 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(January 2012) |
Man 2 Man (also known as Man to Man) was an American Hi-NRG band from New York City, that formed in the early 1980s. It was best known for their hit singles "Male Stripper", "Energy Is Eurobeat" and "I Need a Man".
The Fast was an American glam/punk band formed in New York City in the mid 1970s by brothers Miki Zone and Mandy Zone, along with Tommie Moonie (bass) and Peter Hoffman (drum).
In 1975, The Fast with the addition 3rd brother Paul Zone, was an integral/influential part of the Max's Kansas City/CBGB scene alongside Blondie and the Ramones, with their blend of power pop and garage punk. As the New York punk rock scene was in its infancy, The Fast were a headline act at Max's Kansas City & CBGB in New York City.
The Fast's first single, "Boys Will Be Boys" (CBS Records UK) was released in 1976 and was produced by Peter Crowley. "Boys Will Be Boys" as well as "Wow Pow Bash Crash" were released on the Max's Kansas City (Ram Records) release "Max's Kansas City 1976" along with other acts Wayne (now Jayne) County & the Backstreet Boys, Suicide, Pere Ubu and others. The Fast's sound and style was developed with 1960s mod pop elements and the use of synthesizers just before the instrument became a staple of the new wave genre.
Their second single "It's Like Love" (Ram Records) was released in 1977 and produced by Richard Gottehrer (Blondie/Go Go's/Strangeloves/Raveonettes). "It's Like Love" was a blending of electronic synth sounds and bubblegum pop. The B-side was "Kids Just Wanna Dance". It was also during this time that Tommie Moonie left the band and was replaced by Hoffmann's brother Robert.
This line up lasted for a year till 1978 when Mandy Zone left the band to form his own band Ozone along with former bassist Tommie Moonie. Peter & Robert Hoffman decided not to carry on with the band so they were replaced by Joe Poliseno on drums and Louis Bova (who was a recording engineer on the "Max's Kansas City 1976" album) on bass. For a short time The Fast changed the name of the band to Miki Zone Zoo to signify a drastic change to the band sound but after a few months reverted to The Fast due to name recognition.
In 1978/1979, The Fast toured the United States. Ric Ocasek after seeing the band perform at the Boston rock club The Rathskeller (The Rat) decided to have them open up for with The Cars at their next stadium show in Portland, Maine. Ocasek also decided to produce & record them at famed Electric Ladyland studio in NYC which wound up as half of their first LP The Fast for Sale (Recca Records), which was released in 1980.
In 1981, their second LP, Leather Boys from the Asphalt Jungle (Recca Records), was released. This would be the last time Paul and Miki Zone recorded with a live band. In 1982, The Fast went electronic, Paul and Miki tour the U.S. East Coast with two back-up keyboard players. In 1983, they began performing as a duo at New York City's Harrah, S.N.A.F.U., The Pyramid Club, and The Mudd Club, using keyboards, electronics and backing tapes.
After The Fast, the brothers spent the first half of the 1980s singing on a number of Hi-NRG and disco records for record producers such as Bobby Orlando (records like Divine's "Native Love" and The Flirts' "Passion"). Soon after, they formed a new band, which was originally called Man's Favourite Sports. However, another band had already claimed the right to use this name, so the Zone brothers became known as Man 2 Man.
Man 2 Man performed live in some of NYC's larger dance spaces: The Funhouse, The Limelight, & The Saint. They also appeared live at Heaven in London, UK. The duo recorded self-produced 12 inch dance singles through 1985. They continued to perform as a live act, touring alongside Sylvester & Divine in mid-to large sized venues throughout the UK, South America and Mexico.
Under this name the band scored their biggest hit, "Male Stripper", teaming up with cult electro producer Man Parrish. Originally released in the United Kingdom in August 1986 [1] on the Bolts Records label, "Male Stripper" was a big club hit throughout the autumn and peaked at No. 64 on the UK Singles Chart in September. [2] Miki Zone died of spinal meningitis caused by AIDS on December 31, 1986.
