Matt Bianco is a UK band that was formed in 1983 and continues to exist to date. They are mainly known for their success in the mid 1980s and their jazzy, Latin-flavoured music.

Hugely popular during the mid 1980s in continental Europe, Matt Bianco epitomised the new Jazz Pop genre that they shared with Working Week, Sade and The Style Council. The band name suggests that Matt Bianco is a personal name, but Matt is "a made up spy, a secret agent; we loved spy TV themes and film scores".

Contents 1 The early years 2 The Reilly - Fisher Years 3 Basia/MB reunion 4 The Present 5 Discography 6 References 7 External link

The early years

Formed by the late Kito Poncioni (bass), Mark Reilly (vocals), and Danny White (keyboards) in 1982 out of the shards of the abandoned art poppers Blue Rondo A La Turk, for their first album Whose Side Are You On? they hired unknown Polish vocalist Basia Trzetrzelewska. Her vocal arrangements gave the album a jazzy dimension that Reilly and White couldn't anticipate but made good use of. Mixmaster Phil Harding applied what would become his signature style to the recordings. Hits like "Get Out of Your Lazy Bed" and "Half a Minute" (which Basia would feature live throughout her career) turned Matt Bianco into one of the biggest acts of Europe in 1984. While promoting the album on the BBC's Saturday Superstore, they got insulted by call-in participant Simon Roberts who called them "a bunch of wankers".

Basia and Danny White left the group after the first album to pursue a lucrative solo-career with Sony under the name Basia on the Epic Label. They maintained their working relationship with Phil Harding, who would continue to work with Matt Bianco as well. Mark Reilly, now without a musical partner, found ex-Wham keyboarder and session musician Mark Fisher and recorded the next (self-titled) Matt Bianco album.

The Reilly - Fisher Years

With Mark Fisher replacing White and Trzetrzelewska, the sound changed considerably. Fisher, a keyboardist, composer and studio-wiz contributed a more contemporary sound, compared to that of the early Matt Bianco. The use of synthesizers increased notably: Yamaha's DX-7 can be heard providing the slap bass in most songs, but the choice of noted studio musicians remained consistent with Ronnie Ross being the most prominent example. After the first album, they took a 13 piece band on to a European tour that saw them perform in front of an audience of more than 250,000 attendees in total.

As Matt Bianco was a household name in Europe, Warner Brothers thought it was time to market then in the U.S.. They hired Gloria Estefan's husband and producer Emilio Estefan to produce a few songs and recorded the ill-fated Indigo, with the Estefan productions being chosen as singles. 1988's "Don't Blame it on That Girl" and "Good Times" only made a moderate impact apart from "Wap-Bam-Boogie", which did well on the dance charts. After another album with Warner Brothers - the fractured Samba in your casa (1991), Reilly and Fisher split from their record company and went freelance. From then on, they would record their albums in their own studios and then offer them to independent distributors worldwide.

Now they had total artistic freedom but commercial success was harder to achieve: They scored contracts with ZYX Music and Intercord in Europe, and Victor Entertainment in Asia but failed to sign on with another major label. The next albums did not sell that well in Europe, but they created a loyal fan base in Japan and the rest of Asia. The albums Another Time Another Place, Gran Via, World Go Round, A/Collection, Rico, and Echoes sold well enough for a comfortable lifestyle in the south east of England.
After twenty years recording and touring, Mark Fisher started to crave a different lifestyle and the two split amicably.

Basia/MB reunion

Initiated by a mutual friend, Basia and Danny White joined with Mark Reilly to reform the "original" Matt Bianco in 2003 signing to the Emarcy label. In 2004, Matt Bianco released the album Matt's Mood, which featured well-crafted adult-contemporary/jazz numbers in the spirit of their first album. This was accompanied by an extensive PR exercise, giving the album plenty of airtime. The following year, they embarked on a world tour, which included stops in the UK, Japan, and the U.S.

The Present

After the success of Matt's Mood, Basia and Danny White left Matt Bianco again to reinvigorate the Basia franchise. Mark Reilly and Mark Fisher are back as a duo and plan a new release in 2007.

Discography

albums

• Whose Side Are You On?, released 1984 #35 UK
• Matt Bianco, released 1986 #26 UK
• Indigo, released 1988 #23 UK
• Samba In Your Casa, released 1991
• The Best of Matt Bianco: 1983-1990, released 1991 #49 UK
• Yeah Yeah, released 1993-07-13
• Another Time Another Place, released 1994
• Gran Via, released 1995
• A/Collection, released 1998
• World Go Round, released 1998
• Echoes, released 2002
• Matt's Mood, released 2004
• The Best of Matt Bianco: Platinum Collection, released: 2005

singles

• Get Out Of Your Lazy Bed, 11.feb 1984 #15 UK
• Sneaking Out The Back Door, 14.apr 1984 #44 UK
• Half A Minute, 10.nov 1984 #23 UK
• More Than I Can Bear, 2.mar 1985 #50 UK
• Yeh Yeh, 5.oct 1985 #13 UK
• Just Can't Stand It, 1.mar 1986 #66 UK
• Dancing in the Street, 14.jun 1986 #64 UK
• Don't Blame It On That Girl / Wap-Bam-Boogie, 4.jun 1988 #11 UK
• Good Times, 27.aug 1988 #55 UK
• Nervous / Wap-Bam-Boogie (re-mix), 4.feb 1989 #59 UK

References

1. Matt Bianco Biography, from the [Emarcy] Label web site.
2. Saturday Super Store trivia web page. BBC Cult Classic TV.

External link

• Official site