Disco Inferno: How Italian Disco Music Loved The Occult.
Infernal and horror-adjacent themed abounded in Italian disco music.
From the memories of Disco Bambino
”As narrated previously, vinyl records were my universe from the very early years of my life. No toys could ever give me the same amount of joy, as well as power to dream, as records did. When I played them, not only did I dance and sing over the music, but I also imagined variety shows, choreographies, costumes and so on. So, just like any kid at 4 or 5 years old would take a doll or a miniature race car to school, I did the same with my favorite record of the day. My school (Sacred Heart of Bitonto, a small town in Puglia, Italy) was run by the Filipine nuns, who were also our teachers in all of the various subjects. Mine was a fiery little lady in her late 60s called Sister Fernanda, who was very fascinated by the records I brought to school. On Saturdays, the last school day of the week, she used to ask me to play the record and perform in front of the entire class. And these happened to be all disco music records, from Rettore’s “Kobra” to Patrick Hernandez “Born To Be Alive” to Donna Summer “I Feel Love”. Sister Fernanda moved her feet and head to the rhythm of these songs. Little did she know, that disco was branded as a vehicle for sinning, a celebration of the senses and hedonism.”
(Disco Bambino)
When it comes to Italian disco music pioneering a slew of tropes, stylistic conventions, and subgenres, the depiction of hell—more of a bacchanal than a place of eternal damnation— is no exception.
The devil is a mainstay in disco music: Francis Grasso and Steve D’Acquisto presided over the club known as Sanctuary, formerly “The Church”, which featured a big effigy of the devil flanked by a flock of cheeky angels. When Studio 54 opened on April 26, 1977, dj Richie Kaczor decides to open with CJ & Co’s “Devil’s Gun”. Then, of course, there’s the 1976 mainstay “Disco Inferno” by The Trammps, whose chorus “burn, baby burn” raised a few eyebrows.
Italy was, again, ahead of the curve. Especially when you think of it as the country hosting the Vatican, with its army of bishops, priests, nuns &co.
Take Le Streghe, Italy’s pioneering multi-cultural disco trio, who spearhead a fascinating chapter in the history of Italian disco music. They debuted in 1976, as an experiment by English producer and arranger Shel Shapiro, who decided to recruit members from different cultural and musical backgrounds. In fact, the trio consisted of Italian vocalist Silvana Aliotta, Brazilian singer Luna Leso, and Chinese/Hawaiian artist Sylvia Momilani, embodying a unique blend of global influences that was quite rare at the time. This predates other disco and disco-adjacent groups such as the German Arabesque, whose first formation consisted of a Brit, a German-Mexican, and a German. L’Iniziazione (The Initiation) is their seminal and sole album release. A stunning concept album that is also a tapestry of sounds, blending together orchestral and disco, tradition and avant-garde, superstition and innovation. Aliotta abandoned the group shortly after the release of L’Iniziazione, and Dawn, from the German prog-rock band Eruption, took over.
In 1979, Rettore released “Salvami” (save me) as part of her breakout album Brivido Divino. Set to a cabaret-like (oompah) beat, she sings of voodoo, black magic, and domination in what Droga Magazine referred to as “Mid Tempo Glam Punk.” by uttering “Salvami!” in the refrain, she seems to be begging for her release (is she, actually?). Her 1980 album Magnifico Delirio contains “Stregoneria” (witchcraft), which Rettore herself considers her pride and joy, calling it “the one-page treatment of a horror movie” in an interview. The instrumental base contains a plethora of sound effects that one might compare to what you can find in a haunted house: cackling, a piano playing those melodies you usually associate with organ music, and some electronic flourishes. Her experimentation with the subject continued in 1981, with the track “Il Filo Della Notte” (The Thread Of The Night) from her Estasi Clamorosa album, where a witch, Satan and the night become allies in her love story.
What seemed to be really intriguing to Italian audiences was the blend of the witchcraft/satanism motif with erotica. The combo not only infused some sort of lightness and irony, it also made it more commercially viable.
In 1978, Italian actress Marina Bellini, released the single “Satan In Love”, a hybrid of slow disco with an opening pulsating synth that oozes sexiness and lust. The track passed completely unnoticed at the time of its release, but a few years ago, with a renewed interest in 70s Italian disco, the track found a new life specially among vinyl collectors. In reality, the track had made it to Finland with singer Emilia re-recording it in her native language in 1981.
And we know we talked about it profusely with regards to Grace Jones, Amanda Lear, and Asha Puthli, but Stryx comes into play as well: in fact, its whole premise was inspired by the devil. The showrunner Enzo Trapani did, in fact, maintain that, one night, he got a phone call where the speaker introduced themselves as the devil, and that interaction, allegedly prompted him to create a joyous, sexually-charged and liberated setting where witches, devils, and all sorts of creatures would cavort. The costumes themselves, designed by the budding costume designer Gianna Sgarbossa, drew inspiration from the art of Hieronymus Bosch and his unsettling depictions of the otherworld or the end of days.
Even Italians producing disco music geared for an international market, “went to hell” to get some inspiration. ‘Devil’s Run’ is one of the tracks on the iconic Fire Night Dance album that Italian producer and songwriter Mauro Malavasi released in 1979, with his Peter Jaques Band, a project he created together with French DJ Jacques Petrus who at the end of the 70’s was living in Italy.
Some experimental acts that came later during the Italo disco booming wave, seemed to continue on the subjects especially with Hildegard’s “Satanicamente,” from 1984 a vinyl that is a holy grail among collectors, with an overall melody that conjures the camp-horror vibes of 1980s B-movie flicks.
International singers who crossed paths with Italy sang of the devil too. Asha Puthli’s “The Devil Is Loose” is one of the most famous pieces of her repertoire; Amanda Lear’s Blood and Honey contains “She’s got the Devil in her Eyes,” and her seminal single “Follow Me” also exists as a long-play version where she engages in a retelling of the Faustian myth and, ultimately, bests the devil. The Spanish Eurodisco duo Baccara combined disco, pop, and Western-flavored folktales in “The Devil Sent You to Lorado.”
Overall, the devil as he appears in disco production is not the embodiment of evil. Rather, he is the embodiment of joyous, vaguely Pagan and fairytale-like debauchery, where magic exists alongside princes, princesses, witches, warlocks, and wonder, just like the dance floor.