Italo

Short for Italo disco: a style of electronic dance music that emerged in Italy in the late 1970s and flourished through the 1980s, evolving from disco as producers replaced live bands with synthesizers, drum machines and sequencers. It typically runs at around 110–130 BPM and is known for catchy synth melodies, arpeggiated bass lines, vocoders, and emotional, often melancholic vocals usually sung in heavily accented English. It also has a distinctly futuristic, sometimes kitsch atmosphere. Giorgio Moroder’s electronic disco was a major influence, and the name was popularised by the German label ZYX’s The Best of Italo-Disco compilations from 1983. Well-known tracks include Gazebo’s “I Like Chopin,” Ryan Paris’s “Dolce Vita” (both 1983) and Baltimora’s “Tarzan Boy” (1985). Records such as Klein + M.B.O.’s “Dirty Talk” (1982) were played in Chicago clubs and directly influenced early house music. The late 1980s saw a follow-up, Italo house, known for its piano riffs. Italo’s sound has since been revived by synthwave and nu-disco producers.