Savage (musician)

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Roberto Zanetti
Roberto Zanetti Warsaw 1.JPG
Background information
Also known asSavage, Robyx
Born (1956-11-28) 28 November 1956 (age 68)
Massa, Tuscany, Italy
Genres Eurodance, Italo disco, electropop
Occupation(s)Singer, record producer
Years active1979–present
Labels Discomagic, DWA
Website savage-music.com

Roberto Zanetti (born 28 November 1956) is an Italian singer, music producer and businessman from Massa, Tuscany. [1] [2] As a singer, he is known under the stage name Savage and as a music producer he uses the alias Robyx. [3]

Contents

Career

At the age of fourteen, he began studying piano, quickly developing a passion for music that would shape his future career. During his high school years, he played in a band. [3]

While in college, Zanetti's formed a band called Taxi, which included Zucchero Fornaciari on guitar. During this period, he started composing songs, initially in a melodic and commercial style before transitioning to a dance music style. In 1983, Taxi released their first single, "To Miami", which became a local hit in central Italy. This success was followed by another track, "Angelica", released under the pseudonym Joey Moon. [3]

Breakthrough

In 1983, Zanetti collaborated with Giorgio Dolce to produce G.A.N.G.'s "Incantation", a cover of a Mike Oldfield song, which performed well in Italy. [4] This marked the beginning of his partnership with Discomagic Records, a key distributor for his future work. Between October and November 1983, he produced several tracks, including "Buenas Noches" by Kamillo, "Starman" by Claudio Mingardi, "Magic Carillon" by Rose, and his breakthrough hit "Don't Cry Tonight" under the stage name Savage. This song marked his rise to prominence and led him to adopt the professional pseudonym Robyx, inspired by a cartoon character he created with a friend during school. [3] [5]

Savage

From 1984 to 1986, Zanetti focused on his Savage project, releasing the successful album Tonight and singles such as "Only You", "Celebrate", "Radio", "A Love Again", "Love Is Death", "Loosing You", and "Goodbye". During this time, he also produced "Life Is Life" by Stargo, a dance cover of Opus's hit, which topped the French charts and earned a gold record for 250,000 copies sold. [6] As the lead singer of Savage, Zanetti began performing live shows and tours across Europe, gaining popularity in Eastern European countries like Poland and Russia. [3]

Establishment of Robyx

In 1986, Zanetti founded his own recording studio, Casablanca Recordings, which also served as the headquarters for his production company, Robyx. [3]

In 1989, he recorded "I Just Died in Your Arms" (a hi-NRG remake of the Cutting Crew song), as well as a greatest hits album. In 1994, he released another album, Strangelove, containing a number of remixes of his older songs and four mixes of the song "Strangelove" (by Depeche Mode). The last single which was released by Savage was "Don't You Want Me", which appeared on his own label, Dance World Attack Records (DWA) in 1994. This track does not appear on the Strangelove album.

As Robyx, he mainly worked as a songwriter and producer for other artists in the eurodance and euro house genres, working with Ice MC, Double You and Alexia.

At the beginning of 2019, Zanetti started recording Love and Rain, his first studio album following Tonight (1984). He worked with multiple European labels to release the album, including Polish MagicRecords and Russian RDS Records, as he was living in Poland at that time. The album was released at the beginning of 2020 and includes 14 new songs.

Discography

Studio / remix / compilation albums

TitleFormatYearLabel
TonightLP1984Discomagic
Greatest HitsLP1989Euroenergy
Don't Cry – Greatest HitsLP1994DWA Records
Tonight (remastered)LP2010DWA Records
Ten Years Ago (remastered)LP2010DWA Records
Love and RainLP / CD2020MagicRecords
Before (1983–1986 Demo Collection)CD2020MagicRecords
Love and Rain RemixesCD2020Maschina Records
MaxisinglesLP1987Discomagic
Greatest Hits and MoreCD1990Inter Sonus
More Greatest Hits & RemixesCD1992Sonic Records
StrangeloveCD1994Sonic Records
The Original Maxi-Singles CollectionCD2014Pokorny Music Solutions
Greatest Hits & RemixesCD2016ZYX Music
Italodisco – MaxisinglesCD2020MagicRecords

Singles

TitleFormatYearLabel
"Don't Cry Tonight"12"1983Discomagic
"Only You"12"1984Discomagic
"Radio" / "A Love Again"12"1984Discomagic
"A Love Again" (Special Remix) / "Fugitive"12"1985Discomagic
"Time"12"1985Discomagic
"Celebrate"12"1986Emergent
"Love Is Death"12"1986Discomagic
"So Close"12"1988Discomagic
"I'm Losing You" (Remix)12"1988Discomagic
"I'm Losing You"12"1988Discomagic
"I Just Died in Your Arms"12"1989Euroenergy
"Goodbye"12"1989Discomagic
"Don't Cry Tonight" ('89 Version)12"1989Discomagic
"Don't Leave Me"12"1990Euroenergy
"Something" / "Strangelove"12"1993Dwa Records
"12" Remix Vol. 1"12"1994Dwa Records
"Don't You Want Me"12"1994Dwa Records
"12" Remix Vol. 2"12"1994Dwa Records
"Twothousandnine"12"2009Dwa Records
"I Love You" (12" vinyl maxi single)12"2020Dwa Records
"Don't Cry Tonight"7"1983Discomagic
"Radio" / "A Love Again"7"1984Discomagic
"Only You"7"1984Discomagic
"Time"7"1985Discomagic
"Love Is Death"7"1986Cgd
"Celebrate"7"1986Ricordi
"I'm Loosing You"7"1988Emi
"Don't You Want Me"CD1994Dwa Records

Films

References

  1. "Roberto Savage Zanetti, quando la musica è un business". Il Tirreno (in Italian). Retrieved 22 May 2025.
  2. "'Love and rain': Savage torna in pista. "Un omaggio ai miei fans nel mondo"". La Nazione (in Italian). 1 February 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Savage = DWA = Robyx = Roberto Zanetti ROBYX STORIA Roberto Zanetti è nato a Massa il 28 novembre 1956". www.cinquantamila.it (in Italian). Retrieved 22 May 2025.
  4. "Incantations [BST-X056], by G.A.N.G.(GANG)". Best Record. Retrieved 22 May 2025.
  5. "I PROTAGONISTI E LE STORIE DEGLI ANNI '8015, 16 e 17 giugno 2023 |" (in Italian). 15 June 2023. Retrieved 22 May 2025.
  6. "TOP 45 Tours - 1985". www.top-france.fr. Retrieved 23 May 2025.
  7. "Italo Disco - The Sparkling Sound of the 80s". Lucca Film Festival. Retrieved 22 May 2025.

General sources