I loved this, Pe. As I always tell you, the way you bring in the socio-cultural and historical context adds a level of richness to your work and the music behind it. I also always appreciate your record industry insights which help me understand the motivation behind certain label moves or decisions.
Like you, I love Italy, its people, culture, and yes, of course, its food!! (It’s by far my favourite cuisine). Happy weekend, and I can’t wait for side B!
Thanks Andy. I’m truly honoured and very grateful for your continued support. I think you’re going to enjoy the B-side, as it connects the music to the country’s recent history and shows how adversity can sometimes create the perfect conditions for creativity.
Thanks so much for reading and reacting. Have a great weekend!
Dennis Lepage will definitely pop up in a few episodes down the line, and I’ll have a lot of choice: Katmandu, Lime, and that absolute disco smash from Carol Jiani, Hit’n Run Lover. Now that’s a twelve inch with real dynamic punch. That bass drum still makes my speakers jump, and my neighbours hit the wall 😁
It makes me wonder again about why the US labels abandoned disco entirely, and about that so-called backlash. I just remember some record burnings that the news media played up but not any backlash beyond that. Looks like it left the door open for foreign labels to enter the market. Not a bad thing, but I do wonder what numbers US labels were looking at to abandon disco like that. (Maybe you've written about this and I've forgotten?)
The whole disco universe in the late seventies was built largely on independent labels, Ellen, but they still needed the majors for the financing required to grow, expand, and secure national distribution. Without that reach, it was difficult to generate a solid return on investment.
After that infamous Disco Demolition Night, most of the majors pulled back, which meant the whole structure began to collapse. Radio was another major problem.
It all slowly came back, but there was a short window in between that European labels and producers were quick to exploit. And the Italians were best placed to seize those opportunities. That’s why…
Thanks for reading and reacting, Ellen! Wishing you a great Sunday and a wonderful start to the week!
Good for the Italians. If the Americans are going to be so over-reactive to a single event like that (not to speak badly of my own culture, but it is a well-documented trait -- I remember the hysteria after the completely over-reported and insignificant bra burning event that defined feminism), then they're going to lose income to those who take advantage of the opportunity. It doesn't seem like the smartest business strategy.
Another song I only had scant knowledge of, Pé, so I appreciate the deep dive and the context for its creation (of course Italian prog had to enter the picture!). Very little Italian disco made it over here. Any hits from there were likely to be covers, like Gloria, or flukes, like Tarzan Boy. So it's fun to have my horizons broadened!
Well, there were many more besides Tantra, Emm. Celso Valli alone had at least two more with Passengers and Azoto, and he was only one of several Italian producers active at the time.
Most of those records, though, were largely confined to the US dancefloors, especially the big clubs and urban centres, so they became a little less known outside that world. The same may be said for Canada, where I get the impression that outside Montreal and Quebec, not that much happened with disco.
I’m actually preparing a multiple-episode series on the Canadian disco scene.
Anyway, thanks for reading and reacting. Much appreciated.
Montreal was, notably, the big prog and disco city. Disco was popular nationwide, but no real center emerged where it was produced. Except in La Belle Province. So I do find it fascinating that Quebec and Italy had that in common, the disco and prog scenes. But, yeah, back in the day it was only the big hits I heard here and once Disco 'died' it vanished from the airwaves.
What fascinates me, as an historian, is how it all connects to the history of Quebec and the connection with France and Europe. Anyway, lots of ideas for the Canadian series. The only thing that is missing is time 😁
The 12" Italian remix/edit found an unlikely home here in the UK on Automatic Records, a WEA sub-label best known for being the home to early albums by cult rock band Doll By Doll, who never fitted into the new wave scene of the time. It remained very much a cult item with nowhere near the visibility achieved in the US. Dancefloors at the time were ruled by jazz-funk and I can't imagine the Soul Mafia DJs such as Chris Hills or Robbie Vincent queuing up to include a prog disco track from Italy in their sets! I didn't get to hear it until nearly 30 years later when the full album version was included on European Connection, ne of the excellent compilations devoted to 70s/80s disco released on the Disco Discharge label..
