Outline

Released

The 1979 debut solo album from Canadian multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer Gino Soccio consists of four epic Italo disco cuts and one beatless piano piece So Lonely, (distinctive in its use of ‘loon’ sounds, the twittering bird sound that UK rave outfit 808 State would make famous a decade later). Lead track The Dancer reached #1 on the US Billboard disco chart and is an eight-and-a-half minute driving, spacey take on the disco sound, with expertly put-together synth programming interwoven with a Philadelphia International-sounding female chorus, held down by a razor-edged synthetic clap. It’s epic, full of highs and lows, and somehow feels sci-fi-themed even though it’s not. Likewise, the fast-paced astro-disco of The Visitors, full of electronic arpeggios, a scattering of horns and a big, ever-present 4/4 kick drum similarly somehow recalls a world of spaceships and interplanetary travel. Dreamy synthetic post-disco. 

Harold Heath

Suggestions
I Enjoy Loving You cover

I Enjoy Loving You

Sidney Joe Qualls
Funky Chicken cover

Funky Chicken

Willie Henderson & The Soul Explosions
Blue River cover

Blue River

Smith & Mudd
We Got The Rhythm cover

We Got The Rhythm

People's Choice
  Teddy Pendergrass  cover

Teddy Pendergrass

Teddy Pendergrass
Everything Is Slow cover

Everything Is Slow

Bright & Findlay
Silk Degrees cover

Silk Degrees

Boz Scaggs
Do It Good cover

Do It Good

KC & the Sunshine Band