masterpiece by YingYangs.
The Sponsors — In and Out of Love
from Sponsors (1982)
The Sponsors, formerly known as the Handgrenades, were a Long Island group that hit the CBGB’s circuit in the late 70s and early 80s alongside bands like the Heartbreakers. They cut this LP in 1982 at Skyline Studios, on 31st St. in Manhattan, with Andy Shernoff of the Dictators producing.
The vocals, my friends, are delicious. “In in in out in in and out of love…”
Read an exhaustive bio at the Free Music Archive (and grab one of the album tracks..)
The Bats — Not My Girl Anymore
from How Pop Can You Get? (1982)
Power pop bliss… this recording of the tune is from the excellent (and out of print) Numero comp Yellow Pills: Prefill (2005).
Elégance — Vacances j’oublie tout (1982)
Here’s the video for the original.
Rete 105 — Vacanze (Instrumental) (1983)
This is Italy at its funky best—when the ol’ boot starts tapping on the disco floor. These are the DJs of Milan’s Radio Studio 105 aka Rete 105 singing a cover of the 1982hit ‘Vacances j’oublie tout,’ by French group Elegance. Doesn’t this kinda make you wish you were chilling with Giorgio Moroder and Donna Summer in the VIP room… doing what VIPs do? Too cool.
I’m posting this track also to showcase the TERRIFIC blog YING/YANGS, where you should head tout de suite. It’s home to so many alluring posts you’re sure to waste lots of time there discovering tracks like this. Also check out his sexy Japanese comps…what led me there in the first place. Thank you YING/YANGS!
The Human League — Don’t You Want Me
An unforgettable performance by The Human League on German TV in 1982. Red lipstick, rouge and eyeliner are really the key to this song!
(the Hollywood footprints are a little extraneous, yes, but then again so are the fake palms)
Cube — Two Heads are Better Than One (1982)
Ready, set, dance. Very catchy synth-driven Italo-disco from Bologna in the early 80s. The trio is Englishman Paul Griffiths on guitar and vocals, backed by his Italian buddies Rudy Trevisi and Serse Mai, who play everything else, mostly stuff requiring a plug.
André Cymone — Kelly’s Eyes
from Livin’ in the New Wave (1982)
Epic squiggly-synth dance track about a long-distance affair, from Prince’s childhood buddy and onetime bassist André Cymone. With what may be one of the best lyric couplets ever:
I’m sick and tired of this phone affair
I just wanna get into your underwear!
They don’t make ‘em like that anymore, do they? Though WALSH sampled this track on his tune ‘Birthday Girl.’ So maybe they do.
Francis Bebey — Pygmy Divorce
from Pygmy Love Song (1982)
Cameroonian synth music with yodeling, to tell the story of a failed pygmy marriage. Rarely does a song marry so thoroughly the politics of elephant tusk trading for a wife, with sentiments of regret. “Just now I be sorry, sorry plenty, sorry that I marry you. Because you make me cry all time. Why you make me cry and feel sad like that?”
The genius behind this strange brew is African renaissance man Francis Bebey, not only an accomplished singer, songwriter and musician (he played all the instruments on this album) but also a poet, writer, journalist and reporter for Radio France Internationale.
This album and many others at Freedom Blues, purveyor of the finest triple-distilled African tonics out there.
