Bobby Orlando

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Bobby Orlando , also Bobby O , (* 1958 in Westchester County , NY , as Robert Philip Orlando ) is an American record producer , singer , composer and multi-instrumentalist . Orlando is considered one of the Hi-NRG's most successful producers and artists .

Career

The son of a teacher grew up in a New York suburb. Orlando initially aspired to a career as a boxer, but then discovered his love for music. As a teenager he was mainly interested in the music and artists of glam rock like the New York Dolls or T. Rex and played guitar in various bands, he taught himself to play the keyboard. He later stated by ABBA the disco music to have met.

Musical beginnings

In 1977 he produced the song Dancin by Todd Forester. Bobby Orlando's early productions were still similar to Giorgio Moroder's , but set his future direction. His album, produced in 1980 for rock singer Lyn Todd, which mixed glam rock, new wave and disco, bore the signature of the later Hi-NRG pioneer and received cover versions of David Bowie's Rebel, Rebel and The Whos Pinball Wizard . On his record label O-Records, founded in 1980, songs appeared with Just a Gigolo by Barbi & The Kens and Change of Life by I Spie, which became hits in New York discos. The song Mondo Man , produced in 1980 for Roni Griffith, hit the US Hot Dance Club charts . Roni Griffith's Desire , produced for the record label Vanguard Records , also entered the hit lists outside the USA and in 1982 reached number 17 in the Top 100 in Germany . Bobby Orlando and Roni Griffith, model and brief member of Kid Creole & the Coconuts , had a brief affair at the time of production.

After the disco wave subsided, Orlando changed his productions to clearly synthesizer- heavy pieces of music that were dominated by strong loops and beats , but still quoted disco and funk .

Breakthrough as a producer and singer

In the early 1980s he met the artist Divine , for whom he produced some songs and an album. Several hit listings could be achieved in Europe and the US dance charts. In Germany, the shrill drag queen placed in the top 100 with Shoot Your Shot , Shake It Up and Love Reaction , as well as her debut album My First Album 1983. In the Netherlands , Shoot Your Shot was awarded a gold record . The single Love Reaction, which obviously turned out to be a plagiarism of New Orders' world hit Blue Monday , caused discussions . In 1984 Divine moved to the hit producer Stock Aitken Waterman .

His project The Flirts , a test tube band with interchangeable singers, also proved to be a commercial success in the years 1983–1985, on both sides of the Atlantic. Passion , which was more or less a new edition of Roni Griffith's Desire , made it to fourth place in the top 10 in Germany. With Jukebox (Don't Put Another Dime) the Flirts were featured on the soundtrack of the film Valley Girl in 1983 . After the success of Helpless (You Took My Love) , number 13 in the German charts in 1985, no noteworthy hit listings could be achieved in Europe.

Orlando stayed true to the concept of flirting, especially in the years 1982–1986 he published numerous pieces of often rather mediocre quality. Orlando often sang and played the pieces himself, while the artists on stage only acted as eye-catchers and were interchangeable. His more successful productions, also under different pseudonyms and for other record labels, included: Hotline (Fantasy) , Waterfront Home (Play That Jukebox) , Hippies With Haircuts (Eye On You) , One, Two, Three (Another Knife In My Back, Runaway) , Oh Romeo (Try It) , Eric (Who's Your Boyfriend?) , WOW (Magic Man) , Lilly & The Pink (Frustration) or Claudja Barry with Whisper to a Scream . By 1986, 25 of his productions made it into the US dance charts, his She Has a Way , released under Bobby O, reached the top 10 in 1982, You & Me from The Flirts made it to number 1. Orlando was in his career Awarded 17 gold and 5 platinum records. Discogs lists over 1000 mentions of Bobby Orlando. The eccentric Orlando explained to music magazine The Face in 1987:

“I've made more records than anyone else in the world; there is no one who publishes more records than me. If a producer has the ability to make records and he doesn't, he is disobeying God's command. "

In 1983 he met the relatively unknown Pet Shop Boys in New York . The meeting had been arranged by Neil Tennant , who was an admirer of Orlando. Orlando recorded with the duo in 1984, including the singles West End Girls and Opportunities , as well as an early version of It's a Sin . West End Girls made it an underground hit; However, the great success did not arise until it was re-mixed in 1985 when it was re-released. At this point, the musicians had already separated in a lawsuit.

At the end of the 1980s, when the music market was flooded with Italo disco , Orlando, who described himself as a "sinner and bastard", gradually withdrew from the music industry into his private life and devoted himself to Christian literature. Only at the end of the 1990s did he return with his new Reputation Records label and various releases. In 2004 , Junior Jack sampled passages from Orlando's I'm So Hot For You for his US Dance No. 1 Hit Da Hype .

Author participations and productions (selection)

  • Nadia Cassini
  • Tony Caso
  • Hotline
  • Lyn Todd
  • Los Pekadorez
  • Teen skirt
  • Barbi and The Kens
  • The Beat Box Boys
  • Roni Griffith
  • Oh Romeo
  • Waterfront Home

Discography (selection)

Albums

  • 1983: Freedom in an Unfree World
  • 1985: Bobby O & His Banana Republic
  • 2005: Outside the Inside
  • 2010: Bright Nothing World
  • 2011: Social Contract Theory
  • 2012: Self evident truth
  • 2012: Primitive Primal Scream
  • 2015: Paragon of Energy
  • 2016: Perception of One

Compilations

  • 1985: Have Fun! Greatest hits
  • 1991: How To Pick Up Girls
  • 1992: The Lost Productions
  • 1993: The Best Of Bobby O
  • 2011: Greatest Hits 1983-2011

Singles

  • 1982: I'm So Hot for You (US-Dance # 17)
  • 1982: She Has a Way (US Dance # 10)
  • 1985: Whisper to a Scream (With Claudja Barry , US-Dance # 27)

Web links and sources

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lyn Todd on Allmusic , accessed April 20, 2018
  2. ↑ chartsurfer.de , accessed on April 20, 2018
  3. ↑ chartsurfer.de , accessed on April 21, 2018
  4. ↑ www.musicvf.com , accessed April 18, 2018
  5. ↑ www.disco-disco.com , accessed April 20, 2018
  6. ↑ www.discogs.com , accessed April 23, 2018
  7. ↑ musicforstowaways.wordpress.com , accessed April 21, 2018
  8. ↑ Interview with The Face 1987, Kimberley Leston, accessed April 20, 2018
  9. ↑ discogs.com , accessed April 23, 2018
  10. ↑ www.musicvf.com , accessed April 20, 2018
personal data
SURNAME Orlando, Bobby
ALTERNATIVE NAMES O, Bobby; Orlando, Robert Philip (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American record producer, singer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist
DATE OF BIRTH 1958
PLACE OF BIRTH Westchester County , NY ,