Raffaele Riefoli
Encyclopedia
Raffaele Riefoli is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
) is an 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...
popular singer
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
who is better known as simply Raf.
Biography
Riefoli lived the few first years of the 1980s in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, before starting out his musical career in 1984, landing mostly in the New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
scene with his English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
album Raf. His first single, "Self Control
Self Control (song)
"Self Control" is the name of an international hit song recorded in 1984 by Laura Branigan, as well as the album on which it appears. The song was recorded that same year with the same English lyrics by Italian singer Raf, who co-wrote the song with Giancarlo Bigazzi and Steve Piccolo. Branigan's...
", which he co-wrote with Giancarlo Bigazzi and Steve Piccolo, was a huge hit not only in his native Italy
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...
but also in Austria (No.7), Switzerland (No.1) and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, where the single climbed as high as No. 2 in the Media Control
Media Control Charts
The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie...
single chart and spent total of seven weeks within the top-10. Raf's version of the song also managed to enter the Top-40 in France.
"Self Control" was recorded and released contemporaneously by American pop star Laura Branigan
Laura Branigan
Laura Ann Branigan was an American singer-songwriter and actress of Italian and Irish ancestry. She is best known in the United States for her 1982 Platinum-certified hit "Gloria" and in Europe for the number-one single "Self Control"...
, previously best known for the hit singles "Gloria" and "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You
How Am I Supposed to Live Without You
"How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" is a song originally recorded by Laura Branigan in 1983. The song was recorded later the same decade by its co-writer, Michael Bolton.-Background:...
". Branigan's version was released as the first single off her 1984 album, also titled Self Control, and became a worldwide dance and pop success, hitting No. 4 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 the U.S. Branigan's version hit the No. 1 spot in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, South Africa and Canada, and was a major hit in Ireland, Australia, France, the Netherlands, and the UK. Raf's version, which was charting high in numerous markets in 1984/85, was highly expected to become the most popular song in the history of Italian music business.
Other English-language singles from Raf, "Change Your Mind", "London Town" and "Hard", were not as successful, and after an unsuccessful 1987 re-release of his first album with two of these songs as bonus tracks, Riefoli began to transition from the New Wave/dance pop genre into a softer pop style featuring vocals in his native language. Raf has released 11 studio albums throughout the years, including the 1993 Cannibali which has been certified six times platinum in Italy. That album contains many successful tracks including "Il battito animale", "Due" and "Stai con me".
Riefoli has also written songs for other Italian artists; the track "Si può dare di più", written for the trio Morandi-Ruggeri-Tozzi, won the first prize at the San Remo Festival
Festival della canzone italiana
The Festival della canzone italiana di Sanremo is a popular Italian song contest, held annually in the city of Sanremo, in Italy, and consisting of a competition amongst previously unreleased songs...
. Riefoli co-wrote the song "Gente di mare
Gente Di Mare
"Gente di mare" was the Italian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1987, performed in Italian by Umberto Tozzi & Raf.The song is a blues-influenced ballad, in which the singers describe the qualities of the "people of the sea"...
" with Umberto Tozzi
Umberto Tozzi
Umberto Antonio Tozzi is an Italian pop/rock singer and composer, born in Turin. His most internationally famous song is "Gloria" -Biography:...
and Giancarlo Bigazzi, and his duet with Tozzi became Italy's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1987
Eurovision Song Contest 1987
The Eurovision Song Contest 1987 was the 32nd Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 9 May 1987 in Brussels, Belgium after Sandra Kim's win the previous year. The presenter was Viktor Lazlo. Johnny Logan was the winner for Ireland with the song "Hold Me Now"...
, placing third. The recording was a top ten hit in Switzerland, Austria and Sweden.
In the Germanic territories, where the German Red Army Faction
Red Army Faction
The radicalized were, like many in the New Left, influenced by:* Sociological developments, pressure within the educational system in and outside Europe and the U.S...