It’s true, Paul, early eighties Italo Disco didn’t cross the Channel that easily. That would change when the Italians absorbed the lessons of the early synth-pop bands and reshaped their sound into what most people now remember as classic eighties Italo Disco.
The Disco Discharge/Disco Recharge series was fantastic. They tried to revive it a few years ago, but unfortunately it didn’t really take off. It’s a shame they didn’t continue releasing the original albums as well, because they did some superb reissues, and the mastering was excellent too.
Thanks, as always, for reading and reacting, Paul.
I neglected to mention that it found its way into Rusty Egan's record boxes so did get played at venues like Dartford Flicks but failed to pick up sales beyond the Futurist scene.
Wonderful piece, Pe. What I really enjoyed here is the way you treat “Hills of Katmandu” not simply as a disco record, but as a point of transmission — one of those moments where music moves across borders, changes shape, and then comes back with a different charge.
I’m especially drawn to the Celso Valli angle. The progressive-rock background, conservatory training, world-music awareness, and dancefloor instinct all seem to collide in a way that makes Tantra feel much larger than a standard disco project.
The post-disco backlash section is also fascinating. The idea that the American industry retreated while the dancefloors kept moving says a lot. I would love to hear from some of the industry writers out there about what was really happening inside labels, radio, and distribution during that period of mass disco exit. There must be so many stories behind that sudden loss of nerve.
This is exactly the kind of piece I value from The Twelve Inch: detailed, generous, historically grounded, and full of connections that make the record feel newly important.
Apparently I was not following the Disco charts in 1981 because this is another one I've never heard! I guess I was mostly into Top 40 at the time. Glad you brought this one to the surface though.
And did you like it, Dan? Hills Of Katmandu was very much a 100% urban dancefloor story, which is quite remarkable when you consider the lasting quality of the record. It could have become much bigger, but it arrived at a moment when the American music industry seemed unsure what to do with dance music.
I’ve been reading reports from the 1980 Billboard Disco Forum Convention, and it’s fascinating to see just how lost they were. At the very same time, there was a steady wave of imports coming in from Italy, where they had no hesitation at all about continuing to make disco records.😁
Thanks for reading and reacting, Dan. Have a great weekend!
I was so excited to see an article about "The Hills Of Katmandu" show up in my inbox!!! I was a huge fan of disco, and after disco spectacularly imploded within months in 1979, I was not ready for it to end and tried searching for more. With disco suddenly being so unpopular, I was brutally made fun of for still liking it.
I lived among the cornfields of Indiana, with the nearest city being Indianapolis, which had a black music station that became #1 in the market during this era, which I attributed to so many other people still wanting dance music after all the disco stations switched to danceless pop or rock. WTLC played great funk music, and I totally enjoyed it.
But I still missed the sugary, happy sounds of disco and tried so hard to find it. Somehow, I found a 12" mail order record club in New York City, so I started getting their mailings and looked for anything I might be interested in, mostly buying blind -- with the aid of the Billboard Disco Chart -- since I couldn't hear anything locally.
However, I learned about Tantra: The Double Album from a review in the audiophile magazine Stereo Review, which had awarded it a Recording Of Special Merit. (I learned quite a few top-notch disco albums from that magazine.) I could only buy it from the NYC mail order club.
Immediately, I was a fan of "The Hills Of Katmandu." None of the other songs on the album resonated with me nearly as much, but "The Hills Of Katmandu" was worth the price of the double album. I remember a roommate, who I never heard listening to anything close to disco, one day listening to "The Hills Of Katmandu" with glee, which really surprised me.
A couple years ago, I posted something on Facebook about this song -- I don't remember if it was only about it or about several disco albums/songs that never get old -- and one of my Millennial friends heard it for the first time from my link and also was amazed at how great the song is.
I never get tired of the amazing beauty of this song...or dancing to it.
Thanks for covering this. I didn't know anything about Tantra beyond what was in the album's notes; all I knew was that Italy still had disco and I looked for more. (Another Importe/12 record I got was "I'm Ok You'reOK" by American Gypsy, another one I never, ever get tired of.)
