Jump to content

Baltimora

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 75.68.22.246 (talk) at 20:11, 2 May 2011. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Baltimora

Baltimora were an Italian New Wave dance outfit active in the mid to late 1980s. The group comprised Jimmy McShane (frontman/vocals), Maurizio Bassi (keyboards, vocals), Giorgio Cocilovo (lead guitar), Claudio Bazzari (rhythm guitar), Pier Michelatti (bass guitar) and Gabriele Melotti (drums). They are best known for their 1985 hit single "Tarzan Boy".

Jimmy McShane, from Derry in Northern Ireland, was the frontman of the group. Some sources state lead vocals were performed by Maurizio Bassi (with Jimmy actually providing the backing vocals), including lead vocals on their biggest hit "Tarzan Boy" despite the fact that McShane lip synched while appearing in the "Tarzan Boy" music video and not Bassi, who was also the group's keyboardist although this still remains uncertain.[1][2] Both the music and the lyrics of Baltimora were written mostly by Bassi and Naimy Hackett, though McShane wrote the lyrics to some of their songs, such as the single "Survivor in Love".

Baltimora are often considered a one-hit wonder in the United Kingdom and the United States due to the success they experienced with "Tarzan Boy" compared to their other singles. In a lot of other European countries, the group had more success.

History

Early years

In early 1984, Maurizio Bassi, a music producer and musician from Italy, was looking for a new art project. He met Jimmy McShane, an emergency medical technician (EMT English) who worked for the Red Cross in Ireland, known as "Ruby" in the local gay community.

McShane proposed the project and recorded some voices in order to be the visual leader of the group, due to his emaciated appearance and his talent as a dancer. McShane was characterized by extravagant and loose clothing, and all the group members appeared on stage with various hairstyles and wearing large red-rimmed glasses.

Bassi also recruited other musicians to record songs that would eventually appear on both Baltimora albums Living in the Background and Survivor in Love.

Success with "Tarzan Boy"

"Tarzan Boy", released in the summer of 1985, was a huge success, peaking at No.6 on the Italian single chart as well as entering the top-5 in numerous European countries, including Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Sweden, France, the Netherlands, and Norway.[3][4][5] Soon afterwards Baltimora found similar success in the United Kingdom with "Tarzan Boy", where it reached No.3 in August 1985.[6] However, it took a while for the single to enter the Hot 100 single chart in the United States (where it was released on EMI), it remained on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for six months ultimately peaking at No.13 in the early spring of 1986.[7] Baltimora performed on the American TV show Solid Gold, which helped further their success in America. The second single "Woody Boogie", which also gained notable success, entered the top-20 in Germany, Switzerland and Sweden.[4][8]

Baltimora's first album, Living in the Background, was released in Europe at the end of 1985, and was released in United States in 1986. Despite the enormous success that Baltimora achieved with the single "Tarzan Boy", Living in the Background only charted moderately entering the Top-20 album charts in only a few countries in Europe including Sweden.[9] The album managed to reach only the position No.49 in US.[10]

Baltimora attempted a comeback in 1987 with a second album, Survivor in Love, but the single "Key Key Karimba" was the only notable track that managed to enter the Top 100 charts in only a few countries.

Break-up and aftermath

After the release of Survivor in Love, with no label support of a follow up album and due to its poor success, Bassi decided it was time to move onto other projects, and Baltimora disbanded.

The single "Tarzan Boy" bounced back into the Billboard Hot 100 chart in March 1993 as a remix, climbing to No.51, at the time of its appearance in a Listerine commercial. The song was also featured in the films Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993) and Beverly Hills Ninja (1997).

Jimmy McShane

James McShane was born on May 23, 1957, in Londonderry, Northern Ireland.

McShane learned at a young age to play bass and guitar, and showed great talent for dancing. He made his debut playing in small clubs in his hometown and was presented to various audiences, without great success. McShane came from a humble, conservative family, and so had to deal with their rejection when he revealed his homosexuality. In view of his low artistic success, McShane decided to work as an emergency medical technician for the Red Cross in Ireland until he met Bassi with whom he created Baltimora.

