49ers (band)

Last updated
49ers
Origin Brescia, Italy
Genres Eurodance, Italo house
Years active 1988-1998
Labels Media
Island
4th and Broadway
Associated acts Cappella
Past members Gianfranco Bortolotti
Luca Cittadini
Diego Leoni
Pieradis Rossini
Ann-Marie Smith

49ers are an Italian house and Eurodance act, featuring producers and DJs Gianfranco Bortolotti, Luca Cittadini, Diego Leoni and Pieradis Rossini with vocalist Ann-Marie Smith. They were named after the San Francisco 49ers American football team, as Smith was the 49th vocalist to audition.

Italo house is a form of house music originating in Italy. Typically popular in Italy, Britain and United States since the late 1980s, it fuses house music and Italo disco. The genre's main musical characteristic is its use of predominantly electronic piano chords in a more lyrical form than classic Chicago house records. The best known example is Black Box's "Ride on Time", but the genre became very popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s for the uplifting and anthemic tunes against the background of indie-dance.

Eurodance is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of techno, Hi-NRG, house music and Euro disco.

Musical ensemble group of people who perform instrumental and/or vocal music, with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name

A musical ensemble, also known as a music group or musical group, is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music, with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name. Some music ensembles consist solely of instruments, such as the jazz quartet or the orchestra. Some music ensembles consist solely of singers, such as choirs and doo wop groups. In both popular music and classical music, there are ensembles in which both instrumentalists and singers perform, such as the rock band or the Baroque chamber group for basso continuo and one or more singers. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles. Some ensembles blend the sounds of a variety of instrument families, such as the orchestra, which uses a string section, brass instruments, woodwinds and percussion instruments, or the concert band, which uses brass, woodwinds and percussion.

Contents

In 1990, two of their songs reached number-one on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart; "Touch Me" and "Don't You Love Me".

United States federal republic in North America

The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.

<i>Billboard</i> (magazine) American music magazine

Billboard is an American entertainment media brand owned by the Billboard-Hollywood Reporter Media Group, a division of Eldridge Industries. It publishes pieces involving news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style, and is also known for its music charts, including the Hot 100 and Billboard 200, tracking the most popular songs and albums in different genres. It also hosts events, owns a publishing firm, and operates several TV shows.

A record chart, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period of time. Although in the UK, the official chart has only included physical sales and paid-for streaming, many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, including record sales, the amount of radio airplay, and since the popularity of online consumption of music, the number of downloads and the amount of streaming activity.

Background

Formation and debut album

The project was formed in 1988, by the producer Gianfranco Bortolotti. The debut single, "Die Walküre", was based on a vocal from Freeez's "I.O.U." (although the woman in the video is Josy Gil Persia) and reached #20 on the French Singles Chart. It was followed by "Shadows" one year later. After this, the group recruited Dawn Mitchell to front the act. "Touch Me" was partially based on an Aretha Franklin sample ("Rock-a-Lott"), whilst its chorus line was taken from Alysha Warren's song, "Touch Me". "Don't You Love Me" featured a vocal sample from Jody Watley's hit "Don't You Want Me" and peaked at number 78 on the Billboard Hot 100. Other borrowed phrases and hooks are dispersed throughout the accompanying album. It was revealed that Mitchell was Lip-syncing the vocals on "Touch Me". She then provided vocals on five other songs from that album.

Single (music) type of music release usually containing one or two tracks

In the music industry, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separately from an album, although it usually also appears on an album. Typically, these are the songs from albums that are released separately for promotional uses such as digital download or commercial radio airplay and are expected to be the most popular. In other cases a recording released as a single may not appear on an album.

Freeez were an English electronic music group, initially known as one of the UK's main jazz-funk bands of the early 1980s. Initiated by John Rocca, Freeez consisted of various musicians, originally with Rocca and others such as Andy Stennet (keyboards), Peter Maas and Paul Morgan or Everton McCalla (drums). They had an international hit with "IOU", and a UK Top 10 with "Southern Freeez".