In early 1987, "Male Stripper" charted again in the UK, and this time the song became an even bigger hit, spending five weeks in the top 10 and two weeks at No. 4. [2] The song peaked at number 3 in Australia. [3] "Male Stripper" was a breakout crossover pop hit and in March 1987 Man 2 Man appeared on a segment of the British music TV show Top of the Pops . "Male Stripper" was featured in the 1988 British film The Fruit Machine .
The next single, "Who Knows What Evil", reached No. 90 on the UK chart in April 1987. [2]
After the death of Miki, Paul Zone decided to change the band name to Man to Man and recorded a cover version of the Grace Jones hit "I Need a Man" which peaked at No. 43 on the UK chart. [2]
Paul Zone continued recording under this name into the 1990s, working with producers such as Jacques Morali. "I'll Try Anything Once" was released in 2008 on iTunes and featured vocals by Debbie Harry of Blondie.
| Year | Song | Chart positions | Certifications | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS [3] | UK [2] | |||||
| 1986 | "Male Stripper" (with Man Parrish) | 3 | 4 | |||
| "Who Knows What Evil" | — | 90 | ||||
| 1987 | "I Need a Man" | — | 43 | |||
| "Hard-Hitting Love" | — | — | ||||
| "At the Gym" | — | — | ||||
| "These Boots Are Made for Walking" (with Jessica Williams) | — | — | ||||
| 1988 | "New York City Beat" | — | — | |||
| "Cuba" | — | — | ||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | ||||||
The Cars were an American rock band formed in Boston in 1976. Emerging from the new wave scene in the late 1970s, they consisted of Ric Ocasek, Benjamin Orr, Elliot Easton, Greg Hawkes (keyboards), and David Robinson (drums). Ocasek and Orr shared lead vocals, and Ocasek was the band's principal songwriter and leader.
Blondie is an American rock band formed in New York City in 1974 by singer Debbie Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the American new wave genre and scene of the mid-1970s.
Karl Martin Sandberg, known professionally as Max Martin, is a Swedish record producer and songwriter. He rose to prominence in the late 1990s with songwriting credits on a string of hit singles, such as Britney Spears's "...Baby One More Time" (1998), the Backstreet Boys' "I Want It That Way" (1999), Celine Dion's "That's the Way It Is" (1999) and NSYNC's "It's Gonna Be Me" (2000).
The Curse of Blondie is the eighth studio album from the American rock band Blondie. It was released in October 2003, and peaked at #36 in the UK.
"Call Me" is a song by the American new wave band Blondie and the theme to the 1980 film American Gigolo. Produced and composed by Italian musician Giorgio Moroder, with lyrics by Blondie singer Debbie Harry, the song appeared in the film and was released in the United States in early 1980 as a single. "Call Me" was No. 1 for six consecutive weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, where it became the band's biggest single and second No. 1. It also hit No. 1 in the UK and Canada, where it became their fourth and second chart-topper, respectively. In the year-end chart of 1980, it was Billboard's No. 1 single and RPM magazine's No. 3 in Canada.
"One Way or Another" is a song by American new wave band Blondie from their 1978 album Parallel Lines. Lyrically, the song was inspired by Blondie frontwoman Deborah Harry's experience with a stalker in the early 1970s, an incident which forced her to move away from New Jersey. The song's music was composed by bassist Nigel Harrison, who introduced the Ventures-influenced track to keyboardist Jimmy Destri.
"Rip Her to Shreds" is a song by American new wave band Blondie, which features on the band's self-titled debut album.
"Heart of Glass" is a song by the American new wave band Blondie, written by singer Debbie Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. It was featured on the band's third studio album, Parallel Lines (1978), and was released as the album's third single in January 1979 and reached number one on the charts in several countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom.