, a terrorist cell, was popularly known by the acronym RAF, Riefoli was marketed as Raff, with a second "f". In the intervening years, a number of other artists including German and Italian artists unaffiliated with Riefoli have made recordings under the names Raf, RAF or R.A.F.
Raf continues to have a successful recording career in Italy, with his latest studio album, Metamorfosi, reaching No. 4 in the album charts in 2008.
Raf's latest studio material, Numeri was released on May 10, 2011 which peaked at No.6 on the Italian album charts.
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ITA Federation of the Italian Music Industry The Federation of the Italian Music Industry is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy.... |
SWI Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
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| Raf |
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| Self Control |
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| Svegliarsi un anno fa |
Warner Music Group Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies... |
— | — | ||||||||||
| Cosa resterà... |
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7 | — | ||||||||||
| Sogni ...é tutto quello che c'é |
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6 | — | ||||||||||
| Cannibali |
East West Records East West Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group, and operates under WMG's Independent Label Group.-History:... (Warner) |
3 | — | ||||||||||
| Manifesto |
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5 | — | ||||||||||
| La prova |
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| Iperbole |
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3 | 75 | ||||||||||
| Ouch |
Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company... (Sony BMG) |
7 | 90 | ||||||||||
| Passeggeri distratti |
Music download A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment... |
3 | — | ||||||||||
| Metamorfosi |
Music download A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment... |
4 | — | ||||||||||
| Numeri |
Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation.... ) |
6 | — | ||||||||||
| "—" denotes items that did not chart or were not released. | |||||||||||||
Compilation albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ITA Federation of the Italian Music Industry The Federation of the Italian Music Industry is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy.... |
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| Collezione temporanea |
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5 | |||||||||||
| Tutto Raf: Collezone Definitiva |
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7 | |||||||||||
| Semplicemente Raf: I Grandi Successi |
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— | |||||||||||
| "—" denotes items that did not chart or were not released. | |||||||||||||
Live albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ITA Federation of the Italian Music Industry The Federation of the Italian Music Industry is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy.... |
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| Soundview |
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— | |||||||||||
| "—" denotes items that did not chart or were not released. | |||||||||||||
As lead artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ITA Federation of the Italian Music Industry The Federation of the Italian Music Industry is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy.... |
AUT Ö3 Austria Top 40 Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann... |
FRA Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... |
GER Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
SWI Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
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| "Self Control Self Control (song) "Self Control" is the name of an international hit song recorded in 1984 by Laura Branigan, as well as the album on which it appears. The song was recorded that same year with the same English lyrics by Italian singer Raf, who co-wrote the song with Giancarlo Bigazzi and Steve Piccolo. Branigan's... " |
1984 | 1 | 7 | 40 | 2 | 1 | Raf | ||||||
| "I Don't Want to Lose You" | 1985 | 36 | — | — | — | — | |||||||
| "Change Your Mind" | 18 | — | — | 19 | — | ||||||||
| "Hard" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "London Town" | 1987 | 32 | — | — | — | — | |||||||
| "Inevitabile follia" | 1988 | 10 | — | — | — | — | Svegliarsi un anno fa | ||||||
| "Svegliarsi un anno fa" | 39 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "La Battaglia del sesso" | 1989 | — | — | — | — | — | Cosa resterà... | ||||||
| "Cosa resterà degli anni '80" | 6 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Ti pretendo" | 2 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "E' meglio così " | 1991 | — | — | — | — | — | Sogni ...é tutto quello che c'é | ||||||
