Imagination
The Very Best Of

THE REVIEW

Discotheques, music lovers, singers, various musicians, beautiful, ugly, straight, gay, anarchists, communists, fascists, centrists, unaffiliated, with or without a clean record, here you have the Imagination! Proponents of the successful Disco music of the '70s, transported into the less welcoming '80s, excellent musicians, masterful singer, songs that resemble giant magnets placed in front of people who have more in common with iron than with flesh. Imagination is this and much more. Try organizing an '80s party and don’t play a track of this band, and you can say goodbye to your limbs for good. Imagination is history: no questions asked. They are fundamental, both for Disco and for Pop. They can be rightly considered the locomotive of the '80s Disco music sound. Falsetto voices, slow, dragged but very loaded drums, a background of synthesizers and electronic keyboards overlapping and intertwined in a complex puzzle, the main melody from a piano or also keyboard, very low bass line, both acoustic and electronic, rare and supporting guitars. These are the ingredients of Imagination, plus (obviously) the secret element of any band or singer worth their salt.

The origin of Imagination came to light when chorister Lee John and musician Ashley Ingram found themselves working together as support choristers for some major groups. That's when the idea was born, alongside drummer Errol Kennedy, to create the group. Imagination (remember, an English band: NOT AMERICAN) shattered every record, with a single like "Body talk" (1981) in the top list of the hit parade across Europe (including the USA this time). "Body talk" is part of the "timeless" series of Disco music in history. A track somewhat lacking in ideas and lengthy, "Body talk" nonetheless had quite a few strong points. A captivating and hypnotic groove, piano bass line (also with arpeggios overlapped with the melody), male falsetto voices rising from the shady jungle of artificial, synthesized yet 100% soulful sounds, basses capable of moving you, musical lightness hiding occult forces. "Body talk" is the dance of the night: when all bodies move, drenched in sweat, immersed among the trees of the forest, illuminated by the faint and flickering light of oil lamps and incited by the rituals of the shaman who calls the spirits of the underworld to live another night with mortals, there’s only one language that counts, which is universal: that of the body. This is what "Body talk" sums up.
The following year (1982) Imagination surpassed themselves: they unleashed two more fundamental tracks like "Music and lights" and "Just an illusion". The first characterized by a greater danceability, the second by the deceptive presence of calm and well-being when it instead hides the same hypnotic and legendary groove of "Body talk". "Music and lights" takes the listener on a journey inside the discotheque. It shows them the wonders, the dark and hidden spots, the polished dimensions, and lysergic fantasies chained inside. Whoever doesn’t understand the discotheque is because they have never listened to "Music and lights". "Just an illusion", on the other hand, you know what it does? Nothing. What it implies isn't true, what it foreshadows isn't real. Everything is just an illusion. The musical instruments used appear real: they are not, because they are synthesized. The same voice isn’t the real one because the singing is in falsetto. The groove used isn’t new at all because it is the same as "Body talk". With this track, extremely danceable (or maybe not), you will realize that the only real thing inside it is the band, Imagination, whose name explains everything (In Italian = Imagination, and who didn’t know that??).

In their incredible career, Imagination managed to chart their tracks in 28 different countries between 1981 and 1983, achieving several platinum, gold, and silver records in European sales. Now more than ever, I felt like reminding everyone of the incredible career of these boys, although ambiguous (all gay). And what are you waiting for? Include this fantastic band in your collection as soon as possible!!!