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Alfredo "Larry" Pignagnoli (born 31 July 1951) is an Italian record producer, [1] composer and musician.
He is behind several international dance hits and he runs the production unit Off Limits in Italy.
Starting from the 1960s, Pignagnoli took part to different bands, both as singer and musician, performing live in the Italian clubs and festivals. He was band member of Le Sfingi [2] (beat music genre), I Marines and Gli Scorpioni. Then he met Ivana Spagna and together they founded the Van Larry band. One year after, Giorgio "Theo" Spagna (brother of Ivana) joined the band and they became the Opera Madre group. Ivana Spagna in her book "Quasi Una Confessione" [3] wrote a section about that period.
In the 80's Pignagnoli and Ivana & Giorgio Spagna opened their own music studio and began to create some jingles [4] for the TV advertisings as well as composing and producing the first success.
Called "one of the pop maestros of Italy" by Dino Stewart (managing director at BMG Rights Management Italy) on The Music Network, [5] Pignagnoli began his career as composer writing tracks "Colour My Love" [6] and "Happy Station" [7] for the Fun Fun project. Then he composed many dance hits like "Call Me" and "Easy Lady" by Spagna as well as Whigfield tracks "Saturday Night", "Sexy Eyes", "Another Day", "Close To You" and "Think Of You". In 1994 "Saturday Night" went straight to number one in the UK single chart and this allowed Whigfield to enter in the Guinness World Records [8] as she was the first non-UK act to enter at number one in the United Kingdom chart with a debut single.
In the 90's Pignagnoli composed also J.K. tracks "You Make Me Feel Good" [9] and "You & I" [10] and "2 Times" by Ann Lee.
He was recently credited as co-writer of "Rely On Me" [11] by multiplatinum djs Sigala, Gabry Ponte & Alex Gaudino, "Las Babys" [12] by Aitana and "Clap Your Hands" [13] by Kungs. "Clap Your Hands" got the platinum status in Italy and France (FIMI chart [14] and SNEP [15] ) and peak at #19 [16] in the French Single Chart.
While "Saturday Night" was exploding all over the world, Pignagnoli opened the Off Limits studios in Reggio Emilia, Italy where he focused on the production side, collaborating and helping grow new artists like Benny Benassi, Whigfield, In-Grid, Annerley Gordon (aka Ann Lee), J.K., Benassi Bros, Dhany, Sandy Chambers, Power Francers and producers Alessandro Benassi, Riccardo Marchi, Davide Riva and Marco Soncini.
Between the end of the 90's and the beginning of the 2000s, Pignagnoli collected many successes as producer.
In 1993 he knew Annerley Gordon (co-author of "The Rhythm of The Night" by Corona) and -together with Davide Riva- they composed many hit tracks for the J.K., Whigfield and Dhany projects. It was not until 1999 a new song emerged written by Pignagnoli and Gordon. In fact, at the end of the 90's, they put all their talents (Pignagnolis as composer and producer, Gordon as singer and composer as well) in the track "2 Times". Success suddenly came and this allowed Annerley Gordon (known as Ann Lee) to perform in Europe, Russia, Australia, New Zealand and South America.
In the same period, Pignagnoli and Marco Soncini (co-producer and co-writer of "2 Times" already) were also looking for a singer and an author to write the lyrics on a new unpublished song with an accordion's refrain. Thus "Tu es Foutu" [17] by In-Grid was born, a song that became an international hit with 14 platinum and gold records achieved and which allows In-Grid to bring her talent on the stages all over the world, from Mexico to Siberia. [18]
Some months after, thanks to the success of "Satisfaction" (produced by Larry Pignagnoli and composed by Alle Benassi), [19] Benny Benassi started djing in the most important festivals and clubs in all the five continents and Benny himself was mentioned as one of the Worlds Greatest DJ by Forbes. [20] Alle and Benny's collaboration with Pignagnoli continued in the Hypnotica [21] and Rock 'n' Rave [22] albums, including the remix of Public Enemy's "Bring the Noise" -that allowed the Benassi cousins to win the Grammy Award for Best Remixed Recording at the 50th Grammy Awards [23] - and in the Benassi Bros project (in the Pumphonia [24] and ...Phobia [25] albums as well as all the singles extracted from them). In the Benassi Bros project the "Benassi sound" was made more pop adding melody and lyrics performed mainly by Dhany and Sandy Chambers. The project went well in Europe and Russia (gold discs in France and double platinum discs in Russia), with high positions in the singles charts for the tracks taken from the Benassi Bros albums.
In the mid-2000s Pignagnoli produced the track "Put Them Up (Put 'em up) [26] " by Edun. In 2005 Edun, scouted when she won a contest called by Benny Benassi for his project "Who's knockin'?" with Ferry Corsten (so F.B.), recorded "Put Them Up (Put 'em up)" a song that became a US dance anthem, peaking at number 2 in the Billboard Hot Dance Airplay chart. [27]
In 2010 Pignagnoli has begun his collaboration with Riccardo Marchi and Power Francers in "Pompo nelle casse". The song became a hit in Italy, reaching the gold disc status, [28] while the video got over 14 million views on YouTube.
Pignagnoli has recently opened his own publishing and management company Pignagnolis Srl, [29] focused on the music producers' professional growth.
He still runs Off Limits' company, working on the artists' management and neighbouring rights collection.
Marco "Benny" Benassi is an Italian DJ, record producer and remixer. He is widely seen as a pioneer of electro house, a genre brought into the mainstream by his 2002 summer club hit "Satisfaction".
