12"

Genre: HOUSE - EDITS

Label: GW Edits   Cat.No: GWEDITS01

If ever there was an oddity in the world of dance, it was the bizarrely-named single “Prisencólinensináinciúsol”, released in late 1972 by Italian showbiz icon Adriano Celentano, and first issued as a 45 on his own Clan label. A cult piece if ever there was one, GW Edits kicks off its label with a sumptuous rework combining the A-side and the B-side of the record into one 11-minute masterpiece entitled “Adriano Italiano”.
Renamed “The Language Of Love (Prisencol…)” for the UK market, the original failed to make any kind of impression on the UK charts, becoming instead a cult treasure for DJs. That it has been regularly re-issued over the intervening years proves its enduring appeal.
The novelty of the title, and the bizarre, nonsense lyrics may have caught the attention, but what sealed the deal was that groove! Beyond that, Celentano’s (as well as his wife Claudia Mori, who provided the short female section) vocal aping the way English sounded to non-English speakers is now perceived as proto-rap, garnering praise as such in more recent times. The track is certainly an anomaly, bearing no relation to hip-hop culture, but somehow subconsciously pre-empting it.
The reverse of the disc, appropriately named “Disc Jockey”, also featured that infectious, driving groove, complete with a wayward hi-hat. It was not, however, as DJ-friendly, with the drums not dropping in for the first minute, and it also featured a more traditional sounding song in Celentano’s native tongue, instead of the rhythmic rap patter of “Prisencólinensináinciúsol”.
Here the two tracks are stitched together for an entire “Adriano Italiano”, clocking in at just over 11 minutes, with an additional two-minute instrumental version included. The full album appears on vinyl for the first time, and along with the original “Adriano Italiano”, kicks off the GW Edits series, bringing this eccentric favourite to a new generation of DJs in time for its 50th anniversary next year. [info sheet from the distribution]