Leaders of the Italian house music movement of the late
'80s, Black Box was primarily comprised of club Daniele
Davoli, computer whizz Mirko Limoni and clarinetist
Valerio Semplici, a trio of studio musicians known
collectively as the Groove Groove Melody production
team. Semplici was a clarinet teacher and played
in the La Scala Classical Music Orchestra in Milan. Davoli
was a well-known Italian club DJ (known as DJ Lelewel),
largely at the Marabu Starlight Club, while Limoni
was the computer and keyboard whizz kid of the trio and
had previously engineered for Italian pop act Spagna.
They are based in the Regio D'Emillia area of northern Italy.
Acclaimed among the most successful producers in all of
Italian dance music, Groove Groove Melody helmed
dozens of singles each year at their peak like Starlight
("Numero uno") and The Mixmaster ("Grand piano").
In 1989 they teamed with singer and model Katrin
(born Catherine Quinol, born in France, Paris, with Guadeloup
descent) as Black Box, debuting with the single "Ride
on time". She was spotted by Spagna's
guitarist at a club. The
single became the first of a series of Italian house records
to crossover to the UK charts, staying at number 1 for six
weeks in 1989. Controversy reigned when it was realized
that the single had sampled the voice of singer Loleatta
Holloway from the "Love Sensation" (released
in 1980) single she made with Dan Hartman in the
late 70s. An agreement was eventually worked out with Salsoul
(who owned the rights) as both companies benefited from
800,000 UK sales. Black Box hired Katrin to
lip-synch to Martha Wash's vocals for the group's videos.
She also appeared at "live" shows, mouthing to a pre-recorded
track.
A series of Black Box hits followed, among them
"I don't know anybody else"and "Everybody everybody".
The first album "Dreamland"
was released in the first middle of this year. The real
star of this album is Martha Wash, whose full-bodied,
gospel-influenced belting on the smashes hits like "I
don't know anybody else", "Everybody everybody"
and "Strike it up". For some titles, they use the
guitarists Roberto Fontalan, Sauro Malavasi and Raimondo
Violi, and the saxophonist Rudy Trevisi.
The radio presenter and DJ Robert Levy-Provencal (RLP)
megamixed "Ride
on time" with "Magic atto II" (another Black
Box production) and remixed "I
don't know anybody else". In the end of 1990, they
released "Fantasy",
a cover of the Earth, Wind And Fire hit, all of
which featured too an uncredited Martha Wash on vocals
and broke them into the US market. They released in France
a rap version of "Fantasy" under the name
"Get down feat Stepz".
Black Box returned with "Strike
it up", as well as the "Mixed
up!" collection, that is comprised of remixes of
songs of "Dreamland".
"Strike it up"
was the group's third (and essentially last) big single
in the U.S., and is arguably the finest dance cut on the
album, rap by Stepz, like "Get down".
The single "Open
your eyes" is released not much time after.
They were also responsible for, among other remixes, ABC's
1991 comeback single, "Say it".
At the same time, Lonnie
Gordon flew off to Italy and met Black Box
who had a hit album happening at the time. There she recorded
"Gonna
catch you". Internal legal problems with Supreme
Records lead to a two year delay in the release of the album
"Bad
mood".
Black Box present a new production, Bit
Machine featuring Karen Jones. The first of the five sample
of the forthcoming album is called "It's time".
Soon the last sample of their first album "Dreamland",
"Hold on"
is released, and totally remixed by Lelewel &
DJ Coccoluto.
For the summer, the '89 hit "Ride
on time" is remixed by Two Men (Davide Riva & Benny Benassi) with the title "Bright
on time 1994 remix" and they take the opportinity
to release a new track "Not
anyone", with a new singer Charvoni, who
attributed her voice to the group Brothers in Rhythm
in 1990, among other things. Charvoni become the
new diva to headline this world-renowned group and she continues
to perform as the lead vocalist for Black Box, winning
the hearts of fans across the globe with her brand of soul.
Two Men remixed some futures songs of Black Box
under the name "Benny smash mix". They euro-remixed too
some titles of the group Bit
Machine, in this case, the most known, "Somebody
real" (featuring Daisy Dee), released this year.
In the beginning of the year, Black Box release "A
positive vibration", track of the album with the
same name, which, incorporates elements of Diana Ross' legendary
smash "Love Hangover".
They remixed some other projects likeTSD ("Heart
and soul") and PopCorn ("Tap-moi-là").
Black Box return effortlessly with yet another explosive
hit with "I got the vibration", sampling the Diana Ross classic "Love Hangover".
Black Box release a new single, their second cover,
"Native new yorker", composed by Sandy Linzer & Denny
Randell in 1977 for the group Odyssey.
The last track of the album "Positive
vibration" - and the last real single too - was released, in principle
in promo only. His title : "Fall
into my love".
Five years after, a new remix of "Ride on time"
, also called"Bright on time" is released,
but with much lesser success than the first one.
"Everybody everybody 2002" is
released in June in white label, in vinyl only. Spacedust (Solaris) takes on the might Black Box
classic and turns it into one of the hottest club remixes.
With a bit of filtering and a kickin' new drum line underneath,
the Solaris boys have turned this classic floor-packer into
an absolute essential.
Some weeks after the release of the second part of
the "Ride on time" remixed by Melted Artists, a new series of remixes was released too by Black Box under the name "Ride
on time 2003 feat Loleatta Holloway". Strangely, all the versions of Melted Artists "ride on time 2000" (part I & II) are included on the Black Box 2003 remixes.
Reapparance of the group in some shows (Nightclub or TV) with the
original version of "Ride on time" with the play-back singer Katrin.
July 2004. Liverpool legend Lee-S sees his Ycuk debut on the mix of Black Box's classic "Ride on time",
battered by Lee Butler, Ian Redman & Co.
July. Black Box's come back with a cover from the 80's, Candi Staton's
"You got the love", over a Marshall Jefferson beat. But Is this single a real Groove Groove Melody production?
No information on the CD single except a name of a ZYX member. No confirmation available from ZYX and others websites
which describe this return. Surely a homonym, included in the discography for the moment.