Ingrid Alberini, known by her stage name In-Grid, is an Italian dancer and singer-songwriter. Her 2003 club song "Tu es foutu",, charted in several European countries, Australia, Latin America and in the United States, where it reached number six on the Billboard Dance Music/Club Play Singles chart in 2004.
Sandra Chambers, also known as Sandy Chambers or simply Sandy, is an English dance music vocalist based in Italy.
Benassi Bros. is an Italian electronic dance music group. The members of the group, cousins Benny Benassi and Alle Benassi, started DJing in the late 1980s in their hometown before moving to Larry Pignagnoli's Off Limits production studio in the mid-1990s. There, they created music for various acts including Whigfield, J.K. and Ally & Jo. Despite the name "Benassi Bros.", Benny Benassi and Alle Benassi are actually cousins. Their track "Illusion" became very popular in the American club scene, finally peaking at number 4 on Hot Dance Club Play. Following "Hit My Heart" peaked at 15.
Marta Simlat is a Polish model best known for fronting the eurodance project J.K., who enjoyed moderate success in the mid- to late-1990s with the Italian producers Larry Pignagnoli and Davide Riva.
Best of Benny Benassi is a Greatest Hits/Best Of album released by Euro House DJ/producer Benny Benassi in 2006. Ten of its fourteen tracks are from his debut album Hypnotica.
"Saturday Night" is a song by Italian Eurodance project Whigfield, fronted by Danish-born Sannie Charlotte Carlson. It was first released in 1992 in Italy and 1993 in Spain through Prodisc. Throughout 1994, it was released across the rest of Europe and experienced worldwide success. The song was written by Italian producers Larry Pignagnoli and Davide Riva and produced by Pignagnoli. In 1995, the song was included on Whigfield's debut album, Whigfield.
"Another Day" is a song by Italian Eurodance project Whigfield, fronted by Danish-born Sannie Charlotte Carlson. It was released in August 1994 by X-Energy, ZYX Music and Systematic as the second single from her debut album, Whigfield (1995). Written by producers Larry Pignagnoli and Davide Riva, with Annerley Gordon and Ray Dorset, the song was the follow-up single to Whigfield's 1994 hit single, "Saturday Night", and peaked at number seven in the United KIngdom. "Another Day" also became a top-10 hit in Canada, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Spain, Switzerland and Zimbabwe. On the Eurochart Hot 100, it reached number nine.
"Sexy Eyes" is a song written by Annerley Gordon, Alfredo Larry Pignagnoli, Davide Riva and Paul Sears and performed by Danish singer Whigfield. It was released in March 1996 as the seventh and final single from her first album, Whigfield. It became Whigfield's first top-10 hit in Australia, becoming the 19th-highest-selling single for 1997.
"Big Time" is a song by Italian Eurodance project Whigfield, which was fronted by Danish-born singer Sannie Charlotte Carlson. It was written by Annerley Gordon, Alfredo Larry Pignagnoli, Davide Riva and Paul Sears and produced by Pignagnoli and Riva. The song was released in July 1995 by X-Energy Records as the fifth single from her debut album, Whigfield (1995). For the British market, the song was released as a double A-side single with "Last Christmas", a cover of the English duo Wham!, and reached number 21 on the UK Singles Chart. In other countries, "Big Time" peaked within the top 10 in Canada and was a top-20 hit in Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain.
For the singer, see Alice Edun
This is a discography of the Italian DJ and producer Benny Benassi.
"Able to Love" is the second single by Italian DJ and producer Benny Benassi, from his album Hypnotica. It was released in June 2003 in order to promote the album's debut in August. At the time, the producing of the song took more than 6 months, as with "Satisfaction". The song remixes the main beat of "Satisfaction" and features vocals from Paul French and Violeta.
Fun Fun are an Italian Italo disco band formed in 1983. Their hits included "Colour My Love" and "Baila Bolero".
"In-tango" is a song by Italian dancer and singer-songwriter In-Grid, released in 2003. The English version of this song, entitled "We Tango Alone", was included as a B-side track in Italy and issued as its own single in Australia. "In-tango" reached the top 10 in Denmark and entered the top 40 in Germany, Greece, Hungary, and Spain.
"Mama Mia" is a single of an Italian artist In-Grid. It was released in 2005.
"Satisfaction" is a song by Italian DJ Benny Benassi. It was released in Italy in June 2002 as the lead single from his album Hypnotica. Using MacinTalk, the song's vocals consist of two speech synthesizers, one male and one female, repeatedly saying "Push me and then just touch me 'til I can get my satisfaction". The track was Benassi's debut single and most successful song, peaking at number two in the United Kingdom and earning a gold certification in Australia, Belgium, France, and the United States. As of August 2014, it was the 54th best-selling single of the 21st century in France, with 382,000 units sold.
Alessandro "Alle" Benassi is an Italian DJ, songwriter and record producer, best known as a member of Benassi Bros. and as a co-writer of several hits for Chris Brown.
"No Tears to Cry" is a song by Italian Eurodance project Whigfield which was actually recorded by the singer Annerley Gordon and performed on stage by the Danish model Sannie Charlotte Carlson. It is written by Annerley Gordon, Davide Riva and Paul Sears, and was the second single release from her album, Whigfield II, in Europe and Scandinavia. The single reached number 30 on the Eurochart Hot 100.
Doo-Whop is a song written by Annerley Gordon, Alle Benassi, Daniela Galli, Marco Benassi, and Paul Sears, and recorded by Danish singer Whigfield. It was released in 2000 as the second single from Whigfield III