A Tribute to Nicolosi (49:16)

Ever since my early noughties rediscovery of italo disco, I’ve been a massive fan of the first three Valerie Dore singles and their unique melancholic and string-laden swooning sound. I never bothered to dig deeper however, apart from tracking down everything else with Dore’s name on it; only to discover it was pretty rubbish (from Lancelot onwards).

But recently I stumbled upon a few other tracks that shared the same sound and the same bittersweet harmonies, one of them was Only Music Survives by Alba, another was Your Mind by Angie Care. And through some Discogs browsing and email conversations with Johan Agebjörn (of Sally Shapiro fame), I suddenly realised that all these productions had a common link in a team of song writers and producers all sharing the surname of Nicolosi. It even turns out they’re behind quite a few other italo favourites of mine that I previously had not thought related! Just a Story by Mike Rogers, Funky is on by Funky Family and Distant Planet by The Voyagers being the most noteworthy.

Johan recently wrote a journal post recounting the story behind Valerie Dore and including more info on the Nicolosi family, and I thought it’d be a great idea to provide it with an accompanying mix featuring their best work. So here it is, I hope you enjoy A Tribute to Nicolosi.

Track list