ABSTRACT
Over the last 30 years, Italo has gone from being a tasteless novelty item (and guilty pleasure) to a snobbish cult, presided over by the techno elite. Here we turn the lights on at the disco to find out exactly what Italo is and why it still matters. While the tension between nonsense lyrical translations and fierce synth-lead melodies is an acquired taste, the thrill of Italo is that it does not take itself too seriously. It celebrates the synthetic in a way that, from a twenty-first-century perspective, seems joyously ahead of its time. It is little wonder Italo now finds itself at the cutting edge of the Berlin club scene and EDM mainstream. But what of its camp sensibility? This chapter explores the not-so-secret gay history of Italo.
