Fun Fun
Encyclopedia
Fun Fun were a popular Italian High Energy/synth pop musical group during the 1980s. Their hits included "Colour My Love" and "Baila Bolero".
Producers Dario Raimondi and Alvaro Ugolini teamed up with studio vocalists Antonella Pepe, Angela Parisi and Ivana Spagna
to create a bouncy, high-energy, dancefloor-friendly sound. Their first release, 1983's "Happy Station", found success in Italy and other parts of Europe, thanks to several extended versions, including the notorious "Scratch" version.
Upon receiving invitations for live performances, Raimondi and Ugolini decided to use models for Fun Fun's public image rather than the vocalists themselves, a common tactic used in the European dance music scene by artists like Baltimora
and The Real McCoy
. "Have Fun!", the band's first full album from 1984, featured Francesca Merola and Roberta Servelli as the on-stage faces for the group. "Have Fun!" featured other popular dance singles, including "Give Me Your Love," "Living In Japan" and the band's oft-covered signature hit "Colour My Love", which became popular in American nightclubs because of its insistent synth bassline and easily-mixable percussion intro.
After "Have Fun!", Spagna left Fun Fun and started a solo career, returning for occasional lyrical contributions. Fun Fun continued on with Merola and Elena Trastulli (who replaced Servelli) as models and a new musician/producer Larry Pignagnoli, releasing a second album, 1987's "Double Fun". "Double Fun" had several singles, including "Could This Be Love" and a cover of Spencer Davis Group
's "Gimme Some Lovin'
." However, the biggest hit from "Double Fun" was "Baila Bolero", a Spanish-flavored dance ballad. A megamix featuring most of the group's major hits, the "Mega Hit Mix", was released on a 12" single soon afterward.
As the Italo-Disco and High-Energy music scene decreased in popularity toward the end of the 1980s, Fun Fun tried a new direction in 1989 with the House style single "Give Me Love", which had only minimal success. Several years later, the band released its last original song, "I'm Needin' You", in a 90's Eurodance style, to equally minimal success. Since then, the only Fun Fun releases have been best-of compilations or DJ remixes/reconstructions of their previous hits.
Producers Dario Raimondi and Alvaro Ugolini teamed up with studio vocalists Antonella Pepe, Angela Parisi and Ivana Spagna
Spagna
Spagna is an Italian singer and songwriter.-Career:She started her career singing in English and in the early 1980s she provided vocals and wrote songs for an Italo Disco duo project called Fun Fun; as well as writing songs for many other dance music projects until 1986, when she embarked on a solo...
to create a bouncy, high-energy, dancefloor-friendly sound. Their first release, 1983's "Happy Station", found success in Italy and other parts of Europe, thanks to several extended versions, including the notorious "Scratch" version.
Upon receiving invitations for live performances, Raimondi and Ugolini decided to use models for Fun Fun's public image rather than the vocalists themselves, a common tactic used in the European dance music scene by artists like Baltimora
Baltimora
Baltimora were an Italian New Wave dance outfit active in the mid to late 1980s. The group comprised Jimmy McShane , Maurizio Bassi , Giorgio Cocilovo , Claudio Bazzari , Pier Michelatti and Gabriele Melotti...
and The Real McCoy
Real McCoy (band)
Real McCoy, originally known as M.C. Sar & The Real McCoy, is a German band, best known for their 1993/1994 singles "Another Night" and "Run Away", which were both Top 10 hits in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom.-Formation:...
. "Have Fun!", the band's first full album from 1984, featured Francesca Merola and Roberta Servelli as the on-stage faces for the group. "Have Fun!" featured other popular dance singles, including "Give Me Your Love," "Living In Japan" and the band's oft-covered signature hit "Colour My Love", which became popular in American nightclubs because of its insistent synth bassline and easily-mixable percussion intro.
After "Have Fun!", Spagna left Fun Fun and started a solo career, returning for occasional lyrical contributions. Fun Fun continued on with Merola and Elena Trastulli (who replaced Servelli) as models and a new musician/producer Larry Pignagnoli, releasing a second album, 1987's "Double Fun". "Double Fun" had several singles, including "Could This Be Love" and a cover of Spencer Davis Group
Spencer Davis Group
The Spencer Davis Group was a mid-1960s British beat group from Birmingham, England, formed by Spencer Davis with Steve Winwood and his brother Muff Winwood...
's "Gimme Some Lovin'
Gimme Some Lovin'
"Gimme Some Loving" is a song written by Steve Winwood, Spencer Davis and Muff Winwood, and originally performed by The Spencer Davis Group. The basic riff of the song was borrowed from the Homer Banks song " A Lot of Love", written by Banks and Willie Dean "Deanie" Parker. The song was a UK #2 in...
." However, the biggest hit from "Double Fun" was "Baila Bolero", a Spanish-flavored dance ballad. A megamix featuring most of the group's major hits, the "Mega Hit Mix", was released on a 12" single soon afterward.
As the Italo-Disco and High-Energy music scene decreased in popularity toward the end of the 1980s, Fun Fun tried a new direction in 1989 with the House style single "Give Me Love", which had only minimal success. Several years later, the band released its last original song, "I'm Needin' You", in a 90's Eurodance style, to equally minimal success. Since then, the only Fun Fun releases have been best-of compilations or DJ remixes/reconstructions of their previous hits.
Singles
- 1983 - Happy Station [#11 Germany, #4 Netherlands]
- 1984 - Colour My Love [#17 Germany, #6 Sweden, #10 Netherlands]
- 1984 - Give Me Your Love [#17 Germany, #18 Sweden, #25 Netherlands, #10 Switzerland]
- 1985 - Living In Japan
- 1985 - Sing Another Song
- 1985 - Tell Me
- 1986 - Baila Bolero [#22 Germany, #16 Switzerland, #17 Netherlands]
- 1987 - Gimme Some Lovin
- 1987 - Could This be Love
- 1987 - Mega Hit Mix [#5 Netherlands]
- 1989 - Give Me Love
- 1994 - I'm Needin' You