It's Tuesday and I am a little brain dead from the long holiday weekend, so I feel it may be time to get my head working again and nerd out on a micro genre. In terms of its lifespan, Italo Disco somewhat quickly morphed into the High NRG cheese sound, but in its first several years it seemed to take more influence from American R&B than synthy Euro-Pop. I like to call this early incarnation (roughly 1980-1982), Italo Boogie.

The ubiquitous studio group Kano (which is credited for first ushering in the italo sound) had its finest moment in 1981 with "Don't Try To Stop Me" from their second LP entitled New York Cake. Boeing dropped only one 12" in their very short career, 1982's "Dance on the Beat". Both tracks are strong examples of Italo Boogie steeped in the disco-funk sounds coming from across the Atlantic with a little added euro flavor. I just checked out this mix from Ebony Cuts which presents many more examples of Italo Boogie jams.

Kano - Don't Try To Stop Me (12" Mix)
Boeing - Dance On The Beat (Drunk Mix)