Severino "Severo" Lombardoni (7 March 1949 in Pedrengo at Bergamo - 13 February 2012 in Milan) was a music producer in Italy. He was founder and owner of Discomagic S.r.l [1] and is known as a pioneer of Italo disco and Italo Dance [2] music. [3]
Severino "Severo" Lombardoni (7 March 1949 in Pedrengo at Bergamo - 13 February 2012 in Milan) was a music producer in Italy. He was founder and owner of Discomagic S.r.l [1] and is known as a pioneer of Italo disco and Italo Dance [2] music. [3]
Severo was the oldest child of Francesco Lombardoni and his wife Francesca, née Nava. He has had three younger siblings; his sisters Anna [4] and Ornella, and a brother Vittorio, who are all involved in the music industry. Severo attended technical college in Seriate from 1960 to 1963 and graduated at the Conservatorio “Giuseppe Verdi” di Milano in 1969.
As a teenager Severo was a keen cyclist and regularly took part in local cycle races. He played several instruments; including the trombone, the piano, the accordion and the guitar [5] during his time at the Conservatory in Milan, and for some years after he played in several local bands. He also worked for a year as a music teacher at a junior school.
In 1974 Lombardoni opened a record shop in his home town of Seriate. In 1977 he moved to Milan and set up a record-wholesale business.
In 1979 Lombardoni established the record company DiscoMagic and the publishing company Lombardoni Edizioni Musicali. He was one of the pioneers of Italo disco music in the early 1980s and DiscoMagic was hugely successful, becoming one of the major Italo disco producers in Italy. As well as the major label Disco Magic Severo created several sub-labels to promote different music genres. In addition, DiscoMagic distributed Italian, European and worldwide titles on behalf of labels such as “Time Records”, “DWA”, “RARE” and “GGM”.
DiscoMagic had its headquarters in Via Mecenate in Milan which subsequently became the main centre for music wholesalers and producers in northern Italy.
With Lombardoni Publishing Srl Severo acted as music publisher too. Some of the composers he has collaborated with include Pierluigi Giombini, Paolo Pelandri, Domenico Ricchini, Manuel Curry and Luis Garcia Perez. His major successes included “Dolce vita” by Ryan Paris, “Happy children” by P. Lion, “Don't cry tonight” by Savage, "Shanghai", "Sayonara" by Lee Marrow ; all released in 1983 and “Ride on Time” by Black Box [6] released in 1989 . “Ride on time” from the record “Dreamland” became a huge success throughout Europe, and the United States as well, although the success was somewhat marred by copyright disputes.
In 1988 Severo established Lombardoni Musik GmbH in Germany and by 1990 the company was listed in the top ten of the most successful music publishers in Germany.
Due to financial problems, the company closed in 1997 and Severo was forced to sell the main label, “Disco Magic”, and its catalogue, to the German music producer Bernhard Mikulski (ZYX Music).
Since the end of the 1990s Severo worked for some years with his son Matteo publishing collections and reprints of Italo disco hits of the 1980s under the label “Hitland”. In recent years he continued the “Hitland” label with his first wife Marilena.
Severo had a son, Matteo, with his first wife and a daughter, Francesca, with his second wife Adriana. He died on February 13, 2012, of an Intracranial hemorrhage. His funeral was held at the church Madonna Aiuto dei Cristiani in Milan, followed by a burial at the cemetery in Pedrengo/Bergamo.
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Italo disco is a music genre which originated in Italy in the late 1970s and was mainly produced in the early 1980s. Italo disco evolved from the then-current underground dance, pop, and electronic music, both domestic and foreign and developed into a diverse genre. The genre employs electronic drums, drum machines, synthesizers, and occasionally vocoders. It is usually sung in English, and to a lesser extent in Italian and Spanish.
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Eurodisco is the variety of European forms of electronic dance music that evolved from disco in the late 1970s, incorporating elements of pop and rock into a disco-like continuous dance atmosphere. Many Eurodisco compositions feature lyrics sung in English, although the singers often share a different mother tongue.
"Dolce Vita" is the debut single by Italian singer Ryan Paris, released in 1983, under the label Discomagic Records.
Righeira were an Italian Italo disco duo, formed in Turin in 1983, that comprised Johnson Righeira and Michael Righeira. Originally rooted in the early stages of Italo disco music, Righeira's musical style evolved throughout their career, incorporating elements of synth-pop and new wave in their songs in innovative ways, later exploring music styles such as electronic music and regular pop.
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Scotch were an Italian Italo disco band, formed in Bergamo in 1982, that comprised Vince Lancini, Fabio Margutti, Franz Rome, Franz Felleti and Manlio Cangelli.
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Discomagic Records (1979–1997), owned by Severo Lombardoni was the largest dance record label in Italy. It spawned a large number of sub-labels from the early 1980s to the early 1990s and it set the standards for an entire genre of music ranging from Italo disco to Italo house.
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Corrado Rizza is an Italian DJ and producer.
"Shadilay" is an Italo disco song by the Italian band P.E.P.E., released in 1986 by the music label Magic Sound. It was written by Italian singer-songwriter Marco Ceramicola, who sang under the pseudonym of Manuele Pepe.
Prevale, also known by full name Carlo Prevale, is an Italian disc jockey, record producer, remixer and radio host.