"Rapture" is a song by American rock band Blondie from their fifth studio album Autoamerican (1980). Written by band members Debbie Harry and Chris Stein, and produced by Mike Chapman, the song was released as the second and final single from Autoamerican on January 12, 1981, by Chrysalis Records. Musically, "Rapture" is a combination of new wave, disco and hip hop with a rap section forming an extended coda.
"Maria" is a song by American rock band Blondie. The song was written by Blondie keyboardist Jimmy Destri and produced by Craig Leon. Taken from their seventh album, No Exit (1999), it was Blondie's first new release since 1982. "Maria", issued as a single in Europe on January 11, 1999, reached number one in the United Kingdom; Blondie's sixth UK chart-topper. The song also topped the charts of Greece and Spain, becoming a top-20 hit across Europe and in New Zealand.
"Good Boys" is a song by American rock band Blondie. Issued on August 11, 2003, it was the only single released from their eighth studio album, The Curse of Blondie (2003). The single was released as part of a two-CD set and on 12-inch vinyl. CD 1 features live versions of "Maria" and "Rapture", plus the video for "Good Boys" directed by Jonas Åkerlund. CD 2 features a remix by Giorgio Moroder. The 12-inch vinyl features remixes by Giorgio Moroder, Arthur Baker, and Scissor Sisters.
"Just What I Needed" is a song by American rock band the Cars from their self-titled debut album (1978). The song, which first achieved radio success as a demo, took inspiration from the Ohio Express and the Velvet Underground. The song is sung by bass player Benjamin Orr and was written by Ric Ocasek.
"Dreaming" is a song by American new wave band Blondie. Released in 1979, the song was the opening track from their fourth album Eat to the Beat. Written by guitarist Chris Stein and singer Debbie Harry and partially inspired by ABBA's "Dancing Queen," the song also features an active drum performance by drummer Clem Burke, who did not expect the final recording to feature his busy drum track.
"Sunday Girl" is a song recorded by the American new wave band Blondie, from the band's 1978 album Parallel Lines. Written by guitarist Chris Stein, the song was inspired by Debbie Harry's cat, who was named Sunday Man—the cat had recently run away, inspiring the song's "plaintive" nature.
Even if It Kills Me is the third studio album by American rock band Motion City Soundtrack. Produced by Ric Ocasek, Adam Schlesinger, and Eli Janney, the album was released on September 18, 2007, in the United States by Epitaph Records. Motion City Soundtrack, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, made a breakthrough with their second album, Commit This to Memory, garnering praise and independent buzz upon its 2005 release. Following the release, the band toured relentlessly over the next two years, during which time frontman Justin Pierre struggled with alcohol and substance abuse. These addictions were infused into the writing process of Even If Kills Me, which was recorded in early 2007 Stratosphere Studios in Chelsea and the legendary Electric Lady Studios in Greenwich Village.
"I'm Gonna Love You Too" is a song written by Joe B. Mauldin, Niki Sullivan and Norman Petty, originally recorded by Buddy Holly in 1957 and released as a single in 1958. It was covered 20 years later by American new wave band Blondie and released as the lead single in the U.S. from their multi-platinum 1978 album Parallel Lines.
Deborah Ann Harry is an American singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Blondie. Four of her songs with the band reached No. 1 on the US charts between 1979 and 1981.
"My Best Friend's Girl" is a song by American rock band the Cars from their 1978 self-titled debut album on Elektra Records, released on June 6 of that year. Written by Ocasek as a song about something that "probably ... happened to a lot of people," the track found radio success as a demo in 1977.
Move Like This is the seventh and final studio album by American rock band the Cars, released on May 10, 2011. It was their first since 1987's Door to Door, and the only one without bassist and vocalist Benjamin Orr, who had died of pancreatic cancer in 2000.
"Hanging on the Telephone" is a song written by Jack Lee. The song was released in 1976 by his short-lived US West Coast power pop band the Nerves; in 1978, it was recorded and released as a single by American new wave band Blondie.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
