The Years

We met Fred Ventura in 2006 over emails sent to Italians Do It Better headquarters. He was one of the first people from Europe to start writing the label prior to After Dark's release. It took us a few months to realize that this was Fred Ventura, the cult Italo legend from Milan. Like a true gentleman, he had never bothered to mention it. Since the early 1980's Fred Ventura has released numerous singles in Europe & toured the world extensively as a solo artist. Last year, Johnny was in Bologna on tour with Desire & Fred came out to the show to drink Champagne & bring us some copies of the reissued tapes of Fred's early Post Punk group State Of Art. The lightbulb lit up & we asked him if he had any home recordings of his solo work. Months later, he sent us 83 tracks of cassette recordings between 1982 & 1987. They had been sitting upstairs in a dusty box at his parents house in Italy for the last 25 years. These tracks have only been heard by a handful of his closest friends. We were completely floored & honored! Finding a beautiful treasure completely untouched & preserved is so rare. The songs are raw & honest written by a romantic with a love for an anthemic chorus & a drum machine running through his veins. Think early minimal Depeche Mode with an Italian heart. OrNew Order covering Madonna produced Moroder. Yes, it's that good. Here we have the first official Italians Do It Better release of these songs on a 4 song 12" ep. This vinyl only release is a teaser for the "Don't Give Up" 18 track lp out in a couple of months. So in the meantime, slip on those Gucci loafers, rev up the Alfa Romeo and head down to the discotheque because life is too short…