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

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