Bagarre - No Toys

Italian alterna-disco-pop group Bagarre are mainly known for their semi-hit “Lemonsweet”, an upbeat ode to LSD. As much as I love “Lemonsweet”, though, my love for the infectiously melodic “No Toys” surpasses it by an order of magnitude. “No Toys” reflects a creative, whimsical side of proto-Italo Disco, and lyrically it's dominated by a theme that crops up in many-an early/mid-’80s tune: imagining what glamour & sophistication must be associated with personal wealth that is just out of reach. The song has a brilliantly off-kilter chant for its chorus, and much like all the great Italo tunes, something’s just not quite right about it; certain English words are occasionally mispronounced or incorrectly substituted by the non-native speakers, vocal delivery is heavily accented and in unnatural rhythms, and the arrangement is simultaneously happy-go-lucky yet slightly dreamy and moody.

• Bagarre - No Toys
• Bagarre - Lemonsweet (search @ YouTube)

Google turned up no lyrics, so here’s my stab at them:

Ain’t got no toys The things that do for girls and boys A Cadillac smiles That I can drive for miles and miles One, two, ain’t got no toys The things that do for girls and boys Three, four, a Cadillac smiles That I can drive for miles and miles Bricks on bricks So I can make a house that slicks* Mmm, money So everybody will call me honey Five, six, bricks on bricks So I can make a house that sticks Seven, eight, money So everybody will call me honey Ain’t got no toys An orange Porsche and pink Rolls Royce Flowers in spring Diamond bracelets and golden rings One, two, ain’t got no toys An orange Porsche, pink Rolls Royce Three, four, flowers in spring Diamond bracelets, golden rings (repeat all of the above again)

Ain’t got no toys An orange Porsche and pink Rolls Royce Flowers in spring Diamond bracelets and golden rings One, two, ain’t got no toys An orange Porsche, pink Rolls Royce Three, four, flowers in spring Diamond bracelets, golden rings Dine at The Ritz Long fur coats and swocker on mitts** Ginny fizz And anything that will make me whiz Five, six, dine at the ritz Long fur coats and swocker on mitts** Seven, eight, ginny fizz And anything that will make me whiz Ain’t got no toys The things that do for girls and boys A Cadillac smiles That I can drive for miles and miles One, two, ain’t got no toys The things that do for girls and boys Three, four, a Cadillac smiles That I can drive for miles and miles Five, six, bricks on bricks So I can make a house that sticks Seven, eight, money So everybody will call me …honey

*In the 2nd verse it’s definitely not “house that sticks,” but in the chanted chorus, it definitely is. I'm pretty sure she’s saying "slicks".

**In the last original verse, “swocker on” is my phonetic approximation of what they’re saying. It’s definitely not “sparkling.” Maybe some brand of designer gloves?

Florio Time D.J. - Time Out

Time Out was an hour-long dance music radio show primarily hosted by Florio "Florio Time D.J." Imparata. It was broadcast from 1980 to 1989 on Radio Piombino, an FM radio station in the small city of Piombino in Italy.

Someone has set up a tribute for the show at http://xoomer.alice.it/fivedance/. The site is mostly in Italian, and contains a few sound files in the venerable VQF format. I had images and transcoded versions of the audio files here in this post, but the owner of the site asked me to remove them.

Florio Time D.J. (where has he gone?) apparently released only one song of his own: the silly, druggy, theme "Time Out".

• Florio Time D.J. - Time Out (Vocal)
• Florio Time D.J. - Time Out (Instrumental)

This 1983 melodic electro cut is perhaps one of the greatest examples of pure Italo Disco, naïvely flaunting several defining traits of the genre, including heavily accented, speak-sung English lyrics — which, even when deciphered correctly, don't entirely make sense.

Behold:

Time Out is not the most story Time Out is not which is own yours Time Out the fable becames reality A wonderful story I come here today And here's a story of Time Out Three years ago There was a DJ That liked funky music Just as we do So one day As a play He had an idea And say to house My dear friend I want to make a program A program with the music We all love! Come on girls Come on boys Let's all dance With the music of tomorrow And every day If your television's on A new sensation You'll be feel But eat the cereal It's good for you There is a disco For a night under the moon The moon like it too That's why you dancing With your music The electronic sound! Time Out Music in my heart Time Out, Time Out Music in your heart Time Out, Time Out Music in my heart Time Out, Time Out Music in your heart

Turntables mix A one headphone And any way good This is Time Out The sound you will like It gives you a shock This is the music Of the Time Turntable mix And one headphone And many record This is Time Out The sound you like And give you a shock This is the music Of the Time Time Out Music in my heart Time Out, Time Out Music in your heart Time Out, Time Out Music in my heart Time Out, Time Out Music in your heart Come on girls Come on boys Let's all dance With the music of tomorrow And every day If your television's on A new sensation You'll be feel But eat the cereal It's good for you There is a disco For a night under the moon The moon like it too That's why you dancing With your music The electronic sound!

These blogs also posted about the song "Time Out":
Italo Deviance (September 2008); Kontrapunkt (June 2008); My Secret Playlist (December 2008)

Flemming Dalum - Italo Classix

Flemming Dalum's expertly crafted "Italo Classix" mix straddles the line between DJ set and megamix, briefly visiting the essence of nearly every above-par Italo Disco track from the genre's heyday. Although it's packed with hits, he thankfully sticks to the relatively edgy songs that have the most longevity, steering mostly clear of the guilty-pleasure, overt pop and Hi-NRG side of Italo that would sound dated and jarring in a modern set. With 100 tracks in 80 minutes, it's the best mix of '08, for sure. Original post and link to the mix are at http://djhistory.com/forum/showthread.php?p=411156 http://djhistory.com/forum/flemming-dalum-italo-classix-100-tracks-in-80-min

Magic Waves posted an interesting interview of Flemming Dalum, probably one of very few people in the world with nearly every Italo Disco record ever made.



He's also posted another set recently: The Dark Side of Italo: http://www.djhistory.com/forum/showthread.php?p=416708 http://djhistory.com/forum/flemming-dalum-the-dark-side-of-italo. This one is shorter but is mostly instrumental, built from Italo loops, plus effects.