nightflight to the city
nightflight to the city. a mixtape by voomz.
“memoirs of a brief affair with new york city as told through the art of mixtape.”
feat. boney m., c.c catch, chin chin, goldfrapp, depeche mode, indeep, fritz helder & the phantoms, the cure, glass candy, sally shapiro, styloo, voomz, calvin harris, kate bush, queen, the teenagers (cfcf remix).
Boney M. - Nightflight to Venus
I stumbled upon Boney M. when I was obsessed and researching Italo Disco. They weren’t quite what I was looking for, but the intro on this song was my heaven. A perfect fit. I also found an interesting similarity between another Boney M. song called Ma Baker and Lady Gaga’s Poker Face. Do you hear it?
C.C. Catch - Cause You Are Young
This song is pretty cheesy, but I love love love the instrumental track. I hear it in my sleep and laying in my bed half asleep early in the morning sometimes. Also, the lyrics playfully made sense because I made this mix as a musical interpretation of following my dreams while I was living in New York for two months basically making music all day and DJing all night.
Chin Chin - Some Like It Hot (Power Station cover)
This version was just so sexy to me and fit the vibe perfectly that I was going for. And I like it hot, sooooo………
Goldfrapp - Fly Me Away (C2 Remix 4)
For one, I love Goldfrapp. For two, this remix lends heavily to the ultimate Italo Disco track I Feel Love by Donna Summer, which is also produced by the ultimate Italo Disco mastermind Giorgio Moroder. For three, fly me away to NYC!
Depeche Mode - Now This Is Fun
Italo Disco first became popular in the late 70s and early 80s. I noticed several of my favorite bands had released songs during this time period that fit the bill of my obsession. Depeche Mode are considered pioneers of electronic music so it makes some of their music ventured into this new territory of synthesizer lovemaking in electronic dance music. Now I was really having fun on my east coast adventure.
Indeep - Last Night A DJ Saved My Life (Mirage remix)
This song comes from the album that rebooted all this nonsense about obsessions and endless hours searching for more music to feed my addiction to Italo Disco. Johnny Jewel is taking over where Giorgio Moroder left off and founded the label Italians Do It Better. The label released an LP entitled After Dark featuring various artists that are all ooooh so smooth on the disco tip. This remix fit my theme because my best friend DJ Mia Moretti was by my side the whole time I was in New York.
Fritz Helder & The Phantoms - Lagerfeld Lady
I like to think he wrote this song about me. Good stuff. Had to include.
The Cure - The Walk
The Cure would not typically be considered Italo Disco, but this is another example of one of my FAVORITE bands that released a song during the early rise of Italo Disco that fits the bill. Another example would be Call Me by Blondie (also produced by Giorgio Morodor), but it didn’t make the mix. Lyrically, I choose this song for personal reasons…and cute little japanese babies.
Glass Candy - Animal Imagination
Glass Candy. The best new revival of Italo Disco in my opinion. I took one trip back to LA while I was living in New York and it was for Coachella….where I saw Glass Candy work their magic. This isn’t my favorite Glass Candy song, but it was the newest one I had heard at the time and I was digging it.
Johan Agebjorn with Sally Shapiro - Spacer Woman from Mars
Sally Shapiro is also really good at the Italo Disco stuff. I definitely had to include her on this. I’m a huge fan. And my mother thinks I am a Spacer Woman from Mars. That’s why Voomz is all about Spaceships.
Styloo- Pretty Face (Pretty Perversion)
I love this instrumental. These guys really had this genre down back in the early 80s. I like the title too. The song doesn’t have any lyrics, but you can make up your own story based on the title. I made one up for my new york adventure.
Voomz - Bright Lights
I have this horrible problem of changing direction of my own creative output based on current obsessions. This is of course natural, but causes major delay should I find another obsession before I finish projects based on the previous obsession. This is one of my first songs that I actually produced that had the vibe I was trying to create, which at this time, was of course…you guessed it, Italo Disco. My album ELECTRONAUTZ was produced with love and A TON OF LEARNING CURVES, but didn’t quite hit the mark of where I was heading. However, I am getting closer, and this is a sample from my next album, LA FAIM D’EVE. It was produced in my New York apartment and the current vocals on the track were my attempt to save an an idea I had just written and sung into my 58 mic. Something about it though tempts me to keep it as is.
Calvin Harris - Electro Man
Calvin Harris usually hits you right where you want it when it comes to the dance floor. My favorite song of his is actually not one of his biggest dance floor jams, but it fits perfectly into my little mix here. This part of the journey is when my electro man came to visit me in New York.
Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill
Aaaaahhhhh. What is it about this song? I don’t know but it makes my toes curl. I love the line, “If only I could make a deal with God.” I really chose this song though because it seemed to work within the vibe and the lyric “running up that hill” signified some of my personal struggles at the time. Living in New York making music all day long and playing music all night long is not all fun and games, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
Queen - Radio Gaga
Here is another example of a mainstream artist, specifically rock, that had a song during this time period reminiscent of the Italo Disco vibe. Lyrically, this song made me feel better after all the running up that damn hill.
The Teenagers - Sunset Beach (CFCF Remix)
…and now my fantastic journey as a New Yorker wannabe comes to an end. I return to Los Angeles and my Sunset Beach. I have a confession. I didn’t listen intently to the lyrics. I only really paid attention to the beginning and the end of this song, and based on that and the beat, it seemed like just the right song to close out my mix. “She left with the sunlight. I cried to the moonlight….” but Oops. I didn’t hear the “f*cking bitch deserves to die.” Geez, the girl in this song really did a number on this poor chap. Hope I didn’t break too many hearts.
