Dons of Disco

One of my favorite documentaries. Equal parts funny, entertaining and deeply human. This transcends the music genre is the best way possible.

This movie made me fall in love with Italo-Disco and Den Harrow! What a good movie. I did not know anything about this subject before, but now I want to find out more.

Whilst the movie is no doubt entertaining, it is quite sad as well. It shows people locked in the past and refusing to move on.

I started watching the documentary being truly sympathetic to Tom Hooker. As a person who grew up behind the iron curtain, I did not see Den Harrow videos. So I did not have a chance to get to know who Stefano Zandri was. As an avid music fan I loved Den Harrow and devoured tons of the 80-s music. Once I heard Tom Hooker's solo records, I did not need the Internet to find out who the real singer for DH was. However, after having watched Don's of Disco I got to respect Stefano. A lot of things that he said, especially about getting old and appreciating what you have, made perfect sense to me. On the contrary, Tom seemed like having a chip on his shoulder and looked like living in the past. Counting one's blessings is not for him. Anyway, each to their own.

I think that it is a common knowledge that any successful musician is in fact a product of work of a team: composers, producers, players etc. For instance, a-ha's famous hit single Take on Me flopped on its first release. It took off only after having been re-produced by Tony Mansfield & repackaged in a nice video. That's why the argument about the main guy in the room is pointless.

So, I would like to thank the whole team of Den Harrow: Tom, Stefano, Roberto, Niki and others. Guys, your music was the highlight of my teen years. Absolutely the very best memories. Thanks a lot and keep well!

90 minutes about an Italian 80's has-been "disco" performer who didn't sing his own songs and the actual singer who never got the credit. This story is not unique. Music producers did this frequently back then: Milli Vanilli just got caught. Really? Who really gives a f?

This documentary is so much fun to watch! It's fast pace, it's funny and it shows each side of the story so well. Director (Jonathan Sutak) lets audience to decide who they will sympathize with at the end of the film. European pop market in the 80s had lots of acts that had an image ( people on the cover) and the voices ( people in the studio). Best known in the USA is Milli Vanilli but there were so many more: Den Harrow, Boney M, London Boys, Radiorama and the list goes on and on. Truth eventually always comes out and there is always a price to pay. See this film and leave a feedback about what did you think of this story and who's side are you on? I promise you will enjoy this film and the music you discover might be a good edition to your music collection. ( Den Harrow's original albums, now owned by Sony Music and are not available on any platform, you might get more luck buying old vinyls and CDs on eBay). Send an email to Sony music asking to release Den Harrow on iTunes and other platforms please!