Kano (band)
Encyclopedia
Kano was a post-disco
music project formed in 1979 by Italian
-based producers/musicians Luciano Ninzatti, Stefano Pulga and Matteo Bonsanto. Kano was the first group to usher in a new style of dance music called Italo-Disco
.
The project went on to record two other albums, including 1981's "New York Cake" (which included the minor hits "She's A Star", "Don't Try to Stop Me", and "Can't Hold Back") and 1983's "Another Life" (including the title track and "I Need Love"). Both albums introduced Kano listeners to West Indian-born singer Glen White. Their last song was 1985's "This Is the Night".
"I'm Ready" was later used as a sample
on a few songs, such as Gigolo Tony's 1986 hit "Hokie Pokie" and Rofo
's 1987 hit "Flashlight In A Disconight. The most well-known use of it as a sample is on Tag Team
's 1993 hit, "Whoomp! (There It Is)
". "Another Life" was remixed by Master Blaster featuring in their 2003 album "We Love Italo Disco". "Another Life" was also sampled in the 2005 track "Discopolis" by Lifelike & Kris Menace. "Ikeya Seki" was sampled by the French electro house artist Kavinsky
for his track "Grand Canyon", which appeared on his 2007 EP, 1986
. Finnish rapper Petri Nygård
sampled Ahjia on his 2009 song Kotibileet.
Post-disco
Post-disco refers to a historically significant period in popular music history beginning with the commercial death of disco music in the late 1970s and ending with the mainstream appearance of house music in late 1980s.The stripped-down musical trends followed from the DJ- and producer-driven,...
music project formed in 1979 by Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
-based producers/musicians Luciano Ninzatti, Stefano Pulga and Matteo Bonsanto. Kano was the first group to usher in a new style of dance music called Italo-Disco
Italo disco
Italo disco encompasses much of the dance music output in Europe during the 1980s. It is one of the world's first forms of mostly electronic dance music and evolved during the late 1970s and early 1980s in Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and other parts of Europe...
.
History
Kano's revolutionary sound was heard on radio stations and in dance clubs around the world with their debut hit single, 1980's "I'm Ready"--combining elements of '70s disco, funk and R&B while extensively using synthesizers and percussive handclaps as well as raw-processed and vocoderized vocals. Their self-titled debut album also included "It's a War", "Ahjia", "Now Baby Now" and the instrumental track "Cosmic Voyager". "I'm Ready" peaked at #21 on the U.S. Black Singles chart, while "It's a War" and "Ahjia" were also big hits on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in the U.S., reaching #2 for five weeks.The project went on to record two other albums, including 1981's "New York Cake" (which included the minor hits "She's A Star", "Don't Try to Stop Me", and "Can't Hold Back") and 1983's "Another Life" (including the title track and "I Need Love"). Both albums introduced Kano listeners to West Indian-born singer Glen White. Their last song was 1985's "This Is the Night".
"I'm Ready" was later used as a sample
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
on a few songs, such as Gigolo Tony's 1986 hit "Hokie Pokie" and Rofo
Rofo
Rofo is an italo-disco project formed by Fonny de Wulf in the early eighties. Along with Ronny Verrept, they produced two songs, "Watch Out Rofo is an italo-disco project formed by Fonny de Wulf in the early eighties. Along with Ronny Verrept, they produced two songs, "Watch Out Rofo is an...
's 1987 hit "Flashlight In A Disconight. The most well-known use of it as a sample is on Tag Team
Tag Team
Tag Team was a hip hop/pop rap duo from Atlanta, Georgia, United States active from 1993 up to 1995. The duo was made up of Cecil Glenn and Steve Gibson . They are best known for their #1 single, "Whoomp! ", which was released in 1993, but rereleased as a remix in 2000...
's 1993 hit, "Whoomp! (There It Is)
Whoomp! (There It Is)
"Whoomp! " is a number two Billboard Hot 100 single by the Miami bass group Tag Team.The song sampled a beginning synthesizer line from the 1980 Italo-disco hit "I'm Ready" by Kano. The chorus is almost the same as the song "Whoot, There It Is" released by 95 South a month earlier, however the...
