Nightflight to Venus cover

Nightflight to Venus

Released

This Eurodisco collective was the brainchild of Frank Farian, who went on to later notoriety as the mastermind behind Milli Vanilli — and he used similar tactics here, hiring pretty faces but getting trained singers to do the actual vocals. He just didn’t get in trouble for it. Tik-Tok and Turisas fans will recognize the questionable history lesson “Rasputin,” but it’s not even the biggest hit here — “Rivers of Babylon” (also probably not historically accurate) blew up the charts when this first came out. It’s easy to hear why. The combination of Caribbean rhythms and the undeniable allure of German disco will have you booking a ticket on the first spaceship out.

Jeff Treppel

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