''Living in the Background'' is the debut album of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

-based act

Baltimora Baltimora was an Italian music project from Milan, active from 1984 to 1987. They are best known for their 1985 single "Tarzan Boy" and are often considered a one-hit wonder in the United Kingdom and the United States. In other European countri ...

, released in 1985.

Overview

Jimmy McShane James Harry McShane (23 May 1957 – 29 March 1995) was a singer from Northern Ireland, best known as the front-man of Italian band Baltimora, with the hit song "Tarzan Boy". History McShane was born in Derry, Northern Ireland. Hired as a st ...

supposedly performed the lead vocals, although there is some controversy surrounding who the actual singer is, while the songs were written by

Maurizio Bassi Maurizio Bassi (born 1960) is an Italian music composer and musician. He is best known as the singer of Baltimora along with Naimy Hackett and Jimmy McShane. He is also the father of Emiliano and Matteo Bassi. Career Not much is documented about ...

and Naimy Hackett. "

Tarzan Boy "Tarzan Boy" is the debut single by Italian-based act Baltimora. The song was written by Maurizio Bassi and Naimy Hackett, and released in 1985 as the lead single from Baltimora's debut album '' Living in the Background''. The song was re-recor ...

," the first single released from the album became an international success, peaking at #13 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, and at #3 in the United Kingdom. "

Woody Boogie "Woody Boogie" is an Italo disco song recorded and released by Italy-based act Baltimora. It was the group's second single, released in 1985, from the band's debut album '' Living in the Background'', on which it features as fourth track. Two prom ...

" and " Living in the Background" were also released as singles, with the latter becoming the group's only other song to crack the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, peaking at #87 on the chart. The album has been released with at least three different covers. The well-known cover features Jimmy McShane jumping in the air on a red background with black text. The text is an extract from a prose poem by French poet Stéphane Mallarmé, "Le Phénomène Futur" (The Future Phenomenon) The album has also been released and re-released in various forms, though none of these different versions of the album seem to correlate with any particular one of the various album covers. A bonus track from one of these later pressings of the album, "

Juke Box Boy "Juke Box Boy" is an Italo disco song recorded by the Italian act Baltimora and released as the group's only single in 1986. The song itself did not appear on any original studio album although it was included on the 1986 Canadian edition of the b ...

" was also released as a single. The original CD issue of ''Living in the Background'', from 2003, is out-of-print. An Italian CD release was issued in 2005, and that same year an unofficial Russian release circulated too.

Track listing

Certifications

Personnel

- keyboards, piano, lead vocals * Leandro Gaetano - keyboards,

Fairlight CMI The Fairlight CMI (short for Computer Musical Instrument) is a digital synthesizer, sampler, and digital audio workstation introduced in 1979 by Fairlight. — with links to some Fairlight history and photos It was based on a commercial lic ...

programming, PPG Wave 2.3, Xpander, Yamaha synthesizer * Claudio Bazzari, Giorgio Cocilovo - electric guitars * Claudio Pascoli - saxophone * Pier Michelatti - bass * Gabriele Melotti - drums, Linn Programmer Simmons EDS 7 * Moreno Ferrara, Malcom Charlton, Silvano Fossati, Naimy Hackett, Lella Esposito,

Silver Pozzoli Silvio Pozzoli (born 19 July 1953), known by his stage name Silver Pozzoli, is an Italian singer, songwriter and musician. Career Pozzoli was part of the Italian band Club House, who released several Italo house records such as "I'm a Man/Yek ...

- backing vocals ;Production * Maurizio Bassi - producer, arrangement * Jurgen Koppers - mixing * Paolo Mescoli - recorded by ;Other * Michele Bernardi - cover illustration * Martin Beckett - photography (UK edition)

Charts

References

External links

"Living in The Background" playlist of auto-generated audio and VEVO videos on YouTube
1985 debut albums Baltimora albums Manhattan Records albums {{1980s-pop-album-stub