John Rocca (born 23 September 1960) is an English

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...

performer, remixer and record producer, most well known for his band

Freeez Freeez were an English electronic music group, initially known as one of the UK's main jazz-funk bands of the early 1980s. Initiated by John Rocca, Freeez consisted of various musicians, originally with Rocca and others such as Andy Stennett ( ...

History

During the early 1980s, Rocca formed, played with, wrote for, produced and managed his first band,

. After his entrepreneurial first self-funded and self-released effort, " Keep in Touch", became a No. 49 hit on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, his next effort, '' Southern Freeez'', was a chart success in various countries in Europe and around the world, reaching No. 8 in the UK Singles Chart. Both singles were number one hits in the UK Blues and Soul charts. During 1983, one of the first records to use digital sampling, "

IOU An IOU (Abbreviation, abbreviated from the phrase "I owe you") is usually an informal document acknowledging debt. An IOU differs from a promissory note in that an IOU is not a negotiable instrument and does not specify repayment terms such as th ...

", featured Rocca's falsetto voice and became one of the major dance successes of the 1980s

electro music Electro (or electro- funk)Rap meets ...

style. It scored number one in dance charts in Europe and the US ''Billboard''

Hot Dance Music/Club Play Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as th ...

and had popular music chart success across the world, spending three weeks at number 2 in the UK. As a solo artist, Rocca scored number one again, this time with "

I Want It to Be Real I Want it to Be Real is a 1984, solo, dance single by John Rocca, lead vocalist and founder of the London, dance group, Freeez. It scored to number one on the dance charts. See also * John Rocca John Rocca (born 23 September 1960) is an Engl ...

", on the US Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart during 1984. Further hit records followed in 1985 such as "Once Upon a Time" and "Move" both being hits in the ''Billboard'' US

chart. As a producer, engineer and re-mixer John Rocca worked with bands as diverse as Bomb the Bass and

General Public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

, also touring Europe and the Japan respectively with the bands In the late 1980s after releasing a number of tracks under the Pseudonym ''Pink Rhythm'' such as "Melodies of Love" John began more experimental output. First as on his own ''Cobra'', ''Chemical'' and ''Who'd She Coo'' Record labels, and then in the early 1990s Rocca resurfaced with his ''Midi Rain'' project. Several Midi Rain singles were popular in the UK dance charts including "Eyes", "Always", and "Shine" - the latter reaching No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' US

chart in 1993. Rocca retired from the music business in late 1993 and after completing a 1st class honours degree at

Middlesex University Middlesex University London (legally Middlesex University and abbreviated MDX) is a public research university in Hendon, northwest London, England. The name of the university is taken from its location within the historic county boundaries ...

in 1995 he moved directly into IT and

Telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...

. In 1997 Rocca became one of the founding members of the technology start up Intec Telecom Systems. Intec Telecom Systems was successfully launched on the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...

in 2001 (symbol: ITL.L).

Discography

Solo albums

* Unreleased album (Beggars Banquet, 1984) * ''Extra Extra'' (Avenue Records, 1987) * ''I.O.U. - The Best of John Rocca'' (Criminal Records, 1996)

Solo singles

References

External links

*
Midi Rain
discography at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rocca, John English male singers English house musicians English electronic musicians English dance musicians English record producers 1960 births Freeez Living people English boogie musicians British freestyle musicians