| "Interminatamente" | 3 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Oggi un dio non ho" | 3 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Senza respiro" | 22 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Siamo soli nell'immenso vuoto che c'è" | 3 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Anche tu"(Raf featuring Eros Ramazzotti Eros Ramazzotti Eros Luciano Walter Ramazzotti , known simply as Eros Ramazzotti, is an Italian singer and songwriter. Ramazzotti is enormously popular in Italy, and is well known in most non-English-speaking European countries and in the Spanish-speaking world, as he has released most of his albums in both... ) |
— | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Il Battito animale" | 1993 | 4 | — | — | — | — | Cannibali | ||||||
| "Cannibali" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Il Canto" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Due" | 5 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Stai con me" | 1994 | 20 | — | — | — | — | |||||||
| "Dentro ai tuoi occhi" | 1995 | — | — | — | — | — | Manifesto | ||||||
| "Il Suono c'è" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Un Grande salto" | 1996 | — | — | — | — | — | Collezione temporanea | ||||||
| "Lava" | 1998 | — | — | — | — | — | La prova | ||||||
| "La Danza della pioggia" | 1999 | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||
| "Infinito" | 2001 | 1 | — | — | — | 89 | Iperbole | ||||||
| "Via" | 19 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "In tutti i miei giorni" | 2004 | 7 | — | — | — | — | Ouch | ||||||
| "Superstiti" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Dimentica" | 2006 | 4 | — | — | — | — | Passeggeri distratti | ||||||
| "Passeggeri distratti" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Non è mai un errore" | 2008 | 12 | — | — | — | — | Metamorfosi | ||||||
| "Ossigeno" | 12 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Ballo" | 2009 | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||
| "Per tutto il tempo" | — | — | — | — | — | Soundview | |||||||
| "Un'emozione inaspettata" | 2011 | — | — | — | — | — | Numeri | ||||||
| "—" denotes items that did not chart or were not released. | |||||||||||||
As featured artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ITA Federation of the Italian Music Industry The Federation of the Italian Music Industry is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy.... |
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| "Gente di mare" (Umberto Tozzi Umberto Tozzi Umberto Antonio Tozzi is an Italian pop/rock singer and composer, born in Turin. His most internationally famous song is "Gloria" -Biography:... featuring Raf) |
1987 | 5 | Invisible | ||||||||||
| "Tu vivrai" (Pooh Pooh (band) Pooh is an Italian pop band formed in 1966. They are referred to in the plural as i Pooh .-Current lineup:*Roby Facchinetti , Vocals and keyboards from 1966... , Eros Ramazzotti Eros Ramazzotti Eros Luciano Walter Ramazzotti , known simply as Eros Ramazzotti, is an Italian singer and songwriter. Ramazzotti is enormously popular in Italy, and is well known in most non-English-speaking European countries and in the Spanish-speaking world, as he has released most of his albums in both... , Enrico Ruggeri Enrico Ruggeri Enrico Ruggeri is an Italian rock singer-songwriter.-Biography:A native of Milan, Ruggeri made his debut in the 1970s with the punk band Decibel... , Raf, Umberto Tozzi) |
1990 | — | Non-album track | ||||||||||
| "Per la gloria" (Mario Lavezzi, Gianni Bella, Riccardo Cocciante Riccardo Cocciante Riccardo Cocciante, also known in French-speaking countries as Richard Cocciante , is an Italian singer-songwriter and actor. His oeuvre includes recordings in Italian, French, and Spanish; he has recorded some of his songs in all three languages.He was born in Saigon, French Indochina, now Ho Chi... , G. Combo, Mango, Raf) |
1991 | — | Non-album track | ||||||||||
| "Mi rubi l'anima" (Laura Pausini Laura Pausini Laura Pausini, is a Grammy Award-winning Italian soul singer-songwriter. She debuted in 1993, winning the newcomer artists' section of the 43rd Sanremo Music Festival with the song "La solitudine", which became an Italian standard and an international hit, reaching the top spot on the Italian... featuring Raf) |
1993 | — | Laura Pausini Laura Pausini (1993 album) Laura Pausini is the debut album album by Italian singer Laura Pausini. It was released in Italy on 18 May 1993 by CGD Records .Following the success obtained in Italy, where it sold 400,000 copies, the album was later released in Europe, Australia and Japan... |
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| "—" denotes items that did not chart or were not released. | |||||||||||||