Collage is a
freestyle duo, featuring vocalist Anthony Monteleone and producer/songwriter Adam Marano in 1993,
who also ran the Viper Records label for which Collage recorded. Viper's parent label Metropolitan issued the ''Viper's Freestyle Hit Parade'' compilation in 1994; it helped break the Collage single "I'll Be Loving You" nationally. The song went to number 56 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100. However, "I'll Be Loving You" received significant Top 40 airplay on the handful of radio stations across the U.S. that had not abandoned the format in the early 1990s, due to rapidly changing musical tastes. Among the radio stations playing the song at the time are WRVQ "Q94" in Richmond and WBSS "Boss 97" in Atlantic City, N.J., in addition to Rhythmic stations such as WQHT "Hot 97" in New York, Wild 107.7 in San Francisco, Q97 in San José, CA KHTN Modesto’s 104.7 FM, San Diego’s Z90, Channel 933 and WPOW "Power 96" in Miami. It is largely considered to be the final freestyle dance release to receive airplay, concluding a nearly 10-year period, in fall 1994.
Internationally, the song can be heard today on such stations as "Planet 107.5" in San Jose, Costa Rica, which played the song at 1:35pm on 28 July 2022. To this date, the song continues to be a major spin in many of the old school radio stations around the U.S.
Debut album ''Chapter One'' was released in 1994, producing the less-successful follow-up single, "Gangster of Love". It also prominently featured female backup vocalist Denine. Collage's success helped spark a renewal of interest in freestyle during the 1990s (on a more underground rather than mainstream level), and Marano went on to work with several other vocalists like
Alexia Phillips, Chris Phillips,
Denine,
Rockell
Rachel Alexandra Mercaldo (born March 4, 1977 in Staten Island, New York), better known as Rockell, is an American freestyle, hi-NRG and pop singer-songwriter, best known for her 1997 hit single, " In a Dream".
Music career
1996–2001: ''Wha ...
and others.
The second Collage album ''Chapter II'', released in 1999, didn't appear for another five years. However, it still managed to produce a hit single, "Angel". Third album ''Chapter 3'' was released in late 2001, spawning the hit single "Tonight". In 2007, a fourth album was released, ''Chapter 4''.
Discography
Studio albums
*1994: ''
Chapter One''
*1999: ''Chapter II: 1999''
*2001: ''Collage Chapter 3: 2001''
*2007: ''Chapter 4''
Compilation albums
*1996: ''Greatest Hits''
*2000: ''The Greatest Freestyle Hits''
*2002: ''The Greatest Hits''
*2007: ''Collage & Friends: Hits Anthology''
Singles
See also
*
Freestyle music
Freestyle music, also called Latin freestyle or Latin hip-hop ''(sic)'' is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in the New York metropolitan area and Philadelphia, primarily among Hispanic Americans and Italian Americans in the 1980s. I ...
References
{{Authority control
Living people
American dance musicians
Musicians from California
American freestyle musicians
Year of birth missing (living people)