". "Another Life" was remixed by Master Blaster featuring in their 2003 album "We Love Italo Disco". "Another Life" was also sampled in the 2005 track "Discopolis" by Lifelike & Kris Menace. "Ikeya Seki" was sampled by the French electro house artist Kavinsky
Kavinsky
Kavinsky is a French electro house artist, and has released three EPs on the Record Makers label: Teddy Boy in 2006, 1986 a year later and "Nightcall" in 2010. He has been remixed by SebastiAn and others. He toured alongside Daft Punk, The Rapture, Justice, and SebastiAn in 2007...
for his track "Grand Canyon", which appeared on his 2007 EP, 1986
1986 (Kavinsky song)
1986 is an EP by French electro house artist Kavinsky released on February 20, 2007. The song Testarossa Overdrive is featured in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV. The song Wayfarer is featured in the video game Midnight Club: Los Angeles. The song Grand Canyon features a sample from the song...
. Finnish rapper Petri Nygård
Petri Nygård
Petri Jukka Mikael Laurila better known by his stage name Petri Nygård is a Finnish rap-artist. He is also known under alias Dream and as Travis Bicle.-Early life:...
sampled Ahjia on his 2009 song Kotibileet.
Singles
| Year | Name |  United States R&B |
 Italy Singles |
 Singles |
 Singles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | "It's a War" | ― | ― | ― | ― |
| 1980 | "Now Baby Now" | ― | ― | ― | ― |
| "Ahjia" | ― | ― | ― | ― | |
| "Cosmic Voyager" | ― | ― | ― | ― | |
| 1981 | "I'm Ready" | #21 | ― | ― | ― |
| "Baby Not Tonight" | ― | #3 | ― | ― | |
| 1982 | "Don't Try to Stop Me" | ― | ― | ― | ― |
| "Can't Hold Back (Your Lovin')" | # 89 POP | ― | ― | ― | |
| 1983 | "Another Life" | ― | #23 | #10 | #8 |
| "Queen of Witches" | ― | ― | #64 | ― | |
| "Baby Not Tonight" | ― | #29 | - | #8 | |
| 1984 | "I Need Love" | ― | ― | ― | ― |
| "China Star" | ― | ― | ― | ― | |
| 1985 | "Ikeya Seki" | ― | ― | ― | ― |
| "This Is the Night" | ― | ― | ― | ― | |
Albums
| Year | Album | Label | United States R&B Chart |
United States Pop Chart |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Kano | Emergency Emergency Records Emergency Records was an independent record label from 1979 to 1989.Founded in the United States in early 1979, Emergency Records specialized in products of the Italian disco sound of the 1970s and 1980s. During that time, the majority of the European production of disco music came from Germany,... , Full Time |
#26 | ― |
| 1981 | New York Cake New York Cake -Production:*Cover: Novella Massaro*Art direction: Michelangelo Farina*Executive Producer: Luciano Ninzatti, Matteo Bonsanto, Stefano Pulga*Associate producer: Claudio Donato*Engineers: Bruno Malasoma, Luciano Ninzatti, Matteo Bonsanto, Stefano Pulga... |
Emergency Emergency Records Emergency Records was an independent record label from 1979 to 1989.Founded in the United States in early 1979, Emergency Records specialized in products of the Italian disco sound of the 1970s and 1980s. During that time, the majority of the European production of disco music came from Germany,... , Full Time |
#53 | #189 |
| 1983 | Another Life | Emergency Emergency Records Emergency Records was an independent record label from 1979 to 1989.Founded in the United States in early 1979, Emergency Records specialized in products of the Italian disco sound of the 1970s and 1980s. During that time, the majority of the European production of disco music came from Germany,... , Full Time |
― | ― |
| 1990 | Greatest Hits | Unidisc  |
― | ― |
External links
- Kano at DiscogsDiscogsDiscogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...
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