Chapel; see also
Cappella
| Music Encyclopedia: Cappella |
| Artist: Cappella |
Group Members:
Similar Artists:
Club 69,
Rozalla,
Lords of Acid,
Snap!,
T-Spoon,
S-Connection,
2 Unlimited,
Black Box,
De'Lacy,
Yazz ,
Jump ,
The KLF,
François K,
DJ Pope ,
Billie Ray Martin,
Black Magic ,
Joe Smooth
Influenced By:
Performed Songs By:
Formal Connection With:
- Formed: 1986, Italy
- Genres: Electronica
- Representative Albums: "U Got 2 Know," "War in Heaven," "Best of Cappella"
- Representative Songs: "U Got 2 Let the Music," "Move on Baby," "Everybody"
Biography
An Italo-house production team employing up to ten different studios, at least a trio of producers for every production and scores of session workers, Cappella is mostly the creation of producer Gianfranco Bortolotti. Undoubtedly influenced by Motown's assembly-line aesthetic (as well as the '80s British dance team of Stock, Aitken & Waterman), Bortolotti coordinated the work of longtime producers DJ ProfXor, RAF and DJ Pierre (not the Chicago producer) to create dozens of European club/chart hits under the aliases Cappella, 49ers, Fargetta, RAF, Clubhouse and East Side Beat. For good or ill, Bortolotti's productions were most responsible for the Italian house phenomenon of the late '80s and early '90s, based on an often-maligned push-button production blueprint which includes only the cheesiest of melodies, samples, piano lines and diva vocals. Each single produced by Bortolotti's Media Productions underwent rigorous testing and remixing for maximum airplay in each country it's released, with only Bortolotti holding the final say on what appears. Throughout the 1990s, Cappella was one of the most thoroughly unartistic dance acts -- and for the most part, proud of it.Inspired by the productions of Italo-disco producer and mixer DJ Pierre, Gianfranco Bortolotti began mixing around Italy while at school in the late '70s. The Cappella Project had already debuted as a production team by the end of the decade, though Bortolotti did little more than mix in the music industry until the mid-'80s. In 1987, he produced Cappella's "Bauhaus (Push the Beat)," a club hit throughout Europe and the UK. The following year brought the contintent-wide Top 10 hit "Heylom Halib," which presaged a wave of similar-sounding Italian house tracks during 1989-90. Bortolotti recorded a Cappella album (the cash-in heavy Heylom Halib), and scored again with the singles "Be Master in One's Own House" and "House of Energy Revenge." To his credit, he did recruit seminal diva Loleatta Holloway for the single "Take Me Away," less successful than the chart-entries but much better.
After several additional 1992-93 hits ("U Got 2 Know"), Bortolotti decided to make an act of Cappella with the addition of two Brits -- Rodney Bishop (formerly with Positive Gang) and Kelly Overett (a vocalist who had worked with SL2). The singles "U Got 2 Let the Music" and "Move on Baby" became Cappella's biggest hits, hitting number one in several countries during 1994. The album U Got 2 Know did appreciably well, though Overett left by 1995 (to be replaced by Allison Jordan). Soon however, Cappella appeared to be running on steam. The 1995-96 singles like "Tell Me the Way" and "I Need Your Love" barely made the European charts, and their 1996 album War in Heaven fared poorly (though it was released in America). ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
| Discography: Cappella |
| Wikipedia: Cappella |
This article is about a musical group. For the musical term, see A cappella.
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2009) |
Cappella was an Italian Eurodance act formed in 1987 by producer Gianfranco Bortolotti. The act went through a number of line-up changes over the years but was most successful in the early 1990s when it was fronted by British performers Kelly Overett and Rodney Bishop. Their biggest hit was "U Got 2 Let the Music", which reached number 2 in the UK in 1993.
Contents |
Background
The name Cappella was first used in the year 1987. In the beginning, the act was a Hi-NRG act and the main man behind Cappella was the Italian producer Gianfranco Bortolotti of Media Records, with contributions from the likes of Michele Persona and Mauro Picotto. In 1988, the act debuted on the British charts with the song "Bauhaus (Push the Beat)", and the following year with "Helyom Halib" which peaked at number 11. At the time, the act was fronted by the singer Ettore Foresti.
