Flashback Artists
We want to introduce here the artists of Flashback Records. All of them have “deep roots” in italian dance music and they all are wellknown among italo-disco fans because of their great work within italian dance music in the 80’s.
DYVA
MARC FRUTTERO
BRUNO MOSTI
L.A. MESSINA
KARL OTTO
O’RYAN
PETER ARCADE
LAZARUS
MOCCHETTI
FELLI
FABIAN NESTI
GEORGE AARON
FRED VENTURA
TIZIANA RIVALE
RICCARDO CAMPA
DARIO
ANDY ROMANO
JOEY MAURO
We want to thank also Andrea Cofrancesco,Joey Mauro,E.Mi Ami,Feratho and Savino DJ for their fantastic work and co-operation in some of our releases.
DYVA
Dyva is composed of two members; Roberto Calzolari (Roby) and Massimo Traversoni (Max). Roby and Max started their collaboration in 1975 and at the same time they became good friends. First they worked in the rock/pop music scene, but in 1983 they changed over to dance music.
In the 80’s they performed in the discotheques with some of the most famous italian disco artists like Den Harrow, P. Lion, Albert One, Martinelli etc.
“Oh Mama Tonight!” was supposed to be the first 12″ from Dyva, but because of the failure of the record company, it wasn’t officially released (only promo ep with 7″ version). A bit later, in 1987 Discomagic released a
Dyva track called “I Know” on Technology label. Another Dyva title “Cannery the Canary” was released on the same label in 1990.
In the beginning of the 90’s Roby and Max started to work for their own label. Ever since, they have produced a lot of records with various artists and
have collaborated with many other musicians. Officially Danceland Records was established in 1997.
In 2003 Roby and Max started co-operation with Flashback Records and returned to 80’s dance music with which they still have a strong relation.
Roberto Calzolari
Roby lives with his girlfriend Adriana and their cat Isidoro in a house in Sestri Levante, on the Ligurian Riviera. Blackzone Recording Studio is located at the same address.
Roby studied at the conservatory N. Paganini in Genoa. His instrument is keyboards. His musician idols are T. Rex, Uriah Heep, Barry Ryan, Sweet, New Trolls and Rita Pavone. Roby’s hobbies are movies and collecting records.
Massimo Traversoni
Max lives in Sestri Levante with his wife Pinuccia and their children Luca and Jessica.
Max has a diploma in playing the guitar and he also plays keyboards. His musician idols are Santana, Deep Purple and The Beatles. Max likes to spend time with computers.
DISCOGRAPHY:
1986 “OH, MAMA TONIGHT” (7″ version on promo ep);
“Special for Ours Friends D.J.”
Bootlegs (BTL 84514)
1987 “I KNOW” (extended version / dub version)
Technology (TECHNO 12.18)
1990 “CANNERY THE CANARY” (extended dance version /
extended original acid american version)
Technology (TECHNO 12.61)
2003 “OH MAMA, TONIGHT!” (extended version / demo version)
“DAY AFTER DAY” (extended version)
Flashback Records (FLA 5010)
2004 “CLAP AGAIN” (extended version / demo version)
“LEFTOVER LOVE” (extended version)
Flashback Records (FLA 5009)
2005 “CLAP AGAIN” (Mania Italia Tre CD compilation)
Emi Music Austria (0946 3 51639)
2006 “ON FIRE” (caldo mix / fuoco mix / instrumental)
Flashback Records (FLA 5005)
2006 “PLEASE MY LOVE” (I Venti d’azzurro CD compilation)
SAIFAM Group Italy (ATL 222-2)
2006 “ON FIRE” / “MEMORIES”
(Presence of the Past CD compilation)
Flashback Records (FLACD 001)
2006 “PLEASE MY LOVE” (extended version / instrumental version)
“MEMORIES” (extended version)
Flashback Records (FLA 5004)
2006 “BACK INTO THE LIGHT” (CD album)
Flashback Records (FLACD 002)
2007 “STAY WITH ME TONIGHT” (extended version)
“I KNOW” (extended first version)
Flashback Records (FLA 4008)
2008 “OH MAMA, TONIGHT” (Summer Klub80 Vol. 2 CD compilation)
4evermusic Poland (064-065)
2008 “MY LOVE” (P.R. mix)
“IF YOU’RE FEELING BLUE” (extended version)
Flashback Records (FLA 4002)
2008 “MY LOVE”
(Presence of the Past 2 CD compilation)
Flashback Records (FLACD 004)
Marco Fruttero was born in northern Italy, in a small city at the feet of the Alps on the 31st of December in 1961. His father was a vet and his mother was a housekeeper.
