John Rocca | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | (1960-09-23)23 September 1960 (age 64) 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 Englishdance music performer, remixer,percussionist, and record producer, most well known for his bandFreeez.[2]
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 theUK 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 1980selectro music style. It scored number one in dance charts in Europe and the USBillboardHot 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 theBillboard USHot Dance Music/Club Play chart.[6] As a producer, engineer and re-mixer John Rocca worked with bands as diverse asBomb the Bass andGeneral Public, also touring Europe and the Japan respectively with the bands
In the late 1980s after releasing a number of tracks under the PseudonymPink Rhythm such as "Melodies of Love" John began more experimental output.[3] First as on his ownCobra,Chemical andWho'd She Coo Record labels, and then in the early 1990s Rocca resurfaced with hisMidi Rain project. SeveralMidi Rain singles were popular in the UK dance charts including "Eyes", "Always", and "Shine" - the latter reaching No. 1 on theBillboard USHot 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 atMiddlesex University in 1995 he moved directly intoIT andTelecommunications.[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 theLondon Stock Exchange in 2001 (symbol: ITL.L).
| 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. | ||||||
| International | |
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| National | |
| Artists | |
