Between 1978 and 1988 European disco producers changed the face of pop music forever, creating a golden era outside the gaze of the US and UK pop charts − who were experiencing their own revolutions in the age of synthesis. Artists like Kano, Den Harrow and Gazebo scored hit after hit, spilling out of the clubs and onto turntables across the continent with classics like ‘Another Life’, ‘Catch The Fox’ and ‘I Like Chopin’ selling volumes that most modern artists could only dream of today.
Forty years later these lost hits (and more!) have found a new life, democratised by the advent of streaming and a new generation of dancers with an ear for the electric and obscure. As you’d expect, original 7” and 12” singles from this decade have become increasingly sought after, with common tracks becoming harder to find, rarities harder to afford. Perfect timing then to lionise this visionary music with its first Ace compilation.
“Promise Me Delight” then, is a love letter, a journey through Italo-disco and European pop, and an imagined soundtrack to wild 80s nights of hot abandon we could never truly have known. Step through the lasers and dry ice to an unreal universe where Tom Hooker (‘Looking for Love’), Fun Fun (‘Living in Japan’) and Sandra (‘Maria Magdalena’) remain household names everywhere, standing shoulder to shoulder with the Pet Shop Boys and Madonna in a decade that echoed the genius of the Italian dancefloor.
“Promise Me Delight” was compiled by record buyer and record store veteran David Perry, who runs East London's longest running all-vinyl Italo-Disco night of the same name.
When not purchasing records, lasers and smoke machines in a professional capacity, he performs as David Bowie in tribute with The Band Who Fell to Earth and spends time with his many cats.