As a child Marc was very interested in arts. His passion for music began when he was 14 years old. He attended the school of art and he also took piano lessons from his aunt, who was a music teacher.
Marc’s first appearance was as a piano composer in the end of the 70’s, when some of his classical pieces were performed in a local school. Some years later he changed over to dance music. In 1984 the first version of “Darkness” was recorded at Minirec Studio in Turin. “Aquarius” was ment to be a band of Marc’s and some musicians’, but in the end it turned out to be a “one record project”. In 1985 “Darkness” was partly re-arranged and mixed again at Airport Studios in Milan and in the next year it was released on Pentagramma label with three other tracks.
Before the Aquarius-project Marc had some jazz concerts in Parma. He also recoreded a few dance songs which weren’t released. “Crying For Love” was made in collaboration with Mauro Gallo (Tommy Bow) who is known from many other Italian dance projects in the 80’s. “I Wanna Live With You” was arranged by Marco Remigi (known from S.C.O.R.T.A.).
Marc’s music was influenced by American and British music that he loved. The vocals were (and still are) very important for him and he had a typical American conception of singing, although the instrumentation of the tracks were clearly Italian disco. Marc started with dance music not just for commercial purposes, but making dance tracks that could be “easy”, but not banal. He made his music mainly for satisfying his musical passion and inspiration.
In 2004 Marc started co-operation with Flashback Records and in spring 2005 “I Wanna Live With You” / “Crying For Love” was finally released.
DISCOGRAPHY:
1983 “CLARA” (7″ single, not a dance record)
“MELODIA” New Phantom (PH 025)
1986 “DARKNESS” by AQUARIUS
“WHEN THE SNOW FALLS DOWN” with Francesca Oliveri
“CONFUSION” with Francesca Oliveri
Pentagramma (LP PG 232)
1987 “THE SEAFARERS” by AQUARIUS
“STROLLIN’ IN THE PARK”
“DARKNESS”
Radian Records (MIX 45 MFSC)
2004 “MIRACLE OF LOVE” (Kid Antrim CD compilation,
contemporary dance song)
Kid Antrim Music
2005 “I WANNA LIVE WITH YOU” (extended version /
Miami mix)
“CRYING FOR LOVE” (extended version)
Flashback Records (FLA 5008)
2006 “IF YOU’RE FEELING BLUE” (extended version /
another version)
“DARKNESS” (Turin mix)
Flashback Records (FLA 5006)
2006 “IF YOU’RE FEELING BLUE” / “I WANNA LIVE WITH YOU” /
“DARKNESS” (Presence of the Past CD compilation)
Flashback Records (FLACD 001)
2006 “DEEP INSIDE OF YOUR HEART” with Joey Mauro (extended version / angels mix)
“FAIRYLAND” with Joey Mauro (extended version)
Flashback Records (FLA 5001)
2008 “FAIRYLAND” (CD album)
Flashback Records (FLACD 003)
2008 “DARKNESS” (Summer Klub80 Vol. 2 CD compilation)
4evermusic Poland (064-065)
Gianfranco Felli was born in south-Italy in 1955. His family moved to
northern-Italy when he was three years old. Gianfranco, the fifth of six
brothers, grew up by listening to every kind of music. His oldest
brother was very interested in 50s music like Elvis and Paul Anka and
the whole family followed the changes in the music world.
