One of the early representors of the genre was a British group Imagination, with their series of hits throughout 1981 and 1982. In 1982 Euro disco began to develop in Italy by groups like Gazebo, Kano and Lectric Workers. In 1983, Italian disco artists became popular in Europe with disco songs entering top charts in every major European country.
The influence of Euro disco had infiltrated dance and pop in the US by 1983, as European producers and songwriters inspired a new generation of American performer eager to breathe new life into dance music otherwise abandoned by US radio. While disco had been declared "dead" due to a backlash there in 1979, subsequent Euro-flavored successes crossing the boundaries of rock, pop, and dance, such as "Call Me" by Blondie and "Gloria" by Laura Branigan, ushered in a new era of American-fronted dance music often forgotten in favor of, or considered a subgenre within the "Second British Invasion" happening concurrently. Branigan moved deeper into the Euro disco style for further hits, alongside Giorgio Moroder-produced US acts Berlin and Irene Cara.
By 1984, musicians from other countries had begun to produce Euro disco songs. In Germany, notable practitioners of the sound included Modern Talking, Sandra, and Fancy.
Some note that the same elements which were later embraced in greater measure as Euro disco had already come together cohesively as early as the mid- to late-1970s in certain tracks by artists such as the Swedish group ABBA, and the American singer Donna Summer.
By the early 1990s, its mainstream popularity having waned in the US, Euro disco developed into eurodance.
External links
- Euro flash - an article on euro disco
- scheul.de - contains info about chart positions of Euro disco artists in the world.
- Webdjsitalodisco.Ch - contains info about Italo-Disco and its artists, including interviews.
- Eurodisco video on DVD - Selling, trading videos from the 80s (Italo, Euro disco)