Baltimora

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Baltimora was an Italian music project from Milan, active from 1984 to 1987. The group is best known for the single Tarzan Boy from 1985. In the United Kingdom and the United States it is regarded as a one-hit wonder. Elsewhere in Europe, including Italy, Baltimora had another hit that same year with Woody Boogie.

In 1984 Maurizio Bassi, a producer and musician from Milan, met Jimmy McShane from Derry in Northern Ireland. McShane was a singer, dancer and actor and had tried without success to break through in the theatre in the West End. Together they devised an act with McShane as the face. Bassi hired Italian session musicians for the first album, such as the guitarist Giorgio Cocilovo and the drummer Lele Melotti. Most of the writing was by Bassi and the American lyricist Naimy Hackett. The producer Tom Hooker claims that Bassi recorded the vocals and that McShane sometimes sang along.

Tarzan Boy appeared in April 1985 and became a great European success, with a sixth place in Italy and a place in the top five of several countries. In the United Kingdom the track reached number three in August 1985. In the United States it reached number 13 in the Hot 100 in February 1986. The album Living in the Background appeared at the end of 1985. Survivor in Love from 1987 and the single Key Key Karimba had less success, after which Bassi decided to disband the group. McShane died in 1995 of the consequences of AIDS.

The music belongs to Italo disco: dance music with synthesizers, a tight rhythm and a simple, catchy melody.

Listening

• 
  Tarzan Boy · Baltimora, 1985
  Apple Music ↗

Discography

Studio albums

• 1985Living in the Background
• 1987Survivor in Love
• ?Key Key Karimba