Matt Bianco

History

Matt Bianco came together in 1983, formed by Mark Reilly on vocals, Danny White on keyboards, and Kito Poncioni on bass, all three having recently departed the art pop group Blue Rondo a la Turk. They were joined by Polish vocalist Basia Trzetrzelewska, who had previously played in a short-lived band called Bronze with White after answering an ad in Melody Maker. The group appeared as a quartet on the cover of their debut single, "Get Out of Your Lazy Bed," though Poncioni only contributed to the non-album B-side "Big Rosie." He left the band entirely before work began on their first album, Whose Side Are You On?, released by WEA in August 1984, though he still received a co-writing credit for the track "Half a Minute." That album produced five hits across the UK and Europe: "Get Out of Your Lazy Bed," "Half a Minute," "Sneaking Out the Back Door," "More Than I Can Bear," and the title track. It reached the top three in Germany and hit number one in Austria, while in the UK it cracked the top 40 and earned a gold certification. Despite this success, Trzetrzelewska and White left the group in 1985 so that she could launch an international solo career under the single name Basia.

After their departure, Jenni Evans stepped in as the new female vocalist, and Mark Fisher took over songwriting, production, and keyboards. This lineup released a self-titled album in 1986, which included the hit "Yeh Yeh," a cover of Georgie Fame's song that climbed to number 13 on the UK Singles Chart and number 7 in Germany, along with the moderately successful follow-up "Just Can't Stand It." Fisher brought a more contemporary sound to the band, shifting away from the style of the earlier Matt Bianco. By this point, the group was a household name across Europe, and Warner Brothers aimed to break them into the US market. They brought in Gloria Estefan's husband and producer Emilio Estefan to work on a few tracks for their third album, Indigo, with his productions selected as singles. The 1988 releases "Don't Blame It on That Girl" and "Good Times" made only a modest impact. However, "Wap Bam Boogie," an album track originally featured on the B-side of the first single and completely uninvolved with Estefan, performed well on the dance charts.