Maurizio Bassi

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

Maurizio Bassi is an Italian musician, keyboardist and producer from Milan. In the mid-1980s he was looking for new talent for a project of his own. This is how Baltimora came about in Milan, with the Northern Irish singer and dancer Jimmy McShane from Derry as its face. Bassi wrote most of the songs together with the American lyricist Naimy Hackett, brought in session musicians for the first album and played the keyboards himself.

Music and breakthrough

In April 1985 Tarzan Boy was released, a cheerful Italo disco single with a jungle cry in the chorus. The song reached the top 5 in many European countries and in August 1985 reached number three in England. In America it reached number 13 in early 1986. Woody Boogie followed, and the albums Living in the Background (1985) and Survivor in Love (1987). In 1987 the project came to an end; McShane died in 1995.

Influence

A rumour has long surrounded the vocals on the records. According to some sources Bassi sang in the studio, but not at live performances, and McShane mimed on stage to a voice that was not his own. The Italo disco producer Tom Hooker has also claimed that Bassi did the lead vocals. The story fits the dance music of those years, in which producers made the music and someone else became the face. Besides Baltimora, Bassi worked with Italian artists such as Eros Ramazzotti, Matia Bazar and Pupo. In 1989 he won the Targa Tenco for best song with Se me lo dicevi prima, which he wrote with Enzo Jannacci.

Listening

In School of Rock

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• Mixtape 7: The 1980s^NL Reader