Summer Hits in the Italo Disco Era

At the height of summer, an overview of Italian summer or summer-themed songs.

If you are ever curious about Italian popular music, one concept you need to grasp is the whole idea of “tormentone estivo.” Translating as “summertime earworm,” it is, plainly, a song that gets widespread air and playtime across channels, be it radio, clubs, summer resorts, and, now, social media. 

Tormentoni have been known as such in Italy since the 1960s, with performers like Edoardo Vianello dominating the scene at the time with “Abbronzatissima,” “Guarda come dondolo,” “I Watussi.” Songs like “Azzurro” by Adriano Celentano and “Acqua azzurra, acqua chiara” by Lucio Battisti  do portray a summertime scenery, but they also became synonymous with Italian summers in a specific point in time across the continent. 

This touches on Italian disco, Italo disco, and synth performers in that many of them had at least one tormentone under their belt. Sometimes, said tormentoni eclipsed all their other hits  and critic favorites in their repertoire, leading mainstream audiences to perceive sai…