Gianfranco used to sing as a guest vocalist with many bands around the
lake Como. In 1982 he participated in a tour with the band called
“Studio 4″ and started his collaboration with Adriano Caglioni, keyboard
player of the band. In the same time Italo dance phenomena started to
get stronger.
Caglioni and Felli wrote few tracks and offered them to Discomagic
record label. In 1983 Discomagic released “Diamond in the Night” which
sold 8000 copies alone in Italy. The track was also included to the “Mix
Tour” compilation which sold 36 000 copies in Italy.
“Greatest Mind” was released in the following year, but the track
created some tension between the composers and Felli decided to retreat
from the business.
During the years 1983-84 Felli performed in the most important
discoteques around Italy (Piccadilly Strix of Sassuolo, Xenon of
Florence, in Follonica, Cecina, Biella, Crema, Varese, Sondrio, Como
etc.) together with the some of the biggest Italo-disco stars like Den
Harrow, Albert One and
Jimmy McFoy.
He was an artist of the “New York Agency” of Luca Milani with artists
like Alphaville, Novecento, J.D. Jaber, Joe Maran, Raf, Savage and P.
Lion.
Later, while working in a Video Pub and organizing “live concerts”
inside it, Felli started to collaborate with guitar teacher by creating
shows with Bob Dylan songs. They also composed italian songs and
released a CD called “Lontano da qui” in 1998.
In the end of 2001 Felli was asked to be a member of a blues band which
he gave the name “Black Sheep”. Black Sheep has been touring in the
clubs in Italy and Switzerland. In 2004 he produced a Black Sheep CD
album called “Blues it! …alien”.
In November 2006 Caglioni called Felli asking for his interests to
participate in a project with Flashback Records for the unreleased tracks
they made in the 80s. Felli was very happy to “dive into the past”.
Nowadays Felli lives on a hill over the lake Lugano with his lovely wife
and son who wants to be a hip-hop/rap singer.
DISCOGRAPHY:
1983 “DIAMOND IN THE NIGHT” (vocal version / instrumental
version)
Discomagic (MIX 135)
1983 “DIAMOND IN THE NIGHT” (Special for DeeJay compilation)
Discomagic (SP 01)
1983 “DIAMOND IN THE NIGHT” (Mix Tour compilation)
Out Records (OUT 3004)
1984 “GREATEST MIND” (vocal version / instrumental version)
“FLYING”
Discomagic (MIX 170)
2007 “SHADOWS OF THE NIGHT” (vocal version / wizard mix)
“FLYING” (new mix)
Flashback Records (FLA 4010)
2007 “MUSIC MAN” (vocal version / wizard mix)
“PRETTY GIRL” (vocal version)
Flashback Records (FLA 4006)
2008 “SHADOWS OF THE NIGHT”
(Presence of the Past 2 CD compilation)
Flashback Records (FLACD 004)
Riccardo Campa (alias Ricky Campa) was born in Mantova on 4th May 1967. Now he lives and works in Cracow, Poland. In addition to playing music and singing, he also writes books and teaches sociology at the Jagiellonian University of Cracow. He started his musical career as a teenager in the early 1980s. In that period, Mantova was one of the capital cities of italo disco, so it was difficult not to be influenced by this style. Ken Laszlo, Robert Bravo, Dave Rodgers, Domino, Tony Caranci, Dee Dee, Spagna and many others artists and producers were from Mantova or its surroundings and were supported by specialized labels like Memory and A Beat C. These were fantastic years for new wavers and italo disco fans…
In spite of the fact that Riccardo was more oriented to new wave, elettronica and prog rock, he ended up writing and performing dance songs and collaborating with some italo disco artists. For a long time before starting his solo career, he was a band musician and a session man, playing guitar and bass with different groups and artists; in the eighties, he was the guitarist and songwriter for the pop-rock band Charisma, the bass player of the new wave band - The Nightfall, and the guitarist of a cover band called Psicofarmaci. With his bands he opened the concerts of Robert Bravo, Ciao Fellini and other famous artists in Northen Italy discoteques or open air concerts. As a session man, he also played guitar and keyboards in Dee Dee’s concerts.
