(09.02.06) FINDING a record label that truly captures a particular sound is a rare thing. To find
a group of people who live and breath the music that they make is as much of
an anomaly as it is a pleasure. One label that is almost a definition of
Italo Disco is Superradio Records. Superradio Records is far from a
household name when it comes to electronic music, but its mystic only adds
to its prowess. Superradio first came into being in the early 1980s, a team
of italo lovers by the names of Venise (Laura Mic Mac, Barry Mason, Sandro
“Soul Time” Zigfield, Marinelli, Robin G, and Franco “Punk” Scopinich. The
Italian imprint was founded from a radio station set up by the pair and some
friends: Superradio. Like many great labels, such as B12, nobody out there
would release the Superradio sound; therefore the ‘only option’ was to go it
alone and start up a record label. The imprint, on its inception, began to
instantly release top notch italo records, such as Sun La Shan’s
hypnotically addictive Catch or Barry Mason’s classic Get Your Body. In
2000, the label began to reach a larger audience after I-F’s groundbreaking
mix CD All Mixed Up In The Hague. The now infamous mix contained two
tracks from the label: Camero Gang’s “Ali Shuffle” and Sun La Shan’s “Catch.”
Modern italo heads immediately began to turn to the small record label.
In its twenty five years of existence, Superradio has stuck to the
principles of Italo solidly. Franco Scopnich and Venise not only make
spaghetti dance, they live and breathe everything that is italo. To them,
their music is as much a ‘lifestyle’ as it is a sound. From their clothes to
their website, the team that started Superradio are what Italo music is all
about. Tracks with amazingly up beat synth lines whilst having a solid
dancefloor feel coupled with catchy lyrics to create tracks that are
captivating, compelling and damn good. Everything about Superradio screams
1980s electric disco. The record sleeves with their fast cars, neon lights,
sunglasses and sunshine are the embodiment of what the 1980s synth pop scene
was. But, there is a distinct difference between what Superradio Records are
and what the electro pop of the 80’s was. Superradio Records was not a
commercial endeavor. Superradio was never about the money or the fame, it
was about the sound. Superradio is emblematic of everything fun in Italo,
the chirpy love orientated lyrics with a synthline to match.
The label began with Sun La Shan’s Catch, the debut 12″ of the Italian
imprint. The partnership of Franco and Venise got together to compile this
outrageous italo number. The track is a synthline laden electric disco funk
odyssey, as Venise’s melodic voice cascades across the backdrop interjected
by Franco robotising it up on the vocoder; perhaps one of the best italo
tracks ever made and a definite favorite amongst the robots of the
cybernetic broadcasting system. Camaro’s Gang are another group that are at
the heart of the Superradio experience. The Gang is Alex Novago and a host
of other people such as Barry Mason and sometimes even Franco. The Gang was
named after Franco’s car, a “metallic red” Chevy Camaro, and have been with
the label since the beginning. The team have produced an array of amazing
spaghetti dance numbers, such as the wonderfully catchy toe tapping disco
epic “Feurza Major.” In this track candy covered chords swing through
English lyrics spliced with shards of Italian, a synthesized discoball
excursion that will have any italo high tops charged.
What Superradio records has is a love of everything pop. It is a label that
creates music that is happy, catchy but extremely clever. The label is as
much a family as it is a bunch musicians. Superradio is a group of people
that embraced italo disco and made it their own. To this day, Superradio
records is a pioneer in synth pop and italo disco. It is a label that made
its records with a love. A label that made its records not for money but for
the sheer pleasure of the sound, and making that sound for people who loved
it. Superradio is what labels should be about, a deep focus on the music
without the weights of financial and capital concerns. Superradio is a label
that will go down in electronic history as a label that not only created a
pure gold synth sound, but a label lived that very sound. It is an
inspiration, both in its approach and music.
For more information about Superradio Records, visit their website here.
