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.

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(Photo: Ryan Paris. Credit: Getty Images)

Episoder(2000)

The birth of the Slow Food Movement

The birth of the Slow Food Movement

In 1986, thousands of people gathered in the middle of Rome to protest against the opening of Italy’s first McDonalds fast food restaurant. One of the opponents to the opening of McDonalds was journalist Carlo Petrini. Soon after, he founded a new organisation called the Slow Food Movement. Its main aim was to protect traditional foods and cooking. He has been sharing his story with Matt Pintus.(Photo: Carlo Petrini. Credit: Slow Food International)

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Inventing instant noodles

Inventing instant noodles

In August 1958, the Japanese entrepreneur, Momofuku Ando, came up with the idea of a brand new food product that would change the eating habits of people across the world. In 2018, Ashley Byrne spoke to Yukitaka Tsutsui, an executive for the company founded by Ando, about the birth of the Instant Noodle.A Made in Manchester production for BBC World Service. (Photo: Momofuko Ando holding noodles. Credit: Getty Images)

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Malta's bread strike

Malta's bread strike

In February 1977 the bakers of Malta went on an unprecedented strike.It sent shock waves through the Maltese people who couldn’t imagine life without their favourite food… bread.Before long the military was guarding bakeries, the panicked population had created a bread black market and local prisoners were enlisted to bake for the public.Forty-five years later Maltese cultural historian Noel Buttigieg shares his memories of the time, with Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty.(Photo: A queue outside of a bakery during the 1977 strike. Credit: Noel Buttigieg)

28 Des 20228min

Inventing Chicken Manchurian

Inventing Chicken Manchurian

Chef Nelson Wang created his signature dish Chicken Manchurian in 1975. It was the birth of modern Indo-Chinese cuisine which went on to become hugely popular around the world. He went on to open China Garden, a Chinese restaurant in Mumbai that would draw in Bollywood's glitterati. Nelson's son Edward Wang, who is also a chef, speaks to Reena Stanton-Sharma.(Photo: Chicken Manchurian. Credit: Paul Yeung/South China Morning Post via Getty Images)

27 Des 20228min

Creating ciabatta bread

Creating ciabatta bread

In 1982, rally driver Arnaldo Cavallari created ciabatta bread in Adria, in northern Italy.His family owned a flour mill and he wanted to invent a loaf to rival the French baguette.Rachel Naylor speaks to his close friend and fellow baker, Marco Vianello.(Photo: Ciabatta. Credit: Getty Images)

26 Des 20229min

Chile mine rescue

Chile mine rescue

On 5 August 2010, 33 miners were trapped underground after a rockfall in the San José copper and gold mine in Chile.They were rescued 69 days later.Rachel Naylor speaks to one of the miners, Mario Sepúlveda, who was nicknamed Super Mario by the media.(Photo: Mario Sepúlveda, in the centre, celebrates being rescued from the mine on 13 October 2010. Credit: Rodrigo Arangua / AFP via Getty Images)

23 Des 20229min

Grozny siege

Grozny siege

In December 1994, Russian forces began the siege of Chechnya’s capital Grozny. Dr Aslan Doukaev was a university teacher when the first Chechen war started. In this programme first broadcast in 2010 he tells Ed Butler about surviving months of conflict.(Photo: Russian soldier during the siege of Grozny. Credit: Getty Images)

22 Des 20229min

Colombia's 'false positives' killings

Colombia's 'false positives' killings

In 2008, it was revealed that Colombia’s army had been executing civilians and pretending they were rebels killed in the country’s ongoing civil war. At least 4,600 innocent people were murdered in this way. They became known as the ‘false positives’. Ben Henderson speaks to Jacqueline Castillo, whose brother was one of the victims, and Carlos Mora, who was ordered to execute civilians when he was a soldier.(Photo: Families of 'false positives' victims. Credit: Juancho Torres/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

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