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.

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)

Episoder(2000)

Trans murder in Honduras

Trans murder in Honduras

In June 2009, transgender sex worker and activist Vicky Hernandez was murdered in the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula.The killers were never identified or punished, but in 2021 the Inter-American Human Rights Court found the Honduran state responsible for the crime. It ordered the government to enact new laws to prevent discrimination and violence against LGBT people.Mike Lanchin hears from Claudia Spelman, a trans activist and friend of Vicky, and the American human rights lawyer Angelita Baeyens.A CTVC production for the BBC World Service.(Photo: A protestor holds a sign saying “Late Justice is not Justice”. Credit: Wendell Escoto/AFP/Getty Images)

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Icelandic women's strike

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In October 1975, 90% of women in Iceland took part in a nationwide protest over inequality.Factories and banks were forced to close and men were left holding the children as 25,000 women took to the streets.In 2015, Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, later Iceland's first female president, told Kirstie Brewer about the impact of that day.(Photo: Women take to the streets. Credit: The Icelandic Women's History Archives)

20 Feb 20249min

The Soviet scientist who made two-headed dogs

The Soviet scientist who made two-headed dogs

In the 1950s, Soviet scientist Dr Vladimir Demikhov shocks the world with his two-headed dog experiments.He grafts the head and paws of one dog onto the body of another. One of his creations lives for 29 days.He wants to prove the possibilities of transplant surgery, which was a new field of medicine at the time. Consultant cardiothoracic surgeon, Igor Konstantinov, tells Vicky Farncombe about the "difficult emotions" he experiences when he looks at photos of the creatures.This programme includes a description of one of the experiments which some listeners may find upsetting.(Photo: Vladimir Demikhov. Credit: Getty Images)

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Supermalt: The malt drink created after the Nigerian civil war

Supermalt: The malt drink created after the Nigerian civil war

In 1972, a food supplement used by soldiers during the Nigerian civil war was turned into a popular malt drink by a brewery in the Danish town of Faxe.It was called Supermalt and it became so popular that the Nigerian government decided to ban all imports of malt into the country. Peter Rasmussen created the drink and he has been sharing his memories with Matt Pintus.(Photo: Supermalt. Credit: Royal Unibrew Ltd)

16 Feb 20249min

The small Irish town known as ‘Little Brazil’

The small Irish town known as ‘Little Brazil’

Gort in the west of Ireland is known by the nickname ‘Little Brazil’ because it’s home to so many Brazilians.They first came to Ireland in the late 1990s to work in the town’s meat factory.Lucimeire Trindade was just 24-years-old when she and three friends arrived in the town, unable to speak a word of English or Irish.Nearly 25 years later, Lucimeire considers Gort her true home.She tells Vicky Farncombe how being in Ireland changed her outlook on life.“I learned that a woman can have their own life, especially going to the pub alone without their husbands!”(Photo: Traditional Brazilian carnival dancers strut their stuff in Gort. Credit: John Kelly, Clare Champion)

15 Feb 202410min

The Juliet letters

The Juliet letters

The Juliet Club is in Verona, Italy, a place known throughout the world as being the city of love. The club has been replying to mail addressed to Shakespeare’s tragic heroine, Juliet since the early 1990s. The story of the Juliet letters started in the 1930s when the guardian of what is known as Juliet’s tomb began gathering the first letters people left at the grave and answering them. The task was taken on by the Juliet Club which was founded by Giulio Tamassia in 1972. His daughter, Giovanna, tells Gill Kearsley that thousands of love letters from around the world are each given a personal response.(Photo: Letters to the Juliet Club. Credit: Leonello Bertolucci/Getty Images)

14 Feb 20249min

Patty Hearst: Rebel heiress

Patty Hearst: Rebel heiress

When wealthy newspaper heiress Patty Hearst was kidnapped by far-left militants in February 1974, America saw her as a victim.But two months later, she announced she had decided to join the group. Soon, she was accompanying it on an attempted bank robbery.In 2010, Louise Hidalgo spoke to Carol Pogash, a journalist who followed the story.(Photo: Patty being led to her trial. Credit: Bettmann/Getty Images)

13 Feb 202410min

The WW2 escape line that fooled the Nazis

The WW2 escape line that fooled the Nazis

In 1940 a daring rescue operation began to help Allied servicemen escape from Nazi-occupied France.French resistance fighter Roland Lepers was among those who guided stranded Allied soldiers and airmen to neutral Spain during World War Two. The 1,000 km route became known as the Pat O’Leary Escape Line - or the Pat Line. It’s estimated 7,000 Allied personnel escaped through this route and similar escape lines, thanks to a network of people who clothed, fed and hid them. Peter Janes was one of those British servicemen.Roland’s daughter Christine and Peter’s son Keith, speak to Jane Wilkinson about their fathers’ adventures.(Photo: German-controlled checkpoint in France, 1940. Credit: Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)

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