‘Dons of Disco’ (review)

A documentary about a “Milli Vanilli” controversy seizing the nostalgic Italian Disco scene of the 1980’s? Sign. Me. Up.

I love music history, intrigue and behind the scenes stories so I was a pretty soft audience for this. Unfortunately it failed to deliver. Yawns of Disco is more like it.

Maybe, just maybe, if I was an Italian Disco super fan I could find something redeeming about this, but I don’t know if that’s true.

The premise is simple. Record producer sees a beautiful Italian boy dancing up a storm at a club and the young ladies are draped all over him from the moment he walks into the room.

He pulls the kid aside and offers him the life of a rock star.

The record producer concocts a back story of Den Harrow a half American – half Italian super talent who is breaking into pop music in Europe. It’s totally implausible today and could only happen in a pre-internet world, but it worked amazingly well.

They hired an American singer-songwriter to write & sing the songs. The beautiful Italian teenager preens on stage and lip syncs.

Records are sold, tickets are sold, women swoon and the money starts rolling in. 30 years later, the singer-songwriter wants credit and starts a very public fight about it.

Here’s the problem.

Tom Hooker, the singer-songwriter and the voice of Den Harrow was paid handsomely and lives a pretty plush life in Las Vegas.

Stefano Zandri, the face of Den Harrow was also paid handsomely and is pretty much over the whole thing. This is a one sided fight that very few people outside of Italy care about.

Tom Hooker, who is the driving force behind the documentary, comes off as surprisingly unsympathetic. It isn’t like Zandri is so lovable, but it’s basically bitterness in return for bitterness and the whole “controversy” seems sad and petty.

I guess, the real victims are the fans, having their illusions shattered after all these years, but even that is forced.

No one really cares who the original singers were. They just love the words and the music. Realistically does anyone even think about the controversy when Milli Vanilli’s “Girl You Know It’s True” plays on the radio?

You either sing along or change the channel. I “guess if it was music I was heavily invested in”, this is a film I would want to see, but even then, I am not so sure.

Hooker seems embittered and a little paranoid. He talks about a conspiracy when YouTube sensors his content due to copyright concerns and suggests sabotage when there is a technical glitch for a show where he performed as the opening act for a DJ.

Tom Hooker is a very famous photographer that sells his art under the name Thomas Barbey. He’s had two wildly successful careers in the arts. Why isn’t enough enough, especially when his photography career appears to be active and thriving? What’s the value in carrying on a one sided fight with the face of the franchise? Why are we forced to watch this sad behavior that by the end, clearly has no point? In fact, when Zandri appears to reach out with an olive branch, Hooker bitterly rejects it.

Technically this film is solid. The look is excellent, mixing in gritty 80’s footage with mid-level production values that you can expect from a low budget documentary. The music is great and if you are a fan of the music of the 80’s you’ll enjoy that part of it.

The filmmakers had access to all the relevant parties and some of the archival footage really captures the 80’s in all of its glory, from the horrible styles, to the feathered hair, to the gender fluid looks of the stars. If there is one saving grace for this otherwise unsympathetic, uninteresting subject, it’s that.

If you are a die hard Italo Disco fan this is a 4 out of 5 star documentary that will have you dripping with nostalgia for the 80’s.

If you aren’t, it’s a hard pass. 1 out of 5 stars.

Dons of Disco is available on 2/23 on Digital HD