A music video is a short film that integrates a song with imagery, and is produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. There are also cases where songs are used in tie-in marketing campaigns that allow them to become more than just a song. Tie-ins and merchandising can be used for toys or for food or other products. Although the origins of the music video date back to musical short films that first appeared in the 1920s, they again came into prominence in the 1980s when the channel MTV based their format around the medium. Prior to the 1980s, these kinds of videos were described by various terms including "illustrated song", "filmed insert", "promotional (promo) film", "promotional clip", "promotional video", "song video", "song clip" or "film clip".

"Touch Me" became a number 3 hit in the UK Singles Chart in January 1990, whilst "Don't You Love Me" peaked at number 12 and the single "Girl to Girl" peaked at number 31 in that same listing. [1]

UK Singles Chart British singles sales chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-selling singles in the United Kingdom, based upon physical sales, paid-for downloads and streaming. The Official Chart, broadcast on BBC Radio 1 and MTV, is the UK music industry's recognised official measure of singles and albums popularity because it is the most comprehensive research panel of its kind, today surveying over 15,000 retailers and digital services daily, capturing 99.9% of all singles consumed in Britain across the week, and over 98% of albums. To be eligible for the chart, a single is currently defined by the Official Charts Company (OCC) as either a 'single bundle' having no more than four tracks and not lasting longer than 25 minutes or one digital audio track not longer than 15 minutes with a minimum sale price of 40 pence. The rules have changed many times as technology has developed, the most notable being the inclusion of digital downloads in 2005 and streaming in July 2014.

The follow-up albums

A remix album and the stand-alone single "Believe In Me" (which Mitchell co-wrote and sang) was released in 1991. Soon afterwards, Mitchell left the act and was replaced by Ann-Marie Smith. The second album, Playing With My Heart, was released in 1992. The album spawned five singles, "Move Your Feet", "Got to Be Free", "The Message", "Everything" and "Keep Your Love".

A remix is a piece of media which has been altered from its original state by adding, removing, and/or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, books, video, or photograph can all be remixes. The only characteristic of a remix is that it appropriates and changes other materials to create something new.

Other singles

The single "Rockin' My Body" reached number 31 on the UK Singles Chart. [1] They released four more singles including "Lovin' You", "Baby I'm Yours", "I Got The Music (aka I Got It)" and "Let The Sunshine In". Following this, the act broke up in 1998.

In 2010, 49ers briefly returned with a single for Italian label Ego Music, entitled "Je Cherche Apres Titine", which featured samples from Charlie Chaplin's comedy film "Modern Times" from 1936.

In September 2012, Gianfranco Bortolotti revived Media Records under new name, Media Songs s.r.l. [2] In 2013, 49ers released a song called "Shine on in love" with a singer Cheryl Porter. [2]

Former members

Discography

Albums

Singles

YearSinglePeak chart positionsAlbum
ITA
[5] 		UK
[1] 		IRE
[6] 		NED BEL
(FLA) 		FRA GER
[7] 		AUT SUI
[8] 		SWE
[9] 		AUS
[4] 		NZ US
[10] 		US
Dance
[10]
1988"Die Walküre"—————20————————49ers
1989"Shadows"——————————————
1990"Touch Me"—341820—79681815—1
"Don't You Love Me"—126—36—25—101761—781
"How Longer" (ITA only)——————————————
"Girl to Girl"—3113———70—20—116———
"I Need You"20—————————————
1992"Move Your Feet"6—————————————Playing with My Heart
"Got to Be Free"—46———————————38
"The Message"—68———————————32
1993"Everything"——————————————
"Keep Your Love"——————————————
1994"Rockin' My Body"—31————————————Singles only
1995"Hangin' On To Love" (ITA only)——————————————
1996"Lovin' You"——————————————
"Baby I'm Yours"9—————————————
1997"I Got The Music (I Got It)"21—————————————
1998"Let The Sunshine In"——————————————
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released.

See also

Related Research Articles

Catherine Roseanne Dennis is a British singer, songwriter, record producer and actress. After a moderately successful international solo career, Dennis later received great success as a writer of pop songs, scoring eight UK number ones and winning five Ivor Novello Awards.

