Italo disco
Witness History18 Jul 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.

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(Photo: Ryan Paris. Credit: Getty Images)

Episoder(2000)

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Jana Andolan – Nepal’s people power movement

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A people’s movement called Jana Andolan brought an end to Nepal’s absolute monarchy in the spring of 1990. Political parties worked together with students, workers and civil society groups to organise strikes and street protests – but although the king eventually agreed to their demands, it was the beginning of a long period of political instability. Lucy Burns speaks to activist and writer Devendra Raj Pandey about his memories of the first Jana Andolan.PHOTO: Jubilant protesters take to the streets on April 9, 1990 in Kathmandu after the government announced an end to the 30-year ban on multi-political parties. (DOUGLAS CURRAN/AFP via Getty Images)

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Chaos and hardship hit Russia with the rapid market reforms in early 1992, just weeks after the collapse of the USSR. In 2018 Dina Newman spoke to one of the architects of this “shock therapy” - Andrei Nechaev, who was then the Minister for Economic Development.This programme is a rebroadcast.Photo: Old women selling cigarettes on the streets of Moscow in 1992. Credit: BBC.

26 Jun 20208min

The Chilean economy and its 'Chicago Boys'

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Following the violent military coup that overthrew Chile's socialist government in 1973, the new regime led by General Augusto Pinochet began a radical overhaul of the economy. It was based on a free-market economic plan created by a group of economists known as the Chicago Boys. Mike Lanchin has been speaking to one of them, Rolf Lüders.Photo: General Augusto Pinochet (L) poses with socialist Chilean president Salvador Allende (R) in Santiago, just after Allende appointed him the head of the army, and only three weeks before Pinochet's military coup in September 1973. Credit: AFP/Getty Images

25 Jun 20209min

Tanzania's socialist experiment

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In the late 1960s Tanzania's first post-independence president, the charismatic Julius Nyerere, believed that endemic poverty in rural areas could only be addressed if peasant farmers relocated to larger villages and worked collectively. It was part of a new experimental form of socialism, known as Ujamaa. In 2016 Rob Walker spoke to two Tanzanians who remember it well.This programme is a rebroadcast.Photo: Tanzanian women cultivating the soil (AFP/Getty Images)

24 Jun 20209min

South Korea's economic miracle

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The New Deal

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22 Jun 20208min

The ‘Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes’ anti-racist exercise

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