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Wednesday, July 26, 2017

FIREFLY FROM A TO Z LEGENDARY ITALIAN BOOGIE, DISCO, ITALO, FUNK AND MORE



It's been about three years since I've refreshed the links on this one.  ENJOY
 LOTS OF FIREFLY
A FIREFLY ZIP
A HUGE FIREFLY ZiP

Like a lot of coveted Italo Disco, Firefly records can be quite valuable nowadays. To many Americans they could be considered one hit wonders with their Emergency licensed dance hit Love (Is Gonna be on Your Side) which hit #3 on the Billboard Disco Chart. Their only showing on the U.S. dance chart. Incidentally the song is known by another name on their debut l.p. where it is called Love and Friendship. An earlier release Do it Dancin' was a 12" in my Ebay store.




A1 Love And Friendship (6:09)
A2 Three Days Of Sweetness (4:20)
A3 Forget It (5:53)
B1 You Make Me Happy (5:08)
B2 It's Time To Say Goodbye (3:45)
B3 Why (5:05)
B4 Dreaming Again (5:00)



But they actually were quite fruitful, recording several full l.p.'s in the 80's, mostly for Mr. Disc Organization records Italy. Here is their second l.p. My Desire which came out just after Love (Is Gonna be on Your Side). It's one helluva tight production. They coined the term Boogie sometime after the disco era ended making the word disco a bad word. "Boogie" groups like this flourished. They held onto the disco sound while refining it and toning it down. I've also heard this sound referred to as Modern Soul.



I hear more S.O.S. Band and Level 42 here then Charlie, Spacer Woman or 'lectric workers Robot is Systematic so I find it more influenced by soul then Italo Disco, at least not the spacey kind. My favorite cut has to be You Can Lead Me. Get a load of the spicy piano, and those vocals by Crystal Davis who has sung back-up for Candi Staton, Venus Dodson and the incomparable Patrick Adams masterpiece Dazzle. Roland Leonard handled most of the lead vocals on the rest of the l.p. and again on the 3rd Firefly l.p. only to fade away into obscurity after.



"you can lead, lead me by the hand, don't you know your love has brought me high"
"you can lead, lead me by the hand, now's the time to share your love with...."

"I won't discuss your past, life goes on too fast and we just have no time"



The title cut My Desire and Our Trade is Life are also brilliant, and were released as a double A side 12". I'm into the sentiments here, and throughout this album. There's a lot of yearning and sex without ever going grope or filth.

A1 Our Trade Is Life
A2 Come Back
A3 You Can Lead Me
A4 My Desire (Studio)
B1 Don't Stop
B2 My Desire
B3 Danielle
B4 Let Me Come In Your Life



The brainchild of Italian duo Maurizio Sangineto (The Creatures and Passengers) and Maurice Cavalieri (who under an alias was the aforementioned Charlie of "Spacer Woman," fame. Maurice was also Ago and Rainbow Team.
My Desire's music was recorded right where I live, in Rome, Italy at Studio TM while the vocals were recorded at Right Track Studios in New York City and it was mastered by the legendary Herb Powers. A name that is on countless labels of records I treasure.





Spacer Woman is one of my ULTIMATE Italo Disco favorites.
A spacer zip
The 3rd album is a lot more Synth Funk, Gino Soccio/Lime influenced. The first track Kiss Power is much better then the rest but like the first two it's a solid production.




A1 Kiss Power (5:10)
A2 Love Is Coming (5:15)
A3 With You (5:05)
A4 Give It To Me (5:00)
B1 Don't Be A Fool (5:12)
B2 I Just Want To Be Your Lover (5:11)
B3 Keep On (4:45)
B4 I Do Love You (4:47)



In 1992 a best of CD was released which leans heavily towards the material on My Desire. It has 8 tracks and then 5 more mixed together.







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