Ladri di Biciclette is an Italian funky-R&B band, mainly successful between late 1980s and early 1990s.

Career

The group formed in 1984 in Carpi by some students of the Verona Conservatory as a revivalist band, inspired by

The Blues Brothers The Blues Brothers are an American blues and soul revivalist band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as part of a musical sketch on ''Saturday Night Live''. Belushi and Aykroyd fronted the band, in character, respecti ...

. They held their first concerts in 1986, and after focusing on black music classics starting from 1987 they began producing original songs, generally composed by band members Paolo Belli and Enrico Prandi.Stefano Mannucci. "Ladri di Biciclette". Gino Castaldo (edited by). ''Dizionario della canzone italiana''. Curcio Editore, 1990-2013. In 1989 the band was put under contract by

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

, and entered the newcomer competition at the 39th edition of the

Sanremo Music Festival The Sanremo Music Festival, officially the Italian Song Festival () and commonly known as just (), is the most popular Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria. It is the longest-running annua ...

with the manifesto song "Ladri di Biciclette", being eliminated. In spite of the rejection, the song got a large success, as well as the summer single "Dr. Jazz & Mr. Funk", which won the newcomer section of the

Festivalbar The Festivalbar was an Italian singing competition that took place in the most important Italian squares during summer, such as the Piazza del Duomo, Catania or Piazza Bra, Verona. The first edition took place in 1964 and was broadcast by RAI. ...

, and their debut album ''Ladri di Biciclette'', which was certified

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

and sold over 150,000 copies.Stefano Mannucci. "Ladri di Biciclette". Gino Castaldo (edited by). ''Dizionario della canzone italiana''. Curcio Editore, 1990-2013. In 1990, after touring with

Vasco Rossi Vasco Rossi (born 7 February 1952), also known mononymously as Vasco or with the nickname Il Blasco, is an Italian singer-songwriter and poet. During his career, he has published 30 albums (not including unofficial releases) and has written over ...

as opening act, the group won the Festivalbar competition and peaked the Italian hit parade with the song "Sotto questo sole", a duet with singer-songwriter

Francesco Baccini Francesco Baccini (born 4 October 1960) is an Italian singer-songwriter. Background Born in Genoa, Baccini made his official debut in 1988 with the stage name Espressione Musica, with "Mamma dammi i soldi", the closing theme song of the 38th ...

.Stefano Mannucci. "Ladri di Biciclette". Gino Castaldo (edited by). ''Dizionario della canzone italiana''. Curcio Editore, 1990-2013. In 1991 they returned to compete at the

, this time in the big artists section, with "Sbatti ben su del be-bop", then, at the end of the year, the frontman Paolo Belli left the band to pursue a solo career. In 1993 the band participated to their last Sanremo Music Festival with "Cambiamo Musica", a duet with

Tony Esposito Anthony James "Tony O" Esposito (April 23, 1943 – August 10, 2021) was a Canadian-American professional ice hockey goaltender, who played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL), 15 of those for the Chicago Black Hawks. He was one of t ...

, being eliminated from the finals. In 1994, they released their last album, ''Tre''.

Discography

;Albums * 1989 – ''Ladri di biciclette'' * 1991 – ''Figli di un do minore'' * 1994 – ''Tre''

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Italian pop music groups Carpi, Emilia-Romagna Musical groups established in 1984