After a couple of years, he became more rock oriented. He was recruited as lead guitarist and songwriter by the heavy metal band Messerschmitt 109 – particularly influenced by Iron Maiden, Metallica, and Manowar which went on to win the 1996 Maratona Rock competition in Mantova. At that time, he worked mainly as a journalist and writer so his playing was more a passion than a career.
In 1996 he left both the HM band and Italy to take up a post as a lecturer at the University of Torun, Poland. However, he never lost his passion for music and became the frontman (vocalist and guitarist) of a swing-jazz band called La Banda, recording a single in 1998 (Al Capone/Mia – Suoneria Studios) which was massively downloaded by the lovers of retro swing, especially in USA. He later embarked on a solo singing career in Poland with a return to dance music, new wave, italo disco, elettronica, and the like. In spite of his eclecticism, the most influential artists on his soloist production are stars of the 1980s like John Foxx, Ultravox, Devo, Simple Minds, New Order, Rockets, Kraftwerk, Eurythmics, Gary Numan, and David Bowie. In addition, he also loves rock bands like Le Orme, PFM, Yes, Queen, Faith No More, and genial artists like Frank Zappa and Franco Battiato. His favourite female voices are Tiziana Rivale and Annie Lennox. His favourite italo disco singers are Ken Laszlo (especially his recent work) and Tom Hooker/Den Harrow. Generally speaking, his music project can be described as an attempt to merge rock, elettronica and melody.
He has been playing for years in Eastern Europe (but also in Holland, Great Britain, and Italy) with his repertuar including his own songs plus italo disco and hi-nrg hits like „Self control” by RAF, „You spin me round” by Dead or Alive, and „Relax” by Frankie Goes to Hollywood. In 2001, he released his debut solo album, Nessunluogo (Lubomski Agencja & Radio Pik), with songs ranging from eurobeat to italodance. Two songs from the album („Comunicazione” and „Ciao bella ciao”) were then used for the soundtrack of the movie „Non sono io” by the film director Gabriele Iacovone, who then became one of his best friends. In that film, Riccardo Campa also starred as „figurante speciale” playing himself, that is an Italian singer in Poland. He never had a real hit, remaining always a rather „underground” artist, but since he is quite known as an intellectual, he received considerable attention by the media, appearing often in the Italian and Polish press and sometimes also in TV (see his official website: www.riccardocampa.com). Riccardo Campa has also worked as a dj at Radio Krakow, but then he had to leave the due lack of time (he has only one life!).
He recently started a collaboration with Flashback Records and King-O. In the 1980s he composed and recorded many italo disco tracks that remain unreleased; when he started performing live – in 1986 – italo disco was already experiencing its downfall and the market was getting more difficult. All those tracks were sometimes performed live or broadcast on the radio, but never actually released. In the 1980s one of his fans and very good friends was dj Maurizio Ferrari who was playing these songs in local radio stations. Italo disco is now experiencing a renaissance, so it is time to start spinning those old demos once more!
The first tracks on Flashback are entitled „Another Day” and „Madness”.
Discography:
1998 “AL CAPONE/MIA” (CD single, Suoneria Studios)
2001 “NESSUNLUOGO” (CD album, Lubomski-Agencja – Radio Pik)
2001 “COMUNICAZIONE/CIAO BELLA CIAO” (CD single, Lubomski Agencja – Radio Pik)
2008 “ANOTHER DAY” (vocal version)
“MADNESS” (vocal version / instrumental version)
Flashback Records (FLA 4003)
2008 “DESPERADO”
(Presence of the Past 2 CD compilation)
Flashback Records (FLACD 004)
2009 “DESPERADO” (extended version / instrumental version)
“CASANOVA” (extended version)
Flashback Records (FLA 3009)
