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La Bionda | |
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| Background information | |
| Also known as | D. D. Sound (1977–1981) |
| Origin | Italy |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1970–2022 |
| Labels | |
| Past members |
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La Bionda were an Italiandisco duo consisting of siblings Carmelo (1949–2022) and Michelangelo La Bionda (born 1952). They are considered among the pioneers of theItalo disco music genre.[1]
The siblings were born inRamacca,Sicily and moved toMilan,Lombardy in 1954.
Carmelo was born on 2 February 1949, and Michelangelo on 25 August 1952 inRamacca,Sicily. Their family moved toMilan in 1954.
They debuted as songwriters with "Primo sole, primo fiore", a piece the pop bandRicchi e Poveri presented at the Song Festival in Venice in 1970. They also wrote "Neve bianca, Amica, Gentile se vuoi" for the Italian female singerMia Martini, and "Piccolo uomo" withBruno Lauzi (lyrics). Michelangelo La Bionda also did some session work. In 1975, he played acoustic guitar on the albumVolume VIII byFabrizio De André.
Between 1972 and 1977, La Bionda recorded two albums of acoustic ballads,Fratelli La Bionda s.r.l. (1972) andTutto Va Bene (1977). "Tutto va bene" was recorded at theApple Studios in London, and featuresNicky Hopkins on piano.
La Bionda became popular when they turned to disco music. They moved to Munich, when they started recording under the pseudonym D. D. Sound (short for Disco Delivery Sound), a moniker that would accompany them for their entire recording career. Their first two disco singles, "Disco Bass" and "Burning Love", became international hits. They were followed by "Café" (1977) and "1, 2, 3, 4 Gimme Some More".
In 1978, they released their albumLa Bionda. It included "Sandstorm" (produced byDieter Bohlen) and "There for Me", as well as the worldwide hit "One for You, One for Me". From 1978 to 1981, La Bionda continued to record more dance music, either under their name (as with the albumsBandido,High Energy andI Wanna Be Your Lover) or as D. D. Sound (as with the singles "Café", "The Hootchie Cootchie", and "Wake Up in the Night"). Following the 1980s, La Bionda focused on writing, producing and publishing music.
In the 1980s, La Bionda scored thesoundtracks for many films directed bySergio andBruno Corbucci, includingSuper Fuzz (1980),Who Finds a Friend Finds a Treasure (1981), starring Bud Spencer and Terence Hill,My Darling, My Dearest (1981),Cat and Dog (1983),A tu per tu (1984),Miami Supercops (1985) andRoba da ricchi (1987), as well asVirtual Weapon (1997), directed byAntonio Margheriti. They also composed the theme from the television seriesInspector Giusti withEnrico Montesano, and produced various commercial jingles, such as "Sorrisi is Magic for Smiles and Songs" (for the Italian magazineSorrisi & Canzoni), "Heart of Cream" (for Walls' Cornetto), "I'm Coming Home" (for Bayer Aspirin) andCoca-Cola. In 2009, they re-recorded "1, 2, 3, 4 ... Gimme Some More" for aVodafone commercial and "One For You, One For Me" for the digital television channel Mediaset Premium.
In parallel, in 1983, they began their collaboration with the dance duoRigheira, writing their early hits "Vamos a la playa" and "No Tengo Dinero". In 1984, Carmelo La Bionda recorded a single as a solo artist. "I Love You"/"You're So Fine" have been sampled by American BandNeon Indian.
In 1985, La Bionda founded and started operating Logic Studios, arecording studio in Milan. Musicians who have recorded at Logic Studios over the years includeRay Charles,Robert Palmer,Paul Young, andDepeche Mode, as well as pop stars likeLaura Pausini,Nek,Rihanna andPooh.
Carmelo La Bionda died of cancer on 5 November 2022, at the age of 73.[2]
La Bionda
D. D. Sound
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Quotations from Wikiquote
Data from Wikidata