Cappella is an Italian techno music group 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 No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart in 1993.

Frederick Anthony "Freddie" Jackson is an American Grammy-nominated singer. Originally from New York, Jackson began his professional music career in the late 1970s with the California funk band Mystic Merlin. Among his well–known R&B/Soul hits are "Rock Me Tonight " (1985), "Have You Ever Loved Somebody" (1986), "Jam Tonight" (1986), "Do Me Again" (1990), and "You Are My Lady" (1985). He contributed to the soundtrack for the 1989 film, All Dogs Go to Heaven with the Michael Lloyd-produced duet "Love Survives" alongside Irene Cara.

<i>Mariah Carey</i> (album) 1990 studio album by Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey is the debut studio album by American singer and songwriter Mariah Carey, released on June 12, 1990 by Columbia Records. Its music incorporates a range of contemporary genres with a mix of slow ballads and up-tempo tracks. Originally, Carey wrote four songs with Ben Margulies, which solely constituted her demo tape. After Carey was signed to Columbia, all four songs, after being altered and partially re-recorded, made the final cut for the album. Aside from Margulies, Carey worked with a range of professional writers and producers, all of whom were hired by Columbia CEO, Tommy Mottola. Mariah Carey featured production and writing from Rhett Lawrence, Ric Wake and Narada Michael Walden, all of whom were top record producers at the time. Together with Carey, they conceived the album and reconstructed her original demo tape.

Boy Meets Girl is an American pop-music duo consisting of keyboardist and vocalist George Merrill and singer Shannon Rubicam. They are perhaps best known for their hit song "Waiting for a Star to Fall" from 1988 and for writing two of Whitney Houston's number one hits: "How Will I Know" and "I Wanna Dance with Somebody ."

Club House was an Italian house music studio group composed of Gianfranco Bortolotti, Carl Fanini, Hidalgo Serra, and Silvio Pozzoli.

Maybe (Emma Bunton song) song written by English singer-songwriter Emma Bunton and Yak Bondy

"Maybe" is a song by English singer Emma Bunton from her second solo studio album, Free Me (2004). The song was written by Bunton and Yak Bondy, and produced by Mike Peden. It was released on 13 October 2003 as the album's second single. It enjoyed moderate commercial success, entering the top 40 on various record charts. The song contains lounge and bossa nova influences, and the music video was inspired by the style of Sweet Charity's song "Rich Man's Frug". Bunton performed an edit of the song as her solo performance on The Return of the Spice Girls tour.

Until You Come Back to Me (Thats What Im Gonna Do)

"Until You Come Back to Me " is a song written by Morris Broadnax, Clarence Paul, and Stevie Wonder. The song was originally recorded by Stevie Wonder in 1967, but his version was not released as a single and did not appear on an album until 1977's anthology Looking Back. The most well-known version of this song is the 1973 release by Aretha Franklin, who had a million-selling top 10 hit on Billboard charts. The song reached no. 1 on the R&B chart and no. 3 on the Hot 100 chart in 1974. It became an RIAA gold record.

Dont You Want Me (Jody Watley song) 1987 single by Jody Watley

"Don't You Want Me" is a song by American singer Jody Watley from her 1987 eponymous debut studio album. It was released on August 10, 1987 as the third single from the Jody Watley album. The song was produced by Bernard Edwards of Chic-fame, and written by Franne Golde, David Paul Bryant and Watley.

If It Isnt Love 1988 single by New Edition

"If It Isn't Love" is a 1988 song by American R&B quintet New Edition, and the first single from their fifth studio album, Heart Break. The song became the biggest hit from the aforementioned album, reaching the top ten of the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number seven, and reached the second position on the Hot Black Singles chart. Its chart performance and well-received music video garnered the quintet their first nomination for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 31st Grammy Awards in February 1989. The song and video is also notable for being the introduction of fellow R&B singer Johnny Gill as a new member of the R&B quintet.

