A  J.R. Robot (Vocal)
B  J.R. Robot (Instrumental)

This is a italo disco recording from 1984. A bit rare and sought after, but very typical in it's structure. Cheezy production with octave bass, fat synth chords and a disco beat. The robot voice is not done with a vocoder, but some kind of other odd effect that makes the voice sound really strange. The song is more charming then good, but the base line is really catchy and works quite well for the dance floor. I prefer the instrumental since the voice effect is getting a bit annoying after a little while.

The writers of this track is Alessandro Novaga, Nino Lelli and Fabio Sbaragli. Sbaragli is also the producer. Novaga and Sbaragli has also been involved in remixing swedish group Fake on the track Frogs in spain and been involved with groups Sun-La-Chan and Camaro's Gang.

A  I need love (Vocal)
B  I need love (Instrumental)

Being a fan of horror movies and absolutely in love with the work of italian director Dario Argento, I have come accrosse the name of Claudio Simonetti before. He and his band Goblin is responsible for the music score of horror movies such as Profondo rosso, Susperia and Phenomena by Argento and they also wrote for the score for the very classic zombie movie Dawn of the dead by George C. Romero.

Before I found out about the song I need love I was oblivious to Simonettis work in dance music. In 1978 he started to produce disco music for artist like Easy Going and Vivien Vee. In 1980 he released the first single Capricorn with his own project Capricorn.

The single I need love was released in 1982 and was a underground hit in Europe. It also made an impact on the dancefloors in Detroit and Chicago, where the kids liked to breakdance to the instrumental version.

I really love both the sound and funkyness of this song. A shuffeling hi-hat and a very groovy bassline goes along way. And even if you hear that the sound is oldschool it has qualities that still sounds fresh today. Maybee due to the fact that the synths are accompanied with live bass, drums and guitar.

I found my copy at Tradera and payed 15,56 €.

A   Downwards (Maxi Mix)
B1 Disco, Baby, Sunshine
B2 Volkstanz

I first came in contact with Spartak during a drive from Gothenburg to Örebro. Me and a friend were on our way to a gig, and had forgotten to bring any music with us. Thankfully we picked up another friend halfways that brought some CD:s with him. One of the CD:s we were listening to was swiss band Spartak, and theiralbum Survival of the fittest.

The album had some cool electronic music, though it was musically very schizofrenic, with styles ranging from EBM to disco to electronic folk music. One of the songs that stuck in my memory was the song Downwards. So I was really pleased when I found that one on vinyl.

This 12" maxi is a great reduction of the album. Downwards is the pounding EBM song and Disco, Baby, Sunshine represents the (italo) disco. The song i also also a fun homage to Donna Summers / Giorgio Moroders classic I feel love. Volkstanz is a mostly weird, with it's fiddles and lyrics in... finnish???

I got my copy through Discogs, and paid 5.56 €.