Candi & The Backbeat was a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 pop band with lead vocalist Candy Pennella (Candita Pennella). They started out as an Italian wedding band before releasing their debut self-titled album, Candi, in 1988 on the I.R.S. Records

I.R.S. Records

I.R.S. Records was a record label, started in the United States in 1979 by Miles Copeland III along with Jay Boberg and Carl Grasso. Miles was also the manager of Wishbone Ash, The Police, and later, Sting, as well as other bands. I.R.S. was the sister label of Copeland's Illegal Records .I.R.S...

 label. Band members included Nino Milazzo on bass & background vocals, Paul Russo on drums & percussion, and Rich Imbrogno on keyboards. The band is best known among U.S. audiences for the freestyle classic "Dancing Under a Latin Moon," a major dance hit which also made number 68 on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 in 1988.

In 1990, at the 20th Juno Award

Juno Award

The Juno Awards are presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music...

s Candy Pennella was nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year, losing to Rita MacNeil

Rita MacNeil

Rita MacNeil, CM, ONS is a Canadian country and folk singer from the community of Big Pond on Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Island. Her biggest hit, "Flying On Your Own", was a crossover Top 40 hit in 1987 and was covered by Anne Murray the following year, although she has had hits on the country...

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She was nominated for the same award the next year, losing to Celine Dion

Celine Dion

Céline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record...

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Included in the Candi album was "Under Your Spell", nominated for the Single of the Year at the 1990 Junos. "Under Your Spell" and "Missing You", from the same album, were both nominated for Best Dance Recording at the same award show.

The band, under the new name Candi & The Backbeat, released the album World Keeps On Turning in 1990. The title track from the album was nominated for the Best Dance Recording at the 1991 Junos.

After the promotion of the album, they decided not to continue with the project. Candy ended up marrying her drummer and currently teaches highschool in the Toronto area.

Candi album

Track listings (minutes:seconds):

Side one:

1. "Under Your Spell" (3:49)
2. "Missing You" (3:56)
3. "Shine On" (3:58)
4. "Independent" (5:32)
5. "Love Makes No Promises" (4:50)
6. "Dancing Under a Latin Moon" (4:29)
7. "Dance With Me" (3:38)
8. "Lucky Night" (4:29)
9. "Pleasure Island" (4:36)
10. "Closer Than Ever" (3:52) featuring Eugene Hunt

World Keeps On Turning album

Side one:

1. "The World Just Keeps On Turning"
2. "Friends Forever"
3. "What's In A Love"
4. "Dream Train"
5. "Good Together"
6. "Time For A New Life"
7. "Getting Closer"
8. "Someone Like You"
9. "Find Love (Don't You Wanna)"
10. "Saving All The Love"