Fun Fun are an Italian

Italo disco Italo disco (variously capitalized, and sometimes hyphenated as Italo-disco) is a music genre which originated in Italy in the late 1970s and was mainly produced in the early 1980s. Italo disco evolved from the then-current underground dance, p ...

band formed in 1983. Their hits included "Colour My Love" and "Baila Bolero".

History

Producers Dario Raimondi and Alvaro Ugolini teamed up with studio vocalists Antonella Pepe, Angela Parisi and

Ivana Spagna Ivana Spagna (born 16 December 1954), also known simply as Spagna (), is an Italian singer and songwriter. She is best known for her worldwide hit song " Call Me" released in 1987. Career Spagna started her career singing in English and in the ...

to create Fun Fun, a band with a bouncy, high-energy, dancefloor-friendly sound. Their first release, 1983's "Happy Station", was successful in Italy and other parts of Europe thanks to several extended mixes, including the most well-known "Scratch" version. "Happy Station" reached the number one spot in the South African charts. It was also popular in the Chicago House Dance scene and was played by DJs on

WBMX WBMX (104.3 FM, 104.3 Jams) is a commercial radio station in Chicago, Illinois, serving the Chicago metropolitan area and Northwest Indiana. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. and airs a classic hip hop radio format. WBMX's studios and offic ...

. Upon receiving invitations for live performances, Raimondi and Ugolini decided to use models for Fun Fun's public image rather than the vocalists themselves, a common tactic in the European dance music scene already deployed by producers like

Frank Farian Frank Farian (born Franz Reuther; 18 July 1941) is a German record producer, musician, singer and songwriter, who founded the 1970s disco-pop group Boney M., the Latin pop band No Mercy and the pop band Milli Vanilli. He frequently created voc ...

. ''Have Fun!'', the band's first full album from 1984, featured Francesca Merola and Roberta Servelli as the on-stage faces for the group. The album featured other popular dance singles, including "Give Me Your Love," "Living In Japan" and the band's soft-ballad signature hit "Colour My Love", which became popular in American nightclubs due to its insistent synth bassline and easily mixable percussion intro. After ''Have Fun!'', Spagna decided to leave the project to start a solo career, occasionally contributing as lyricist for the band. Fun Fun continued on with Merola and Elena Trastulli (who replaced Servelli) as the face of the group and a new musician/producer Larry Pignagnoli, releasing a second album, 1987's ''Double Fun''. ''Double Fun'' had several singles, including "Could This Be Love", a cover of

Spencer Davis Group The Spencer Davis Group were a British band formed in Birmingham in 1963 by Spencer Davis (guitar), brothers Steve Winwood (keyboards, guitar) and Muff Winwood (bass guitar), and Pete York (drums). Their best known songs include the UK numbe ...

's "

Gimme Some Lovin' "Gimme Some Lovin" is a song first recorded by the Spencer Davis Group. Released as a single in 1966, it reached the Top 10 of the record charts in several countries. Later, ''Rolling Stone'' included the song on its list of the 500 Greatest So ...

" and "Baila Bolero", a Flamenco-flavored dance ballad. A mini-anthology featuring most of the group's major hits, the "Mega Hit Mix", was released on a 12" single soon afterward. Fun Fun tried a new direction in 1989 with the single "Give Me Love", which had only minimal success. Several years later, the band released its final single, "I'm Needin' You", in a 1990s Eurodance style, to equally minimal success. Since then, the only Fun Fun releases have been best-of compilations or DJ remixes/reconstructions of their previous hits. Following the break-up of the band, Angela Parisi released a single, "Wherever Forever", before retiring from the music industry. Antonella Pepe went on to become an appreciated vocalist, recording with Mike Francis, Via Verdi, Alan Sorrenti, Garbo and Gianni Togni. Of the girls fronting the group, Elena Trastulli had a career as backing vocalist. Natalia Rolla became a film production designer.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Have Fun!'' (1984) * ''Double Fun'' (1987)

Compilation albums

* 1991 - ''The Best of Fun Fun (ZYX Records)'' * 1994 - ''The Best of Fun Fun (Snake's Music)'' * 1994 - ''Greatest Fun - The Best of'' * 1996 - ''The Best of Fun Fun - Color My Love'' * 2003 - ''The Best of Fun Fun (Discos CNR Chile)'' * 2006 - ''The Greatest Fun'' * 2017 - ''Greatest Hits & Remixes''

Singles

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1983 establishments in Italy 1994 disestablishments in Italy Italian pop music groups Italo disco groups Italian dance music groups Musical groups from Milan Polydor Records artists Musical groups established in 1983 Musical groups disestablished in 1994