Baltimora was an Italian musical project italo disco, associated with Jimmy McShane (May 23, 1957, Londonderry, Northern Ireland, UK - March 29, 1995), a singer and dancer Northern Ireland, popular in the eighties thanks the single "Tarzan Boy"
The other band members were Maurizio Bassi (keyboards, vocals), Giorgio Cocilovo (lead guitar), Claudio Bazzari (rhythm guitar), Pier Michelatti (bass) and Gabriele Melotti (drums)
An interesting and largely unknown fact is that in reality Maurizio Bassi, plus arrangements of keyboards, was the main voice recorded hit "Tarzan Boy", although McShane was the one who gave his image and lip sync in presentations Live and its video.
Bassi also was the intellectual leader, and was the principal songwriter lyrics Baltimora, along with fellow Naimy Hackett. McShane is credited in just a few pieces, including the ballad "Survivor in Love".
However, there has always been some disagreement and confusion about whether "Baltimora" was the name of the group as such (although with some anonymity), or if it was the pseudonym associated with the person and figure the only visible member, Jimmy McShane. The most accepted version is that among Italian Baltimora was a group and not a soloist.
In the US and the UK "Tarzan Boy" by Baltimora is considered a "one-hit wonder" (wonder of a success). In total released two studio albums, eight singles and four music videos.


 
History

Beginnings
Little is known about the activity of this project. Baltimora, due to its fleeting appearance in the show.
In early 1984, Maurizio Bassi, a record producer and musician of some events in Italy, was looking for a new artistic project. He met Jimmy McShane, emergency medical technician (EMT in English) who worked for the Red Cross in Ireland, known as "Ruby" in the local gay community.
They proposed their project and recorded some vocals for the purpose of which was the visual group leader due to his squalid appearance and his talent with dancing. McShane was characterized by its extravagant, loose clothing, having various hair styles and wear big glasses of red saddle.
He also recruited other musicians to record the songs that would eventually appear on the albums Living in the Background (1985) and the second and final Survivor in Love (1987).
 
Living in the Background (1985-1986)
Baltimora made the first musical appearance in mid-1985 when release their first album called Living in the Background. McShane allegedly performed lead vocals, although there is some controversy over who was the real singer. Meanwhile, the songs were written entirely in this work by the duo Maurizio Bassi and Naimy Hackett.
It's a short album, originally just 6 songs and was released with at least three different covers: the best known is with McShane in the air. The album has also been republished in various forms and with additional topics, although none of these different versions seem to correlate with any particular one, not even on their decks.
Living in the Background contains the big hit "Tarzan Boy", a definitive success of the eighties synthpop scene. This hit was distributed by EMI company in the United States and eventually peaking at number 13, coming to stay among the top 100 in the rankings for 6 months. The single was accompanied by a colorful video clip wearing close to the comic aesthetic. McShane was gay and believed to Tarzan Boy talks about his homosexuality the same.
"Living in the Background" was the second single from the album that bears his name, and tried to follow the same path of his predecessor, released just months earlier. But to his surprise was a resounding commercial failure. He did not enter any important list in Europe, and the United States was his last entry in Billboard, reached a discrete number 87.
This album included other interesting singles and also had some humorous content, as "Woody Boogie". Finally, "Juke Box Boy", a bonus track included in a Canadian edition of the album was released in 1986.
 
Survivor in Love (1987)
In 1987 Baltimora put on sale a new album for the Italian market called Survivor in Love, with a slightly more mature sound and four singles were extracted. It is a little more extensive than its predecessor, with 8 new and diverse styles songs work.
Subsequently, the album was only released in some other countries, such as Germany, UK, Japan and Mexico. It was later re-released in 2003 on CD to many more countries, including the United States and Canada, apovechando certain revival of dance music and because of the request of fans who did not receive in their countries. The reason for not publishing it in a more massive scale in 1987, was prompted by poor sales of the singles of Living in the Background, with the only notable exception of "Tarzan Boy".
The first single from Survivor in Love was "Key Key Karimba", promoted with the best video made by the group, and that would be his last audiovisual.
The second single is the album's title track, "Survivor in Love", a love ballad radically different from the rest of the dance repertoire of Baltimora and written by McShane own. Finally, they aprecieron two further intrascendetes themes: "Global Love", a duet with unknown Northern Irish singer Linda Wesley prácticamemte and finally, "Call Me in the Heart of the Night".
Despite expectations and due to little support from the record in its international promotion, this work became generally quite unnoticed: it was the second album and the last in the career of Baltimora.
 
Baltimora separates
After the release of Survivor in Love, unaided by the label to produce a next job and joined the little success they represented, their leader Maurizio Bassi decided it was time to move on to other projects, and Baltimora disbanded, although Bassi did not return to knowing nothing else.
The single "Tarzan Boy" was recovered in the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1993 as a remix, peaking at # 51, at the time of its appearance in a commercial for Listerine well as a commercial for Daewoo cars in the early 90s. The song also appeared in the films Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993) and Beverly Hills Ninja (1997).
Mc Shane died on March 29, 1995, a victim of the AIDS virus.
Following his music has been used in an advertisement for Coca-Cola Light.
 
Jimmy McShane
Something better known is the biography of himself Jimmy McShane, face and voice of Baltimora. He was born on May 23, 1957 in Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
From a young age he learned to play bass and guitar, and showed great skill in dancing. He made his debut playing small venues in his hometown and appeared before various audiences, without great success. He came from a humble and conservative family, so he had to deal with rejection from his family when he told them he was gay.
In view of their little artistic success, he decided to work as an emergency medical technician for the Red Cross in Ireland.
It is not known precisely how was your meeting with the author Naimy Hackett and composer Maurizio Bassi, a fact that was crucial to his career in the middle. After some trials, they decide to perform the musical project that called Baltimora.
McShane was presented with a band virtually anonymous to the public with the song "Tarzan Boy", which in 1985 became the big hit of the season and won much recognition at the top of European rankings, especially the Italian and English. That year he participated in the largest music festivals in Europe and in some presentations in the United States.
The success overwhelmed him in America, where the only scale lists was "Tarzan Boy", with the subsequent inclusion in 3 shopping and then in the movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993). However, the inability to offer an innovative and comparable issue to the previous success, brought him to disappear from the music scene, without major news about your personal activity until his death.
In 1994 he decided to settle permanently in Milan, where he was diagnosed with the AIDS virus, which only survived a few months. He returned to Ireland, where he decided to spend the last years of his life.
He died in his native Londonderry on March 29, 1995, at the early age of 37 years. A family spokesman issued the following statement after his death: "He faced his illness with courage and died with dignity".
In the center of Derry received a commemorative plaque.
 
Members Jimmy McShane † - vocals Maurizio Bassi - keyboards, vocals Giorgio Cocilovo - lead guitar Claudio Bazzari - rhythm guitar Pier Michelatti - low Gabriele Melotti - drums
 
In the 80's who was not hit him the chorus of this song ?, Truth, the title page of Lp existed in the gallery on page Flikr since 2008, but the friend Jairob apparently never digitized audio when I found the Lp to me brought a client and when I went to assemble the covers on Flikr I find that they were already registered hahaha, simply replace the old and had the "Salvavinilos.com" instead of "Salvavinilos.org" The disc was in excellent condition so it was easy and quick digitize it.
This album was given on loan by EMILIA namias friend.
As I always say enjoy it !!

 
and get ready ... come new sections of the page and albums for a while !!