Baltimora

Infobox musical artist
Name = Baltimora


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Background = project
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Origin = Italy
Genre = New Wave Synthpop
Italo disco
Years_active = c. 1985 to 1987
Label = EMI
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Baltimora was an Italian Italo Disco project active in the mid and late 1980s. Jimmy McShane, a Northern Irish dancer and singer, was the frontman of the project. Maurizio Bassi sang lead vocals on all the group's songs [Citation |title=In the section "Epilogue", Tom Hooker, who was the real singer of Italian New Wave project Den Harrow from 1985-1987 reveals that many projects were lip-synched including Baltimora | publisher=euro-flash |url=http://www.euro-flash.net/deejays.php?djID=2] , which were written mostly by Bassi and Naimy Hackett, although McShane wrote the lyrics to "Survivor In Love." Baltimora is often considered a one hit wonder because none of their songs came close to the international success of their first single, "Tarzan Boy".

Career

"Tarzan Boy", released in the summer of 1985, was a huge success, debuting in the top 5 of the Italian charts and performing well in many other European countries, including Denmark, Germany, and The Netherlands. "Tarzan Boy" found its great success in the United Kingdom, where it reached #3 in August 1985. The single had similar success in the United States (where it was released on EMI), with the single remaining on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for six months and ultimately peaking at #13 in the early spring of 1986. Baltimora performed on the American TV show Solid Gold, which helped further their success in America.

Baltimora's first album, "Living in the Background", was released in Europe at the end of 1985 and arrived in United States in 1986. Even though the album contained only six tracks, the enormous success of "Tarzan Boy" led the record company to release three more singles — "Living in the Background", "Woody Boogie" and "Chinese Restaurant".

Baltimora attempted a comeback in 1987 with a second album of eight tracks titled "Survivor in Love", but the single "Key Key Karimba" was the only track to break into the top 20 in any countryVague|date=October 2008.

The single "Tarzan Boy" bounced back into the Billboard Hot 100 chart in March 1993 as a remix, climbing to #51, at the time of its appearance in a Listerine [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKx5uT8px8U commercial] . The song also appeared in "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III" (1993) and "Beverly Hills Ninja" (1997).

"Tarzan Boy" saw renewed popularity beginning in 2005 due to its frequent use on the site YTMND as a song representing homosexuality.

Death

Jimmy McShane, the frontman of Baltimora, died on 29 March 1995, of complications from AIDS.

In September 2008 it emerged that little-known musician James Ransome of Long Eaton, Notts was suing the estate of McShaneFact|date=October 2008 claiming that he had co-written "Tarzan Boy" in the summer of 1984 and was therefore entitled to royalties. The case is due to go to court in early-2009.

Discography

Albums

* "Living in the Background" (1985) [#26 Italy]

* "Survivor in Love" (1987) (Europe Only)
#Key Key Karimba
#Global Love
#Jimmy's Guitar
#Come On Strike
#Set Me Free
#Survivor In Love
#Call Me In The Heart Of The Night
#Eye To Eye

ingles

*1985 "Tarzan Boy" [#3 UK, #13 USA, #3 Germany, #5 Italy, #4 Switzerland, #1 Netherlands, #1 Sweden, #2 Austria]
*1985 "Living in the Background" [#87 USA]
*1985 "Woody Boogie" [#15 Switzerland, #3 Sweden, #20 Germany, #13 Italy]
*1985 "Chinese Restaurant"
*1985 "Juke Box Boy" [#9 Italy]
*1987 "Key Key Karimba" [#40 Italy]
*1987 "Survivor in Love"
*1987 "Global Love" (feat Linda Wesley) - 12" single
*1987 "Call Me in the Heart of the Night" - 12" single

Music Videos

* Tarzan Boy
* Woody Boogie
* Key Key Karimba
* Juke Box Boy

References

External links

* [http://baltimora.proboards92.com/ Baltimora Forum]