What a great story, J Lee! I love reactions like this because they bring my research to life. They capture the “event” that sits at the heart of the story I’m trying to tell through this newsletter: the disco backlash in Chicago was a far more layered story than it is often remembered as.
On one side, you had the major cities, where it was largely business as usual. There was still demand, and records still had to be made, promoted and played. That is very much part of this week’s story. On the other side, outside the urban centres, disco was being pushed aside and openly rejected.
So thank you for sharing that. I may well use your reaction in a future post because, as I’ve said before, I’ll keep returning to what happened in 1979. It remains one of the key turning points in dance music history.
Celso Valli was an interesting angle to explore because there is surprisingly little information available on the record, and even on him. Yet it’s such a fascinating track because it feels like one of those bridge records, connecting one era to the next.
We’ll definitely meet Importe/12 again, too. And American Gypsy will get their own episode further down the line.
Thanks again for reading and reacting, J Lee. Have a great weekend!
😁 The Idjut Boys edit is based on the lead single from their second album, A Place Called Tarot. That second album was decent, though not quite on the same level as the first.
That said, there have been quite a few remixes of Hills Of Katmandu. Most of them stay fairly close to the original, which tells you a lot about the strength of the song itself. I’ve always had a soft spot for the Patrick Cowley remix.
Sorry that I confused Tarot and Katmandu. There's a lot of similarity. I thought they might be different versions of the same song. Definitely got that "sound" that we can hear even in Hava Nagila.
I agree. Once he found the formula that worked, he returned to it again and again throughout the project’s short career. But I’d argue that some formulas are so good that, even years later, the results still sound great.
I loved this, Pe. As I always tell you, the way you bring in the socio-cultural and historical context adds a level of richness to your work and the music behind it. I also always appreciate your record industry insights which help me understand the motivation behind certain label moves or decisions.
Like you, I love Italy, its people, culture, and yes, of course, its food!! (It’s by far my favourite cuisine). Happy weekend, and I can’t wait for side B!
Thanks Andy. I’m truly honoured and very grateful for your continued support. I think you’re going to enjoy the B-side, as it connects the music to the country’s recent history and shows how adversity can sometimes create the perfect conditions for creativity.
Thanks so much for reading and reacting. Have a great weekend!
Not an artist I’d ever heard of, but I enjoyed both tracks, particularly The Hills of Kathmandu
This could be such a beautiful bridge to Kat Mandu (The Break) produced by Dennis Lepage, from... Lime! Great article, as always. Love your work.
Dennis Lepage will definitely pop up in a few episodes down the line, and I’ll have a lot of choice: Katmandu, Lime, and that absolute disco smash from Carol Jiani, Hit’n Run Lover. Now that’s a twelve inch with real dynamic punch. That bass drum still makes my speakers jump, and my neighbours hit the wall 😁
Thanks for the compliment, SD, much appreciated!
Very interesting post as usual, Pe.
It makes me wonder again about why the US labels abandoned disco entirely, and about that so-called backlash. I just remember some record burnings that the news media played up but not any backlash beyond that. Looks like it left the door open for foreign labels to enter the market. Not a bad thing, but I do wonder what numbers US labels were looking at to abandon disco like that. (Maybe you've written about this and I've forgotten?)
The whole disco universe in the late seventies was built largely on independent labels, Ellen, but they still needed the majors for the financing required to grow, expand, and secure national distribution. Without that reach, it was difficult to generate a solid return on investment.
After that infamous Disco Demolition Night, most of the majors pulled back, which meant the whole structure began to collapse. Radio was another major problem.
It all slowly came back, but there was a short window in between that European labels and producers were quick to exploit. And the Italians were best placed to seize those opportunities. That’s why…
Thanks for reading and reacting, Ellen! Wishing you a great Sunday and a wonderful start to the week!
Thanks for explaining, Pe. That's so helpful.
Good for the Italians. If the Americans are going to be so over-reactive to a single event like that (not to speak badly of my own culture, but it is a well-documented trait -- I remember the hysteria after the completely over-reported and insignificant bra burning event that defined feminism), then they're going to lose income to those who take advantage of the opportunity. It doesn't seem like the smartest business strategy.