<i>For the Record</i> 1998 greatest hits album by Alabama

For the Record is a two-disc, 44-track greatest hits package released by the American country music band Alabama.

I Dont Wanna Go on with You Like That 1988 single by Elton John

"I Don't Wanna Go on with You Like That" is a hit song from British performer Elton John's 1988 album, Reg Strikes Back. The song was written by John and his long-time songwriting partner, Bernie Taupin. Although the song reached only number 30 on the UK Singles Chart, it fared better in the United States, peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in August 1988, becoming John's biggest hit of the 1980s there. The song also became John's eighth number-one on the adult contemporary chart. In Canada, the song topped the RPM Top Singles chart, giving John his 12th chart-topper in that country.

<i>The One Who Really Loves You</i> album by Mary Wells

The One Who Really Loves You is the second album recorded by R&B singer and Motown recording artist Mary Wells, released in 1962 on the Motown label. Released after the runaway success of Wells' first top ten pop singles, the album became Motown's first top ten album peaking at number 8 on the pop album chart. The album featured the hits, "The One Who Really Loves You" and "You Beat Me to the Punch" and other singles such as the ballads "Strange Love" and "Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right".

<i>The Way We Were</i> (Andy Williams album) album by Andy Williams

The Way We Were is the thirty-second studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams, released in the spring of 1974 by Columbia Records and was a return to singing songs that his audience was already familiar with after Solitaire, his previous LP that was less reliant on covers of recent pop hits, did not perform well.

Gianfranco Bortolotti is an Italian italo disco / techno producer and manager of Media Records and Media Studio. He was a member of Cappella, and 49ers who had several hits, and Fits of Gloom, who had a UK #47 hit with "Heaven" and a UK #49 hit with "The Power of Love" featuring Lizzy Mack. In the United States, he scored a number one single on Billboard's Dance Club Songs chart with "Deep in My Heart" as a member of the group Clubhouse in 1991.

Dont You Love Me (49ers song) single of 49ers in 1990

'Don't You Love Me' is a 1990 dance single by 49ers. The single featured a vocal sample from Jody Watley's 1987 hit "Don't You Want Me" On the European charts, it went #12 in the UK, #10 in Switzerland, and #6 in Ireland. On the US charts, it was the group's second and last #1 on the dance chart, where it spent two weeks at the top. "Don't You Love Me" was the group's only entry on the Hot 100 peaking at #78.

East Side Beat was an Italian dance-pop music project which achieved success in Europe in the early 1990s. Fronted by a line up of Italian-American vocalist Carl Fanini and Italian keyboardist Francesco Petrocchi, the act was masterminded by producers Bruno Guerrini and Giovanni Cinaglia. Signed to Gianfranco Bortolotti's Media Records, they released their first single in 1991. This was a dance cover of Christopher Cross's "Ride Like the Wind" and became a hit throughout Europe, peaking at No.3 in the UK, which was to be their biggest market.

<i>49ers</i> (album) album of 49ers in 1990

49ers is the debut album by Italian Italo house dance act 49ers, released in 1990 on the Island record label. It features the hit singles "Touch Me", "Don't You Love Me" and "Girl to Girl".

U & Me 1994 single by Cappella

"U & Me" is a song by the Italian group Cappella.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 208. ISBN   1-904994-10-5.
  2. 1 2 "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-10-30. Retrieved 2013-04-16.
  3. ↑ "swedishcharts.com > 49ers - 49ers (album)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2015-10-02.
  4. 1 2 Australian (ARIA Chart) peaks:
    • Top 50 peaks: "australian-charts.com > 49ers (singles)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2015-09-30.
    • Top 100 peaks: Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
    • "Girl to Girl": "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 18 January 2017". Imgur.com. Retrieved 2017-01-18.
  5. ↑ "Italian Chart - 49ers". hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 2014-04-18.
  6. ↑ Search for Irish peaks
  7. ↑ German peaks
  8. ↑ Swiss peaks
  9. ↑ Swedish peaks
  10. 1 2 Allmusic peaks
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.