In America, he was overwhelmed with the success of the band's hit "Tarzan Boy," however their inability to provide a successful followup to led Bassi to disband Baltimora. This drove McShane away from the music scene, and little more became known about his personal life until his death 1995.

In 1994 he settled in Milan, where he was then diagnosed with the AIDS virus. A few months later he returned to Ireland where he decided to spend the last year of his life.

He died in his native Londonderry on 29 March 1995 at the age of 37. A family spokesman issued the following statement after his death: "He faced his illness with courage and died with great dignity." In the centre of Derry, McShane and his father received a commemorative plaque.[11]

Discography

Albums

Year Album details Chart positions Certifications
(sales thresholds)
US

[12]

ITA SWE

[13]

1985 Living in the Background 49 26 18


CAN: Gold [14]

1987 Survivor in Love
  • Released: 1987
  • Label: EMI
  • Format: CD, LP
 — — —
2010 The World of Baltimora[15] — — —
"—" denotes a release that did not chart.

Singles

Year Single Peak chart positions Certifications
(sales thresholds) 		Album
ITA
[16] 		AUT
[17] 		FRA
[18] 		GER
[4] 		NDL
[19] 		NZ
[20] 		SWE
[21] 		SWI
[22] 		UK
[6] 		U.S.
[7]
1985 "Tarzan Boy" 6 2 1 3 1 34 2 4 3 13 Living in The Background
"Living in the Background" — — — — — — — — — 87
1986 "Woody Boogie" — — — 20 32 — 4 15 — —
"Juke Box Boy" 12 — — — — — — — — —
1987 "Key Key Karimba" — — — — — — — — — — Survivor in Love
"Survivor in Love" — — — — — — — — — —
1988 "Global Love" (with Linda Wesley) — — — — — — — — — —
"Call Me in the Heart of the Night" — — — — — — — — — —

References

  1. ^ "One Hit Wonder Baltimora: Tarzan Boy" (in German). Bayerischer Rundfunk. Retrieved 4 December 2010.
  2. ^ See "Epilogue" section. euro-flash.com, 2004.
  3. ^ "I singoli più venduti del 1985". Hit Parade Italia. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
  4. ^ a b c "Chartverfolgung / BALTIMORA / Single" (in German). Musicline.de. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
  5. ^ "BALTIMORA - TARZAN BOY". GfK Dutch Charts.
  6. ^ a b "Chart Stats: Baltimora". Chartstats.com. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
  7. ^ a b "Allmusic: Baltimora (singles)". Allmusic. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
  8. ^ "BALTIMORA - WOODY BOOGIE". GfK Dutch Charts.
  9. ^ "BALTIMORA-Living in the Background (ALBUM)". GfK Dutch Charts.
  10. ^ "Allmusic: Baltimora (albums)". Allmusic. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
  11. ^ http://www.baltimora.webcindario.com/jimmy.htm
  12. ^ "American chart". Billboard charts. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
  13. ^ "Swedish albums chart". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
  14. ^ "CRIA Database Search for Baltimora" Canadian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved on August 23, 2009.
  15. ^ "Tarzan Boy: The World Of Baltimora". EMI Germany. Retrieved 4 December 2010.
  16. ^ "Tarzan Boy". and "Juke Box Boy". Hit Parade Italia. Retrieved 4 December 2010.
  17. ^ "Austria's singles positions for Baltimora". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 December 2010.
  18. ^ "France's singles positions for Baltimora". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 December 2010.
  19. ^ "Holland's singles positions for Baltimora". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 December 2010.
  20. ^ "New Zealand's singles positions for Baltimora". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 December 2010.
  21. ^ "Sweden's singles positions for Baltimora". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 December 2010.
  22. ^ "Switzerland's singles positions for Baltimora". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 December 2010.
  23. ^ "Info Disc: Les Singles en Or (Singles)". Info Disc. Retrieved 4 December 2010.
  24. ^ "BPI: Certified Awards Search". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 4 December 2010.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Baltimora&oldid=427122570"