Much has been written about the decadence of the super heroic comic form. how these went from weird and garish reflection of whatever was going on in the society of their time (including readings of beatnik poetry around a bonfire by the xmen, no less) to become a neverending collection of protracted fights down anonymous high-tech underground labs- standard next gen game fare.

I had more or less stopped reading them by the time the Image diaspora took place, so I can’t say much about this (ask Matt Colegate what he thinks), but I really wish some Chi-town nerd had visited the warehouse in the halcyon days of jacking house, and inspired by what he saw, he had come up with the following natty concept:

Dedicated producer stumbles upon an advanced technology drum machine in an abandoned factory, takes it to his studio and, while experimenting with it, is hit by a bolt of gamma energy which does indeed transform him into a panther eyed freak who roams around the clubs at night blowing everyone’s minds with his cool dance moves, evading the agents of the alien civilisation intent on getting the drum machine back, confounding shady government spooks who want to recruit him to fight a communist mutant crew, and getting into fights with shitty drug dealers.

Code name: Phuture. Superhero power: Jacking the House, Acid Dash.

This is his theme tune

Jackpot- Jungle Gym

Jackpot hit us hard with Ragazza not long ago, blitzkrieg Italo fantasia. Now he’s joined the legion of winnerdom which is RVNG OF THE NRDS at IGETRVNG. The outcome is another ace 12 which demonstrates his versatility: one tune is disco bliss, another a sexy nocturnal strutting, and the last one, this one, is an absolute piece of whiplash inducing primitive house with a tip of the hat to Armando which once again, will make the crow yelp yay and rock hard. Get vogueing you radikal bitches.

(Image from Tommy Boy’s wonderful archive)

Meanwhile, Sussex coast night rider and Dissident trooper Casionova makes us flip with a rather epic piece of glam stomping italo classicism of the higher order, ‘The Visionary’ is the soundtrack for an alternate universe Europop version of Vanishing Point shot circa 1983.

Picture this: the trunk of Gino’s Porsche 930 is packed with uncut cocaine he needs to take from Marseille to Rimini in 48 hours for the biggest party of the summer, the police is on his case though, and so is DJ Marcello, who rocks the Mediterranean air-waves with the latest, cheesiest and weirdest disco shit.

Gino is no dodgy dealer, he is the driver, wide lapels, Carrera Aviators surely stuck in his black raven toupee and Lucky Striker dangling from his lips, Sartre meets less than Zero, the Visionary is the awesome sound of his head trip as he speeds down treacherous coastal roads towards a palace of white marble where all the beautiful people spin to trashy and blissful sounds under the silver moon.

Casionova- The Visionary

How cool is cool italo, precisely because it is the antithesis of cool? Just check out the two nuggets by Marzio Dance and Baby’s Gang we bring you today- self-improvement choruses to get a whole dancefloor pumping raspberry fists in the air *check* unhinged//overblown progressions packed with weird sci-fi effects and Jane Fonda on speed aerobic soundtrack synth-solos *check* Total non-sense perfectly disposable genius music for all the stallyns out there to strut their stuff to *check* and those sticky echoes of worst taste scenario robotic glam invasion *check*. We give a fuck because they didn’t, enjoy!

Marzio Dance- You Can Do It

Baby’s Gang- Challenger

And as a bonus, here you have a spanking new Permanent Vacation release by Jackpot, still living the Rimini Dream in a pastel carousel of obsessive fuzzy riffs, arpeggiated bassline overload, avalanche of white-gloved handclaps, tears in the rain diamond tattoo melodies and, of course, sirens. This is the tune that will approach you from behind most stealthily one night of Rio dreams, stick a knife between your ribs and into your heart so that it can burst in total love explosion. Get her number.

Jackpot- Ragazza

(Tommy Boy at the helm of the visual input console)