Another song I only had scant knowledge of, Pé, so I appreciate the deep dive and the context for its creation (of course Italian prog had to enter the picture!). Very little Italian disco made it over here. Any hits from there were likely to be covers, like Gloria, or flukes, like Tarzan Boy. So it's fun to have my horizons broadened!
Well, there were many more besides Tantra, Emm. Celso Valli alone had at least two more with Passengers and Azoto, and he was only one of several Italian producers active at the time.
Most of those records, though, were largely confined to the US dancefloors, especially the big clubs and urban centres, so they became a little less known outside that world. The same may be said for Canada, where I get the impression that outside Montreal and Quebec, not that much happened with disco.
I’m actually preparing a multiple-episode series on the Canadian disco scene.
Anyway, thanks for reading and reacting. Much appreciated.
Montreal was, notably, the big prog and disco city. Disco was popular nationwide, but no real center emerged where it was produced. Except in La Belle Province. So I do find it fascinating that Quebec and Italy had that in common, the disco and prog scenes. But, yeah, back in the day it was only the big hits I heard here and once Disco 'died' it vanished from the airwaves.
What fascinates me, as an historian, is how it all connects to the history of Quebec and the connection with France and Europe. Anyway, lots of ideas for the Canadian series. The only thing that is missing is time 😁
The 12" Italian remix/edit found an unlikely home here in the UK on Automatic Records, a WEA sub-label best known for being the home to early albums by cult rock band Doll By Doll, who never fitted into the new wave scene of the time. It remained very much a cult item with nowhere near the visibility achieved in the US. Dancefloors at the time were ruled by jazz-funk and I can't imagine the Soul Mafia DJs such as Chris Hills or Robbie Vincent queuing up to include a prog disco track from Italy in their sets! I didn't get to hear it until nearly 30 years later when the full album version was included on European Connection, ne of the excellent compilations devoted to 70s/80s disco released on the Disco Discharge label..
It’s true, Paul, early eighties Italo Disco didn’t cross the Channel that easily. That would change when the Italians absorbed the lessons of the early synth-pop bands and reshaped their sound into what most people now remember as classic eighties Italo Disco.
The Disco Discharge/Disco Recharge series was fantastic. They tried to revive it a few years ago, but unfortunately it didn’t really take off. It’s a shame they didn’t continue releasing the original albums as well, because they did some superb reissues, and the mastering was excellent too.
Thanks, as always, for reading and reacting, Paul.
I neglected to mention that it found its way into Rusty Egan's record boxes so did get played at venues like Dartford Flicks but failed to pick up sales beyond the Futurist scene.
You’re right, Paul, I’d forgotten about that one. I do remember seeing it on the playlist though, alongside a few other Italo disco tracks.
Early eighties Italo clearly took a lot of cues from the New Romantic scene. It’s a fascinating connection, and definitely one I’ll come back to.
Wonderful piece, Pe. What I really enjoyed here is the way you treat “Hills of Katmandu” not simply as a disco record, but as a point of transmission — one of those moments where music moves across borders, changes shape, and then comes back with a different charge.
I’m especially drawn to the Celso Valli angle. The progressive-rock background, conservatory training, world-music awareness, and dancefloor instinct all seem to collide in a way that makes Tantra feel much larger than a standard disco project.
The post-disco backlash section is also fascinating. The idea that the American industry retreated while the dancefloors kept moving says a lot. I would love to hear from some of the industry writers out there about what was really happening inside labels, radio, and distribution during that period of mass disco exit. There must be so many stories behind that sudden loss of nerve.
This is exactly the kind of piece I value from The Twelve Inch: detailed, generous, historically grounded, and full of connections that make the record feel newly important.
Thanks Howard. Really appreciate it! Thanks for reading & reacting. Wishing you a great Sunday!
Apparently I was not following the Disco charts in 1981 because this is another one I've never heard! I guess I was mostly into Top 40 at the time. Glad you brought this one to the surface though.
And did you like it, Dan? Hills Of Katmandu was very much a 100% urban dancefloor story, which is quite remarkable when you consider the lasting quality of the record. It could have become much bigger, but it arrived at a moment when the American music industry seemed unsure what to do with dance music.
