Gino Soccio

Gino Soccio
Born (1955-09-09) September 9, 1955 (age 69)
Verdun, Quebec, Canada
OriginCanada
GenresDisco, funk, post-disco
InstrumentKeyboards
Years active1977–present
LabelsCelebration, Warner Bros. Records, RFC Records, Atlantic

Gino Soccio (born September 9, 1955)[1] is a Canadian disco record producer based in Montreal. His only US Billboard Hot 100 entry was the #48 hit single "Dancer" in 1979, but he did hit #1 on the US Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart twice ("Dancer" / "Dance to Dance" in 1979, and "Try It Out" / "Hold Tight" in 1981, six weeks each). "Dancer" peaked at #46 in the UK Singles Chart in May 1979.[2] Soccio's third biggest hit, "It's Alright" / "Look at Yourself", from his album, Face to Face, reached #2 for 5 weeks also on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. "Turn It Around" was released only as a single in 1984.

Early life

Soccio was born in Verdun, Quebec, of Italian descent. Soccio told Wax Poetics in 2013 that he started playing piano at eight and was playing Bach sonatas by eleven. In the early 1970s, he was influenced by electronic musicians Kraftwerk, Stockhausen, and Wendy Carlos and started renting synths, becoming a sought-after Montreal keyboard specialist.[3]

Career

Soccio got his start in disco when Montreal producer Pat Deserio called him in 1975 and asked if he would play keyboards and help compose for the Kebekelektrik album.[4] Prior to this, Soccio was working as a local session musician.

Deserio asked Soccio to make a disco version of Ravel's "Bolero," which he wanted to release with filler tracks under the fictitious act name Kebekelektrik, a Kraftwerk-influenced misspelling of "Quebec Electric." In reality, Soccio played every note. "It was very labor-intensive," Soccio later said, "but at the same time, I had free rein of the entire studio, which had never happened [before]. It was a really great learning experience. I had never done disco. As you're going along doing it, you fall right in love with it." The Kebekelektrik sessions produced B-side "War Dance," described by Wax Poetics' Jered Stuffco as "an orgy of analog squirts and electronic flourishes that Soccio wrote and recorded on the spot, warts and all."[3]

The four-song LP Kebekelektrik was remixed by Tom Moulton and released in the U.S. on Salsoul in 1978.[3]

The Kebekelektrik album helped to launch Soccio's career, as his composition "War Dance" became a hit on U.S. dance floors, a song Soccio himself had deemed "filler".[1] In Canada, the Kebekelektrik song "Magic Fly" reached number 69 on the pop charts, October 8, 1977.[5]

In 1978, Soccio released a dance single, "The Visitors", which was later remixed by Ouimet.[6] That year he also played keyboards on the Bombers album Bombers.

His debut solo album "Outline" was released in 1979 and contained the hit "Dancer"; the album received critical acclaim and brought him international recognition.[7][8]

In 1979, Soccio also recorded a disco album with Guy Lafleur which cost CAD$100 000 to produce.[9]

In the UK, he received airplay from Robbie Vincent on BBC Radio London, and Greg Edwards on Capital Radio on imported RFC Records, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Records.[citation needed]

He also assembled and produced the disco studio group, Witch Queen, best known for their hit, "Bang a Gong" / "All Right Now" (1979). It peaked at number eight on the US Hot Dance/Disco chart.[10]

Discography

Gino Soccio discography
Studio albums4
Compilation albums3
Singles17

The discography of Gino Soccio consists of four studio albums, three compilations and seventeen singles.

Studio albums
Year Title Chart positions
CAN US
[11] 		US R&B
[11] 		AUS
[12]
1979 Outline 12 79 34 78
1980 S-Beat
  • Labels: Celebration, RFC/Warner Bros.
 – – – –
1981 Closer – 96 26 –
1982 Face to Face
  • Labels: Celebration, RFC/Atlantic
 – – 45 –
"–" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.
Compilation albums
  • Remember (1984, Celebration)
  • Greatest Hits (1989, Unidisc)
  • The Best of Gino Soccio (1994, Unidisc)
Singles
Year Title Chart positions Album
CAN US
[11] 		US Dance
[11] 		US R&B
[11] 		UK
[13]
1977 "Sauve Qui Peut" – – – – –
1978 "The Visitors" – – – – – Outline
1979 "Dancer"[14] 6 48 1 60 46
"Dance to Dance" – – – –
1980 "S-Beat" – – 4 – – S-Beat
"Heartbreaker" – – – –
1981 "Try It Out" – – 1 22 – Closer
"What You Feel Is Real - Hold Tight" – – – –
1982 "It's Alright"[15] – – 2 60 – Face to Face
"Remember" – – – –
"You Move Me" – – – –
1983 "Get It Up" – – – – –
1984 "Turn It Around" – – – – – Remember
"Out of My Life" – – – – –
1985 "Human Nature" – – 50[A] – –
"Temptation Eyes" – – – – –
1986 "Magic" – – – – –
1988 "Love the One You're With" 79 – – – –
"–" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.
Notes

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Griffin, John (August 15, 1981). "Disco alive and well and living in Verdun". The Montreal Gazette.
  2. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 513. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  3. ^ a b c Stuffco, Jered (May 2013). "Invisible Man: The Gino Soccio Story". Wax Poetics. Archived from the original on June 30, 2016. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
  4. ^ "The 30 Best Disco Songs That Every Millennial Should Know". Spin. Archived from the original on June 19, 2019. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  5. ^ "RPM Top 100 Singles - October 8, 1977" (PDF).
  6. ^ "GREG WILSON'S DISCOTHEQUE ARCHIVES #24". DJ Mag. May 23, 2018.
  7. ^ Brewster, Bill (January 14, 2014). Last Night a Dj Saved My Life: The History of the Disc Jockey. Grove Press. ISBN 9780802146106.
  8. ^ "Greatest of All Time: Top 10 Dance Club Songs Year-by-Year, 1976-2015". Billboard. January 12, 2016.
  9. ^ Rodriguez, Juan (September 12, 1979). "Guy Lafleur Slips a Disc". The Montreal Gazette. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
  10. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003. Record Research. p. 282.
  11. ^ a b c d e "Gino Soccio > Awards". Billboard. Archived from the original on August 11, 2015. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
  12. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 232. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  13. ^ "The Official Charts Company - Gino Soccio". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
  14. ^ Tim Lawrence (February 2, 2004). Love Saves the Day: A History of American Dance Music Culture, 1970–1979. Duke University Press. p. 363. ISBN 0-8223-8511-2.
  15. ^ Brian Chin (June 12, 1982). Billboard: Dance Trax. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 75. ISSN 0006-2510.