Fun Fun
Fun Fun are an Italian Italo disco band formed in 1983. Their hits included "Colour My Love" and "Baila Bolero".
History edit
Producers Dario Raimondi and Alvaro Ugolini teamed up with studio vocalists Antonella Pepe, Angela Parisi and Ivana Spagna to create Fun Fun, a band with a bouncy, high-energy, dancefloor-friendly sound. Their first release, 1983's "Happy Station", was successful in Italy and other parts of Europe thanks to several extended mixes, including the most well-known "Scratch" version.[1] "Happy Station" reached the number one spot in the South African charts.[2] It was also popular in the Chicago House Dance scene and was played by DJs on WBMX.[3]
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 in the European dance music scene already deployed by producers like Frank Farian. Have Fun!, the band's first full album from 1984, featured Francesca Merola and Roberta Servelli as the on-stage faces for the group. The album featured other popular dance singles, including "Give Me Your Love," "Living In Japan" and the band's soft-ballad signature hit "Colour My Love", which became popular in American nightclubs due to its insistent synth bassline and easily mixable percussion intro.
After Have Fun!, Spagna decided to leave the project to start a solo career, occasionally contributing as lyricist for the band. Fun Fun continued on with Merola and Elena Trastulli (who replaced Servelli) as the face of the group 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", a cover of Spencer Davis Group's "Gimme Some Lovin'" and "Baila Bolero", a Flamenco-flavored dance ballad. A mini-anthology featuring most of the group's major hits, the "Mega Hit Mix", was released on a 12" single soon afterward.
Fun Fun tried a new direction in 1989 with the single "Give Me Love", which had only minimal success. Several years later, the band released its final single, "I'm Needin' You", in a 1990s 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.
Following the break-up of the band, Angela Parisi released a single, "Wherever Forever", before retiring from the music industry. Antonella Pepe went on to become an appreciated vocalist, recording with Mike Francis, Via Verdi, Alan Sorrenti, Garbo and Gianni Togni. Of the girls fronting the group, Elena Trastulli had a career as backing vocalist. Natalia Rolla became a film production designer.
Discography edit
Studio albums edit
- Have Fun! (1984)
- Double Fun (1987)
Compilation albums edit
- The Best of Fun Fun (ZYX Records, 1991)
- The Best of Fun Fun (Snake's Music, 1994)
- Greatest Fun: The Best Of (1994)
- The Best of Fun Fun: Color My Love
- The Best of Fun Fun (Discos CNR Chile, 2003)
- The Greatest Fun (2006)
- Greatest Hits & Remixes (2017)
Singles edit
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUT [4] | BEL (FLA) [5] | GER [6] | NLD [7] | SWE [8] | SWI [9] | US Dance [10] | |||||||||||
| "Happy Station" | 1983 | 15 | 1 | 11 | 8 | — | — | — | Have Fun! | ||||||||
| "Colour My Love" | 1984 | — | 8 | 17 | 15 | 6 | — | 9 | |||||||||
| "Give Me Your Love" | — | 28 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 10 | 23 | ||||||||||
| "Living in Japan" | 1985 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||
| "Sing Another Song" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| "Tell Me" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| "Baila Bolero" | 1986 | — | 31 | — | 17 | — | 16 | — | Double Fun | ||||||||
| "Gimme Some Lovin'" | 1987 | — | 37 | — | 71 | — | — | — | |||||||||
| "Could This Be Love" | — | — | — | 85 | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| "Mega Hit Mix" | — | 7 | — | 4 | — | — | — | Single only | |||||||||
| "Give Me Love" | 1989 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 29 | |||||||||
| "I'm Needin' You" | 1994 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||
| "No More Tears" | 2022 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Greatest Fun: The Best Of | ||||||||
| "—" denotes items which were not released in that country or failed to chart. | |||||||||||||||||
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "Fun Fun". Discogs. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
- ^ "South African Rock Lists Website - SA Charts 1969 - 1989 Acts (F)". Rock.co.za. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
- ^ "Color My Love - Fun Fun (1983)". Thebeatchicago.com. 5 January 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
- ^ "Austriancharts.at: Fun Fun". austriancharts.at. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2014-02-06.
- ^ "Ultratop Vlaanderen: Fun Fun". Ultratop. Retrieved 2014-02-06.
- ^ "Offizielle Deutsche Charts (Fun Fun)". Offizielle Deutsche Charts. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
- ^ "Media Markt Top 40: Fun Fun". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 2014-02-06.
- ^ "Swedishcharts.com: Fun Fun". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 2014-02-06.
- ^ "Hitparade.ch: Fun Fun (Singles)". Hitparade.ch. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2014-02-06.
- ^ Fun Fun Chart History | Billboard Billboard.com
External links edit
- Fun Fun discography at Discogs