I’ve been reading reports from the 1980 Billboard Disco Forum Convention, and it’s fascinating to see just how lost they were. At the very same time, there was a steady wave of imports coming in from Italy, where they had no hesitation at all about continuing to make disco records.😁
Thanks for reading and reacting, Dan. Have a great weekend!
I thought it was interesting as it had some New Wave/Electronic vibes. It's a bit repetitive for my taste but original nonetheless.
I was so excited to see an article about "The Hills Of Katmandu" show up in my inbox!!! I was a huge fan of disco, and after disco spectacularly imploded within months in 1979, I was not ready for it to end and tried searching for more. With disco suddenly being so unpopular, I was brutally made fun of for still liking it.
I lived among the cornfields of Indiana, with the nearest city being Indianapolis, which had a black music station that became #1 in the market during this era, which I attributed to so many other people still wanting dance music after all the disco stations switched to danceless pop or rock. WTLC played great funk music, and I totally enjoyed it.
But I still missed the sugary, happy sounds of disco and tried so hard to find it. Somehow, I found a 12" mail order record club in New York City, so I started getting their mailings and looked for anything I might be interested in, mostly buying blind -- with the aid of the Billboard Disco Chart -- since I couldn't hear anything locally.
However, I learned about Tantra: The Double Album from a review in the audiophile magazine Stereo Review, which had awarded it a Recording Of Special Merit. (I learned quite a few top-notch disco albums from that magazine.) I could only buy it from the NYC mail order club.
Immediately, I was a fan of "The Hills Of Katmandu." None of the other songs on the album resonated with me nearly as much, but "The Hills Of Katmandu" was worth the price of the double album. I remember a roommate, who I never heard listening to anything close to disco, one day listening to "The Hills Of Katmandu" with glee, which really surprised me.
A couple years ago, I posted something on Facebook about this song -- I don't remember if it was only about it or about several disco albums/songs that never get old -- and one of my Millennial friends heard it for the first time from my link and also was amazed at how great the song is.
I never get tired of the amazing beauty of this song...or dancing to it.
Thanks for covering this. I didn't know anything about Tantra beyond what was in the album's notes; all I knew was that Italy still had disco and I looked for more. (Another Importe/12 record I got was "I'm Ok You'reOK" by American Gypsy, another one I never, ever get tired of.)
What a great story, J Lee! I love reactions like this because they bring my research to life. They capture the “event” that sits at the heart of the story I’m trying to tell through this newsletter: the disco backlash in Chicago was a far more layered story than it is often remembered as.
On one side, you had the major cities, where it was largely business as usual. There was still demand, and records still had to be made, promoted and played. That is very much part of this week’s story. On the other side, outside the urban centres, disco was being pushed aside and openly rejected.
So thank you for sharing that. I may well use your reaction in a future post because, as I’ve said before, I’ll keep returning to what happened in 1979. It remains one of the key turning points in dance music history.
Celso Valli was an interesting angle to explore because there is surprisingly little information available on the record, and even on him. Yet it’s such a fascinating track because it feels like one of those bridge records, connecting one era to the next.
We’ll definitely meet Importe/12 again, too. And American Gypsy will get their own episode further down the line.
Thanks again for reading and reacting, J Lee. Have a great weekend!
wowww! excited to dig into this one. i really love the idjut boys re-edit. what do you think of it?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvFc6_i2VbA
😁 The Idjut Boys edit is based on the lead single from their second album, A Place Called Tarot. That second album was decent, though not quite on the same level as the first.
That said, there have been quite a few remixes of Hills Of Katmandu. Most of them stay fairly close to the original, which tells you a lot about the strength of the song itself. I’ve always had a soft spot for the Patrick Cowley remix.
i will dig up that cowley remix.
Sorry that I confused Tarot and Katmandu. There's a lot of similarity. I thought they might be different versions of the same song. Definitely got that "sound" that we can hear even in Hava Nagila.
I agree. Once he found the formula that worked, he returned to it again and again throughout the project’s short career. But I’d argue that some formulas are so good that, even years later, the results still sound great.