All About Italo Disco: Origins and Notable Italo Disco Artists

Italo disco, or italo-disco, is a hybrid subgenre of pop music, electronic music, and dance music that emerged from Europe in the late 1970s and 1980s. Though the term “Italo” signifies that Italy was its primary source, Italo disco is more of an umbrella term than a specific designation. It can apply to similar-sounding disco music from Germany, Canada, and Japan.

Italo music enjoyed a brief tenure in the international spotlight during the 1980s: a handful of tracks, including Baltimora’s “Tarzan Boy” and Raf’s “Self Control,” enjoyed chart success throughout Europe and even in the United States. By the end of the decade, Italo music had largely ceded its audience to other forms of electronic dance music (EDM), but listeners can hear its influence in dance music styles that sprung up in its wake, like New York’s house music scene. Italo disco has also been cited as an influence on many synth-pop acts, like New Order and the Pet Shop Boys.

Italo disco was a polarizing subgenre: many Italian music fans and DJs dismissed its chirpy electronic sound, sentimental lyrics, and preoccupation with science-fiction themes and sounds. But as with many maligned forms of art, Italo disco has found favor among a new generation of dance music enthusiasts, vinyl collectors, and electronic music performers. Online radio stations and music labels have sprung up to preserve vintage Italo disco, while new music acts offer a fresh take on its classic ’80s grooves.

The origins of Italo disco are rooted in the late 1970s, when the decline of disco music in America spurred European music producers and composers to create their own variation for club dancefloors.

• Coining the name: The term “Italo disco” began appearing on independent Italian dance music compilations released by the ZYX record label in the early 1980s. Though European producers and musicians had been creating disco and dance music since the mid-1970s, the Italo music sound appears to have been directly influenced by the synthesizer-driven electronic music of composer/producer Giorgio Moroder, who produced numerous disco hits for Donna Summer, among others.
• Sound inspiration: The four-on-the-floor beats and pulsating basslines of such disco offshoots as Hi-NRG and Eurobeat also wielded strong influence on the Italo disco sound, as did a variant of electro-disco called space disco, which informed Italo disco’s fascination with all things futuristic.
• Worldwide variations: Like many forms of EDM, Italo disco also yielded several regional variations and subgenres. It found strong followings in Canada, where it was known as “Canadian disco,” and Germany, where it was dubbed Euro disco or disco fox. A Japanese variant, known as Eurobeat, sprang up in the late 1980s, while in Italy, the harder sounds of house music informed an offshoot called Italo house.

Several characteristics define the sound of Italo disco:

1. 1. Electronic instruments: Italo tracks were disco music built almost exclusively around electronic instrumentation, like synthesizers and drum machines. What results is dance music with a somewhat more dramatic and mechanical sound than the Latin vibe of traditional disco or the playful vibe of Europop.
2. 2. Sci-fi themes: Italo disco has two primary tracks for lyrical content: love (either emotional or physical) and the future. “Spacer Woman,” a hit track by Charlie, perfectly encapsulated the two themes. The futuristic sound is best summed up by “Cosmic Voyager” by Kano, one of the earliest Italo disco acts, which has the soaring, aspirational sound of a space adventure’s title theme.
3. 3. Vocoders: Vocals in Italo disco are often heavily processed through the use of vocoders and other electronic effects to emphasize the futuristic sound of the music. The robotic buzz of the lead vocals on “Take a Chance” by Mr. Flagio is a perfect example.

Notable Italo disco artists, both from Italy and other parts of the world, include:

1. 1. Kano: A collaboration between Italian producers and performers Luciano Ninzatti, Stefano Pulga, and Matteo Bonsanto (with singer Glen White), Kano helped cement the Italo disco sound with the use of funk breaks and vocoders on tracks like the classic “I’m Ready.” The song’s release in America via Emergency Records was a crucial influence on the development of house music.
2. 2. Klein and MBO: Italian producer and songwriter Mario Boncaldo joined forces with an American peer, Tony Carrasco, to form Klein + MBO, which also forged an important link between Italo disco and house with the percolating, funk guitar-fueled “Dirty Talk” in 1982. The track, along with Mr. Flagio’s “Take a Chance” and Charlie’s “Spacer Woman,” is included on the seminal Italo disco/electro compilation, Mixed Up in the Hague Vol. 1.
3. 3. Sabrina Salerno: Model turned singer Sabrina (Salerno) scored a massive European hit with “Boys,” released in 1987, the waning years of the Italo disco scene. Though best known for her provocative music videos, Salerno’s music was the rare example of Italo disco driven by an artist instead of producers.
4. 4. Ryan Paris: Italian actor and musician Fabio Roscioli scored one of the earliest Italo disco hits to reach international audiences with his 1983 single “Dolce Vita.” Billed as Ryan Paris, he enjoyed chart-topping success in multiple European countries and even broke into the Top 5 on the UK Singles Chart.

Become a better musician with the MasterClass Annual Membership. Gain access to exclusive video lessons taught by the world’s best, including Christina Aguilera, Alicia Keys, St. Vincent, Usher, and more.