The influence of 80s Euro-Disco and Italo-Disco music on later Techno and Hardcore Productions

Techno and Hardcore were born out of a true maelstrom of different influences.
Such as:

Industrial
House
Post Punk
EBM
Electro Funk
Synth Pop
Krautrock
Video Game Music
Gothic

We already covered some of them... and we will cover a lot more.
One of the influences that are rarely mentioned is that of... Euro-Disco and Italo-Disco in the 1980s decade.

The opinions about these genre are quite "varied", for a lot of people it's fake, cheap, kitsch-y trash, so it's not easy to admit there are similarities to later "cool" and "underground" techno stuff... but let's face it, there are some nice tracks, too.

So let us sit back and watch.

1. Trans X - Living on Video

Serious electronic music explorer Pascal Languirand made a disco record - and it become a global hit.
It stands out from contemporary releases by using some quite technoid, futuristic synths, fx, and hooks.

2. Evelyn Thomas - High Energy

I don't know if it originates with her, but the iconic stab has been used in many later house, techno, and even hardcore classics (compare 'superpower - move don't stop' by miro and oliver chesler)

3. Sandra - Maria Magdalena

The first passage, with its epic staccato of sampled orchestra hits, feels like a blue print for all the later "early rave / proto hardcore" tracks by the likes of KLF, Anastasia, or Quadrophenia.
The producer of this project later found second fame with the ambient-breakbeat tracks of "enigma" in the 90s.

4. Eighth Wonder - I'm Not Scared

one of the first bands to hammer on a sampler while a vocal sample is loaded, creating a surreal stuttering "a-aaa-a-a-a-a" type of sound. while this seems like more a minor advancement for today's ears, it already foreshadows similar use of sampling technology in tracks like "the speed freak - pow pow", "king dale - utter" or "the aggressor - i'm coming hardcore".

5. Two Of Us - Blue Night Shadow

forget the song... the thing to go for here is the segment at 2:10, which is another "inferno" of sampled synthesized orchestra hits and chaos, that feels like it belongs more to the early 90s and the rave scene.

6. The Flirts - Passion (12" Version)

hey, if this is not a precursor of the dreamy funky spacy techno music of later decades.

7. Jan Hammer - Crockett's Theme

Originally part of the Miami Vice soundtrack, this electronic track with a 4/4 beat became a European hit.
Contains already mild Rave / Trance-alike elements, and later got remixed by many producers of these scenes.

8. My Mine - Hypnotic Tango

usually branded as one of the techno / dance forefathers... and we don't disagree!

9. Night Moves - Trans Dance (U.K. Disco Mix)

come on... this is not even a pre-cursor anymore... this *is* is modern, bittersweet comic techno / dance...done in 1981 / 1983 already.

10. Mysterious Art - Das Omen 1

Here all strains come together.
Disco, EBM, New Beat, Gothic, Rave Stabs and Bass; and the result was a #1 hit in Germany by a later Techno producer.
O Fortuna 2 years before the Apotheosis.

Oh, and it nearly became the best sold record in all of 1989 - only to be beaten to it by David Hasselhoff.
That's Germany for ya.