Make Your Mind Up
With this reissue of Toba, it's made clear once and for all, that the disco music produced in Italy in the late '70s and early '80s had no chance of success. In fact, it was scornfully referred to as "disco-spaghetti" or ''spaghetti-dance'' and considered a poor imitation of true American disco music, fit only for Japanese cartoons.
This was the main reason that drove Italian producers at the time to record their own songs abroad. Fratelli La Bionda (using the pseudonym D.D.Sound) did so by going to Munich, Baviera, where Giorgio Moroder later arrived... and for this simple reason his songs are not Italo-Disco style, but "Munich Sound".
Luigi 'Gigi' Figini cleverly passed off Kash's "Supercool" and "Percussion Sundance" as a product "Made in Sweden" (!!!) ... even though these songs were written by Edo Martin & Pino Santapaga, the same authors and producers of "Step By Step" by Koxo.
The ''big lie'' was exposed only when an Italian 12" Test Pressing by GDB from the previous year (1980) was posted on Discogs, hahaha! www.discogs.com/release/4755767-Kash-Untitled
Identical strategy was adopted by the Roman producers who, in addition to Toba, also passed off as foreign music the early productions of the Bolognese duo Amin-Peck, considered avant-garde and/or proto-Italo with new wave tendencies.
In order to make the 'whole operation' credible, London-based agency Ellie Jay was involved, which contacted Andy Fernbach of the Jacobs Studios Ltd.
Then, a non-existent label Connection was created and finallyToba and Amin Peck (twice each) vinyl records were pressed in the UK, otherwise the deception would have been discovered. At the last all the vinyls were imported to Italy by Claudio Casalini of Best Record in Rome.
So, after decades, the mystery is solved !!!
Now everything makes sense! Real events and purely fictional names.
The image of the main artist on the original back cover, made by Tony Balch, was taken from the 1978 album Grand Theft. A shame not to be able to use it because the original artwork fis belong another intellectual property.
However, the idea of creating disco music across the Channel had come to fruition and would lead to a sensational second release of Toba the following year.
It's important to clarify what was said above rather than talking about the two original tracks "Make Your Mind Up" and "Don't Take It" which in this reissue are on the A-side of the vinyl, while on the B-side we find two masterful remixes made by Dave Mathmos.
Italo-Disco purists happy for the original, remix versions will satisfy new and younger followers, thanks to more modern sounds in line with the current tastes and trends. Happy music to you!
| Color: Black |
| Artist: Toba |
| Format: Record |
| Speed: 33 RPM |
| Release Title: My Paradise |
| Catalog Number: BST-X111 |
| Type: Single |
| Record Grading: Mint (M) |
| Sleeve Grading: Near Mint (NM or M-) |
| Record Size: 12" |
| Features: Sealed |
| Country/Region of Manufacture: Italy |
| Record Label: Best Record Italy |
| Release Year: 2026 |
| Style: Italo Disco |
| Genre: Electronic |