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Baltimora was an Italian New Wave dance outfit active in the mid to late 1980s. Jimmy McShane, from Northern Ireland, was the frontman for the project. The vocals, however, were not produced by McShane, instead they were done by Baltimora's producer Maurizio Bassi who sang all of the lead vocals.^[1]. Both the music and the lyrics of Baltimora were written mostly by Bassi and Naimy Hackett, although McShane wrote the lyrics to "Survivor In Love." Baltimora is often considered a one-hit wonder due to the success they experienced with their first single "Tarzan Boy only."

Career

"Tarzan Boy," released in the summer of 1985, was a huge success, debuting in the top five of the Italian charts and performing well in many other European countries, including Germany^[2], Switzerland, Austria, Sweden, France and Norway ^[3]. Soon afterwards Baltimora found similar success in the United Kingdom with "Tarzan Boy," where it reached #3 in August, 1985^[4]. However, it took a while for the single to enter the Top 100 single chart in the United States (where it was released on EMI), it remained on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for six months ultimately peaking at #13 in the early spring of 1986. Baltimora performed on the American TV show Solid Gold, which helped further their success in America. The second single "Woody Boogie," which also gained notable success, entered the Top 20 in Germany^[5], Switzerland and Sweden^[6].

Baltimora's first album, Living in the Background, was released in Europe at the end of 1985, and arrived in United States in 1986. Despite the enormous success that Baltimora achieved with the single "Tarzan Boy," the album "Living in the Background" charted moderately entering the Top 20 album charts in only a few countries in Europe, including Sweden's ^[7].

Baltimora attempted a comeback in 1987 with a second album consisting of eight tracks titled Survivor in Love, but the single "Key Key Karimba" was the only notable track that managed to enter Top 100 charts in only few countries including Italy's.

The single "Tarzan Boy" bounced back into the Billboard Hot 100 chart in March, 1993 as a remix, climbing to #51, at the time of its appearance in a Listerine commercial. The song also appeared in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993) and Beverly Hills Ninja (1997).

Death

Jimmy McShane, the frontman of Baltimora, died on 29 March 1995, of complications from AIDS.

Discography

References

External links

• Baltimora Forum