Black Devil

I believe Black Devil was the first "Italo Disco" I ever heard. At the time I was really into late 70s early 80s synth punk like Suicide, The Fall, Chrome, Polyphonic Size, Snowy Red etc and 60s/ 70s psychedelic and experimental music like Can, Silver Apples, United States of America, Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band, etc. If you were to imagine those bands making a disco album, it would certainly come out sounding a lot like Back Devil. It was from that day on that I fell in love with Italo Disco and embarked on the quest to hear everything I could from that genre. It's unbelievable how much amazing music was made in Italy and France from 1978-1985.

Black Devil- "H" Friend" and "Timing, Forget the Timing"

These songs are from Black Devil's 1978 LP, "Disco Club". The record is credited to Joachim Sherylee and Junior Claristidge who are actually Frenchmen, Bernard Fevre and Jacky Giordano. "Disco Club" is an extremely rare record that is currently selling at $450 on eBay. It is probably one of the most sought after records of its kind.

Black Devil had been forgotten, but the 12" "Timing, Forget the Timing" was re-discovered by PP Roy of Rephlex Records in 2004 at a car boot sale (which is a British term for a flea market or yard sale out of your car's trunk, but done en masse in public parks or school grounds). The 12" was reissued on Rephlex the same year, but was not at first trusted as an authentic relic of the past. Bernard Fevre is alive and well to prove it's true and continues to perform and create new music today.

Below is a video of The Black Devil Disco Club performing "The Devil in Us" at the Offset Festival in Hainault Forest Country Park August 30th 2008.