John Rocca
John Rocca | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | 23 September 1960 London, England |
| Genres | House, post-disco, freestyle, electro |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, record producer, remixer, recording engineer |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, percussion, synthesizer, computer programming |
| Labels | Beggars Banquet, Cobra, Vinyl Solution/Columbia/SME |
John Rocca (born 23 September 1960)[1] is an English dance music performer, remixer, percussionist, and record producer, most well known for his band Freeez.[2]
History
[edit]During the early 1980s, Rocca formed, played with, wrote for, produced and managed his first band, Freeez. After his entrepreneurial first self-funded and self-released effort, "Keep in Touch", became a No. 49 hit on the UK Singles Chart, his next effort, Southern Freeez, was a chart success in various countries in Europe and around the world, reaching No. 8 in the UK Singles Chart. Both singles were number one hits in the UK Blues and Soul charts.[3][4]
During 1983, one of the first records to use digital sampling, "IOU", featured Rocca's falsetto voice and became one of the major dance successes of the 1980s electro music style. It scored number one in dance charts in Europe and the US Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play and had popular music chart success across the world, spending three weeks at number 2 in the UK.[5]
As a solo artist, Rocca scored number one again, this time with "I Want It to Be Real", on the US Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart during 1984.[6] Further hit records followed in 1985 such as "Once Upon a Time" and "Move" both being hits in the Billboard US Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart.[6] As a producer, engineer and re-mixer John Rocca worked with bands as diverse as Bomb the Bass and General Public, also touring Europe and the Japan respectively with the bands
In the late 1980s after releasing a number of tracks under the Pseudonym Pink Rhythm such as "Melodies of Love" John began more experimental output.[3] First as on his own Cobra, Chemical and Who'd She Coo Record labels, and then in the early 1990s Rocca resurfaced with his Midi Rain project. Several Midi Rain singles were popular in the UK dance charts including "Eyes", "Always", and "Shine" - the latter reaching No. 1 on the Billboard US Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in 1993.[6]
Rocca retired from the music business in late 1993 and after completing a 1st class honours degree at Middlesex University in 1995 he moved directly into IT and Telecommunications.[4] In 1997 Rocca became one of the founding members of the technology start up Intec Telecom Systems.[7] Intec Telecom Systems was successfully launched on the London Stock Exchange in 2001 (symbol: ITL.L).
Discography
[edit]Solo albums
[edit]- Unreleased album (Beggars Banquet, 1984)
- Extra Extra (Avenue Records, 1987)
- I.O.U. - The Best of John Rocca (Criminal Records, 1996)
Solo singles
[edit]| Year | Song title / Label | Peak chart positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [8] |
US Dance [6] |
US R&B [6] | ||||
| 1984 | "I Want It to Be Real" (Beggars Banquet/City Beat/Streetwise) | 94 | 1 | 55 | ||
| "Once Upon a Time" (Beggars Banquet/City Beat/Streetwise) | — | 72 | — | |||
| 1985 | "I Want You" (Beggars Banquet/City Beat/Streetwise) | — | — | — | ||
| "Can't Get Enough of Your Love" (credited as Pink Rhythm) (Metropolis) | — | — | — | |||
| "India" (credited as Pink Rhythm) (Beggars Banquet) | — | — | — | |||
| "Melodies of Love" (credited as Pink Rhythm) (Beggars Banquet) | — | — | — | |||
| 1987 | "I Want It to Be Real" (The Ultimate Mixes '87) (City Beat) | — | — | — | ||
| "Move" (Beggars Banquet/City Beat/Streetwise) | — | 11 | — | |||
| "Extra Extra" (City Beat) | — | — | — | |||
| 1989 | "X. Y. Zee" (Cobra Records) | — | — | — | ||
| "The River Must Flow" (Cobra Records) | — | — | — | |||
| 1993 | "Shine" Midi Rain (Vinyl Solution/Columbia/SME) | — | 1 | — | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | ||||||
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 517. ISBN 9780195313734.
- ^ Kellman, Andy. "Freeez Biography & History". AllMusic.
- ^ a b "An Interview With John Rocca / Freeez & Pink Rhythm". Testpressing.org. 7 March 2018.
- ^ a b "Interview / John Rocca". Banbantonton.com. 21 March 2018.
- ^ "FREEEZ - full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
- ^ a b c d e "John Rocca Top Songs / Chart Singles Discography". Music VF. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
- ^ "Intec secures $1 million deal with Maxis, Malaysia's leading GSM provider". 1 May 2002. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- ^ "JOHN ROCCA - full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
External links
[edit]- John Rocca discography at Discogs
- Midi Rain discography at Discogs
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