If you dip into the dance music world often enough you will one day find that a large portion of your favorite tracks were produced by the same person either under different monikers or as the "man behind the curtain" for a group of pretty models.Such is the case with Bobby Orlando. His track record is extremely impressive, producing the Pet Shop Boys, Divine, Fancy, The Flirts, and the list goes on. Before I even knew who Bobby "O" was I was already blasting the Pet Shop Boys and Fancy and dying for more. So you can imagine that I was quite excited when I found out that there was one man behind these amazing jams.
Sadly there is not that much information on Bobby Orlando available on the interweb. There is no official site, just this outdated fan site, a Wikipedia entry, this rather in-depth article, and an article from the 80s painting Bobby as a semi-fanatical religious dance producer who creates so many songs because God has commanded him to. Personal theologies and adaptations of the scripture aside, the man produced an incredible amount of infectious songs.
"If a producer has the ability to put out that many records and he doesn't then he is disobeying God's command."
PS - I just found this website that seems to have a good amount of info on Bobby.
From Wikipedia:
Orlando is credited as one of the founding fathers of euro/pop dance music. His productions are easily identifiable by their dense synthesizers, rolling bass lines, and resounding percussion. Orlando tracks showcase him playing multiple instruments including keyboards, guitars, drums, percussion and saxophone. The ringing cowbell percussion lines and robotic sequencers heard in “She Has A Way”, “The Best Part Of Breakin’ Up,” “Desire,” and “Native Love (Step By Step)” define the electrifying sound he pioneered.
LISTEN: last.fm - Bobby Orlando, The Flirts, Divine
BUY IT: Amazon
Some videos for your enjoyment:
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1 comment:
This link is quite good... http://www.newonthecharts.com/Content/Producers/Bobby_Orlando-2-86.jpg
The Face interview from 1987, which was titled "The Story Of O" is on various websites, e.g., http://www.globaldarkness.com/articles/bobby_orlando_bio.htm
Also, I have a Divine biography, written by Bernard Jay, (Divine's manager) who mentions Bobby a few times. Apparently Divi and Bobby didn't get on too well; from what I remember, a combination of personal, financial and creative crossed wires. Bobby had said he got on well with Jay, however.
Wish there was more internet coverage of him and his career..I bet Bobby has quite a story to tell.
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