Italo disco
Witness History18 Heinä 2025

Italo disco

In the late 1970s, disco died in America and a new wave of Italian producers took advantage of the advances in electronic instruments to craft their own dancefloor fillers.

The result was Italo disco – a genre of music recognisable for its synthesiser beats, heavily accented English lyrics and catchy melodies.

One of the biggest hits was Dolce Vita.

Singer Ryan Paris – real name Fabio Roscioli – tells Vicky Farncombe how it felt to be part of that moment.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from the death of Adolf Hitler, the first spacewalk and the making of the movie Jaws, to celebrity tortoise Lonesome George, the Kobe earthquake and the invention of superglue. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: Eva Peron – Argentina’s Evita; President Ronald Reagan and his famous ‘tear down this wall’ speech; Thomas Keneally on why he wrote Schindler’s List; and Jacques Derrida, France’s ‘rock star’ philosopher. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the civil rights swimming protest; the disastrous D-Day rehearsal; and the death of one of the world’s oldest languages.

(Photo: Ryan Paris. Credit: Getty Images)

Jaksot(2000)

Zaha Hadid's Cincinnati Arts Center

Zaha Hadid's Cincinnati Arts Center

When the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati opened to the public in 2003 it wowed both the public and critics. With its undulating curves and galleries that interlock, it was the first major project that the renowned architect had completed, and also the first American museum to be designed by a woman. The New York Times hailed the Contemporary Arts Center as the most important building to be completed in the US since the Cold War. Farhana Haider has been listening to archive interviews with the late Zaha Hadid and speaking to Jay Chatterjee, Dean Emeritus at the college of Design Architecture, Art and Planning at the University of Cincinnati. He was on the panel that chose her ground-breaking design.Photo Credit Courtesy of the Contemporary Arts Center

17 Maalis 202211min

Teheran's Freedom Tower

Teheran's Freedom Tower

A vast new monument was opened to the public in Tehran in early 1972. It was called Shahyad and was dedicated to centuries of Iranian royalty. After the Islamic revolution of 1979 the monument's name changed to the Azadi or Freedom Tower, but it has remained a centrepiece for public events and demonstrations in the city. In 2016, Rozita Riazati spoke to Hossein Amanat, the young architect hired to design it.PHOTO: The Azadi tower in 2016 (Getty Images)

16 Maalis 20229min

Chandigarh: India's city of the future

Chandigarh: India's city of the future

After the trauma of Partition in 1947, India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru persuaded the maverick Swiss-French architect, Le Corbusier, to build a new capital city for the province of Punjab. He hoped the project would symbolise a newly-independent, forward-looking India. Le Corbusier had revolutionised architecture and urban planning in the first half of the twentieth century. He was loved and hated in equal measure for his modernist approach, favouring flat roofs, glass walls and concrete. In 2016, Claire Bowes spoke to Sumit Kaur, former Chief Architect and lifelong resident of Chandigarh, about the legacy left by Le Corbusier.(Photo: The Chandigarh Legislative Assembly building. 1999. Credit: John Macdougall/AFP)

15 Maalis 20229min

The Frauenkirche - Dresden's symbol of war and reconstruction

The Frauenkirche - Dresden's symbol of war and reconstruction

In 2005 Dresden’s Lutheran church, the Frauenkirche, opened its doors to the public for the first time in 60 years. The Frauenkirche in the East German city of Dresden was destroyed in 1945 by British and American bombing. The church remained in ruins for over 40 years. Then, in 1993, a painstaking project began to piece the church back together and restore it to its former glory. Josephine Casserly talks to Thomas Gottschlich who was one of the architects leading the reconstruction.PHOTO: Ruins of the Frauenkirche in Dresden, Germany after the WWII bombing in 1945. (Probst/Ullstein Bild via Getty Images)

14 Maalis 20229min

The Wages for Housework campaign

The Wages for Housework campaign

They called it "The only work you never retire from, the only work you never get paid for" and in 1972 the Italian Marxist Feminist group Lotta Feminista tried to change that. Inspired by the work of feminist theorist Mariarosa Dalla Costa, they launched an international campaign for women to be paid for housework. The movement argued that if home-making stopped, our entire economic system would grind to a halt. Claire Bowes speaks to one of the leaders of Wages for Housework, Leopoldina Fortunati, about their revolutionary campaign and how its roots go back as far as the 19th century.PHOTO: Wages for Housework leaders Mariarosa Dalla Costa (left) and Leopoldina Fortunati (centre) at a rally in the 1970s.

11 Maalis 202211min

Iranian Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi

Iranian Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi

In 2003, human rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi became the first Iranian and the first Muslim woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Six years later, she was forced into exile from Iran. Dr Ebadi has been talking to Louise Hidalgo about the award, her work and the personal price she's had to pay for it.Picture: Dr Shirin Ebadi arriving back at Tehran airport after hearing that she'd been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, October 2003 (credit: Mohamad Eslami Rad/Getty Images)

10 Maalis 20229min

The Australian women who protested against the Vietnam war

The Australian women who protested against the Vietnam war

Five Australian women made front-page news when they were sent to Melbourne's Fairlea Prison for protesting against the Vietnam War in 1971. The women were part of the Save Our Sons movement, which campaigned to stop Australians being conscripted to fight in the conflict. Their jailing sparked protests outside the prison and across Australia, and is credited with helping turn public opinion against conscription. Jean McLean -- nicknamed the "Blonde Bombshell" by the Australian tabloids -- was one of the Fairlea Five. She tells Josephine McDermott about their campaign - and the time she and a would-be conscript got in a car chase with military security. PHOTO: A protest by the Save Our Sons movement (Getty Images)

9 Maalis 20229min

Russia's war in Georgia in 2008

Russia's war in Georgia in 2008

In August 2008, Russia went to war with another former Soviet republic, Georgia. The conflict began after Georgia attempted to recapture the breakaway region of South Ossetia, which had fought a separatist war with Tbilisi during the 1990s. As fighting escalated, Russia sent in troops - seizing control of South Ossetia and also of Georgia's other breakaway region, Abkhazia. The five-day war ended in humiliation for Georgia - several towns, a Black Sea port and military airfields were bombed by the Russian air force. Several hundred people were killed and thousands of ethnic Georgians displaced. Nick Holland reports.PHOTO: Russian troops on their way to South Ossetia in 2008 (Getty Images)

4 Maalis 20229min

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