Bobby Orlando was an early 80s Hi-NRG producer based in NYC that pioneered a post-disco sound that kept the dance beat, but left the orchestras in the Musician's Union hall. He kept the music minimal and replaced the strings with a dirty synth grounded by electronic drums and hand held percussion.

Recording as Bobby O, Bobby Orlando released some killer 12inch records on his own label, O Records. He also did production and music for The Flirts, Divine, and others.

Electroclash domain name owner Larry Tee wrote Native love for Divine, but it was Bobby O that produced the track and did the music. Bringing up the Larry Tee name, it is interesting to note that many of the tracks on So Hot For You could have been released in 2002 as Electroclash tracks without a second look. I'd say that Larry Tee revived Bobby Orlando's sound with WIT, the band he formed and wrote songs for, WIT were to Larry Tee what The Flirts were to Bobby Orlando. If you play The Flirts Calling All Boys next to any WIT track, most people would think it was the same band.

Bobby O took inspiration from other artists as well. His song She Has A Way sounds like it was influenced by Kiss on their 1979 hit I Was Made For Loving You, only She Has A Way has vocals that sound like Paul Stanley instead of Gene Simmons.

I love this record, and I am really glad to have found it. I haven't been able to find any mention of it anywhere online, though I have found plenty of inexpensive CDs collecting Bobby O or O Records tracks on the Web.

---Carl, November 2, 2004