Three years later Cappella scored another UK top 30 hit with "Take Me Away", which sampled Loleatta Holloway's "Love Sensation" - the same track that had been unlawfully sampled on the number 1 hit "Ride On Time" by Black Box in 1989.
It was not until 1993 when Cappella began to gain momentum. After "U Got 2 Know" (which was based on the distinctive riff of Siouxsie & the Banshees' "Happy House") got to the heady heights of number 6 in the UK, two permanent members were drafted in: rapper Rodney Bishop from London and ex-SL2 dancer Kelly Overett from Ipswich. "U Got 2 Let the Music" (which sampled Alphaville's "Sounds Like a Melody") was released in October 1993 and climbed to number 2 on the UK singles chart, held off from the top slot only by Meat Loaf's "I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)".
Further hits followed: "Move On Baby" reached number 7 in February 1994, "U & Me" peaked at number 10 in June, and "Move It Up" ended the U Got 2 Know album project with a number 16 hit in October. Shortly after this, Kelly was sacked from the group. It later emerged that she had not actually performed on any of the records - though this should have been obvious to anyone who had seen her performing "Move On Baby" live on Top of the Pops. "U Got 2 Know" included Xaviera Gold's vocals from "You Used To Hold Me", "U Got 2 Let the Music" sampled a vocal from a
In 1995, Cappella returned with new member Allison Jordan, who had previously scored a club hit with "Boy From New York City". Rodney Bishop was also replaced by Patrick Osborne, but returned to the group before long. The comeback single "Tell Me the Way" reached number 17 in the UK in September 1995 and was followed by the album War In Heaven.
The act continued to have minor hits in continental Europe for a while before resorting to remixes of previous big hits. In 2004, the act - now once again faceless, released a brand new track called "Angel" which failed to trouble the German or Italian chart. A greatest hits CD/DVD was released in August 2005.
Discography
Albums
| Year | Title | Chart positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart[1] | Germany | Sweden | ||||
| 1989 | Helyom Halib | — | — | — | ||
| 1994 | U Got 2 Know | 10 | 10 | 12 | ||
| 1996 | War In Heaven | — | — | — | ||
| 1998 | Cappella | — | — | — | ||
| 2005 | Best Of | — | — | — | ||
Singles
| Year | Title | Chart positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK[1] | Germany | Netherlands | Sweden | Finland | ||
| 1988 | "Bauhaus (Push The Beat)" | 60 | — | — | — | — |
| 1989 | "Helyom Halib" | 11 | — | — | — | — |
| 1989 | "House Energy Revenge" | 73 | — | — | — | — |
| 1990 | "Get Out Of My Case" | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1990 | "Everybody Listen To It" | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1991 | "Everybody" | 66 | — | — | — | — |
| 1992 | "Take Me Away" | 25 | — | — | — | — |
| 1993 | "U Got 2 Know" | 6 | 21 | 26 | — | — |
| 1993 | "U Got 2 Know Revisited" | 43 | — | — | — | — |
| 1993 | "U Got 2 Let The Music" | 2 | 3 | 9 | 14 | ? |
| 1994 | "Move on Baby" | 7 | 4 | 1 | 9 | ? |
| 1994 | "U & Me" | 10 | 14 | 4 | 15 | — |
| 1994 | "Move It Up/Big Beat' | 16 | 33 | 8 | — | — |
| 1995 | "Don't Be Proud" | — | — | 26 | — | — |
| 1995 | "Tell Me The Way" | 17 | 35 | 24 | — | 15 |
| 1996 | "I Need Your Love" | — | — | 30 | — | 6 |
| 1996 | "Turn It Up And Down" | — | — | — | 54 | 7 |
| 1997 | "Be My Baby" | 53 | — | — | — | 11 |
| 1997 | "Do You Run Away Now" | — | — | — | — | 10 |
| 1997 | "U Tore My World Apart" | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1998 | "U R The Power Of Love" | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1998 | "U Got 2 Let The Music '98" | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1998 | "Throwin' Away" | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2002 | "U Got 2 Know 2002" | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2004 | "Angel" | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2004 | "U Got 2 Let The Music 2004" | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2007 | "You Got To Let The Music" (vs. Tyro) | — | — | — | — | — |
See also
References
- ^ a b Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 92. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
External links
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