Cappella

Cappella was an Italian Eurodance act formed in 1987 by producer Gianfranco Bortolotti. The act went through a number of line-up changes over the years but was most successful in the early 1990s when it was fronted by British performers Kelly Overett and Rodney Bishop. Their biggest hit was "U Got 2 Let The Music", which reached number 2 in the UK in 1993.

Background

The name Cappella was first used in the year 1987. The main man behind Cappella was the Italian producer Gianfranco Bortolotti of Media Records, with contributions from the likes of Michele Persona and Mauro Picotto. In 1988 the act debuted on the British charts with the song "Bauhaus (Push The Beat)", and the following year with "Helyom Halib" which peaked at number 11. At the time the act was fronted by the singer Ettore Foresti.

Three years later Cappella scored another UK top 30 hit with "Take Me Away", which sampled Loleatta Holloway's "Love Sensation" - the same track that had been unlawfully sampled on the number 1 hit "Ride On Time" by Black Box in 1989.

It wasn't until 1993 when Cappella began to gain momentum. After "U Got 2 Know" (which was based on the distinctive riff of Siouxsie and the Banshees' "Happy House") got to the heady heights of number 6 in the UK, two permanent members were drafted in: rapper Rodney Bishop from London and ex-SL2 dancer Kelly Overett from Ipswich. "U Got 2 Let The Music" (which sampled Alphaville's " Sounds Like A Melody") was released in October 1993 and climbed to number 2 on the UK singles chart, held off from the top slot only by Meat Loaf's "I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)".

Further hits followed: "Move On Baby" reached number 7 in February 1994, "U & Me" peaked at number 10 in June, and "Move It Up" ended the "U Got 2 Know" album project with a number 16 hit in October. Shortly after this, Kelly was sacked from the group. It later emerged that she had not actually performed on any of the records - though this should have been obvious to anyone who had seen her performing "Move On Baby" live on Top of the Pops. [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0t3FaNzF2Jw YouTube - Cappella - Move On Baby (TOTP) ] ] "U Got 2 Know" included Xaviera Gold's vocals from "You Used To Hold Me", "U Got 2 Let The Music" sampled a vocal from a JM Silk track, and the vocals for "U & Me" was sampled from a song by Vicki Shepard.

In 1995, Cappella returned with new member Allison Jordan, who had previously scored a club hit with "Boy From New York City". Rodney Bishop was also replaced by Patrick Osborne, but returned to the group before long. The comeback single "Tell Me The Way" reached number 17 in the UK in September 1995 and was followed by the album "War In Heaven".

The act continued to have minor hits in continental Europe for a while before resorting to remixes of previous big hits. In 2004, the act - now once again faceless, released a brand new track called "Angel" which failed to trouble the German or Italian chart. A greatest hits CD/DVD was released in August 2005.

Discography

Albums

ingles

ee also

* 49ers - One of Gianfranco Bortolotti's other Italio-house acts of the era.
* Media Records
* Nukleuz
* Rodney Bishop
* Kelly Overett

References

External links

* [http://www.cappella-music.de Great Fan-Homepage in German and English]
* [http://www.cappellamusic.com European Fan-Homepage]
* [http://www.danceartistinfo.com/cappella.htm Full Cappella Discography]
* [http://www.discogs.com/artist/Cappella Information at Discogs]
* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:rv63tr59kl7x~T0 Information at All-Music]
* [http://213.247.58.110 Archive of Mediarec.Info, forum is still operational]
* [http://www.cappella-forum.com Forum in English, German, Nederlands and Français]
* [http://www.cappella.ceciliana.ordemdesantacecilia.org/ Coro de Música Sacra a Capela]