Ago
For you

This review connects to the one of “Geppo il folle” by Adriano Celentano, where I mentioned that the songs on that album were very similar to those "of projects like Ago, Kano or labels like Fulltime". Well, let’s try to explain a bit to those (everyone?) who turned up their nose…

Ago is one of the innumerable studio projects produced in Italy between the late seventies and the mid-eighties. Fulltime is the label that was publishing these mostly unknown projects, produced especially for the U.S. or international market. Fulltime released records with a disco-funk foundation and a pop aftertaste, mainly aimed at the dancefloor. Subsequently, the label was linked to the renowned italo-disco phenomenon, as after the mid-80s, it jumped on the italo-disco bandwagon, hoping for easy gains, which unfortunately did not materialize, leading to the label's closure at the end of the eighties.

Now let’s talk about the highlighted record. Ago is a studio project best known for the single “For you”, included in numerous disco revival compilations (One Shot '80 Vol. 5, just to mention the most known). This studio project, along with Kano, is the most known from the label. The album contains beautiful disco-funk-based tracks; still very valid today. “Trying over” is the track that most nods to the Italian italo-disco phenomenon, with that synth that sounds blatantly 80s. The only negative notes are the singing, often very simple and vocally insubstantial (we're talking about Italian disco stuff sung in English, the lyrics have different functions and purposes…). Noteworthy still is the good work on the bass and brass, certainly unusual for a product of this kind in Italy; enthusiasts of the dancefloor, and fanatics of italo-disco, funk, and the like will not be disappointed.

So, I recommend you get this record. Obtaining it is not difficult at all, since for several years now Fulltime has been revived thanks to Goody Music in Rome.