BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1985
“Bad Boy” was the second single taken from the debut album “Overpower” by Den Harrow (born 4 June 1962 as Stefano Zandri) an Italo disco artist and fashion model. The name Den Harrow was conceived by producers Roberto Turatti and Miki Chieregato, who based it on the Italian word Denaro (money).
After years of fame and popularity, it was revealed by frontman Stefano Zandri and his producers that Zandri did not actually sing any of the songs credited to Den Harrow; he was essentially a character who lip-synched to vocals recorded by a number of other singers.
“Bad Boy” was actually sung by American vocalist Tom Hooker, also known as Thomas Barbey, who was residing in Italy during the Italo disco era and had several hits under his name. “Bad Boy” charted in several European countries including #3 Italy, #17 France, #20 Germany, #10 Spain and #11 Switzerland becoming one of Den Harrow’s biggest hits.
SIDE A:
Bad Boy (12″ Version) 5:47
SIDE B:
Make Ends Meet (12″ Version) 5:33
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Baby Records (2) – BRD 1250348
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM, Maxi-Single
Country: Belgium
Released: 1985
Genre: Electronic
Style: Italo-Disco
CREDITS:
Photography By – De Ligio*
Producer – Miki Chieregato, Roberto Turatti
Written-By – H.T. Beecher*, M. Chieregato*, R. Turatti*
NOTES:
From the album: Overpower.
Find the 12″ at DISCOGS
VINYL RESTORATION BY:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net
EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge: Ortofon 2M
Stylus: Ortofon 2M Bronze
Isolation: Auralex Acoustics ISO-Tone Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
DAC/Phono Pre-amp: Alpha Design Labs GT40a USB DAC
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Epson Workforce WF-7610 Professional Printer/Scanner
SOFTWARE USED:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling/Dither: iZotope RX Advanced 2
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator
RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi
Username: btg
Password: burningtheground
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Thanks very much Paul for this tracks ! The B-Side is to my knowledge un-findable on iTunes or Qobuz.
“Pour la petite histoire”, Bad Boy is one of the oldest song I remember having loved when it was aired on radios back in the days in 1985/86, when I was 10/11. I’ve never stopped liking this song ever since.
Thanks again ! More 12″ from Den Harrow would be much apprecieted, since his catalogue is no longer bought on line in downloads (nor mp4, nor wav) !
For those who don’t speak french, during the chorus the lyrics sung by the girl are as follow :
– Arrête ton char play-boy // Stop pulling my leg, you play-boy
– Ne me laisse pas toute seule // Don’t leave me alone
– Tu restes avec moi // You do stay with me
– Faire l’amour encore une fois // To make love once again
Excellent choice Paul, please check out Future Brain from Den Harrow, it is as good in my opinion.
I keep visiting your site every day and a lot of times feel like being beamed back to the times when we
“hunted” the airwaves for the newest Maxi Versions …
Stefan
Love “Future Brain” great song 🙂
I don’t listen to a lot of Italo Disco, but CATCH THE FOX and MAD DESIRE are great songs!
Fascinating information concerning this artist. Reminded me of the Milli Vanilli scandal. Either way, I love this kind of music. Paul, thanks so very much for showcasing so many different kinds of music on your page!
Jeff
Tom Hooker who actually sang this track is a good looking man he could have easily been the face for this record. Guess the producers wanted a teen model type. Good track though. I actually like the b-side too. 🙂
Pretty fun video too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=259&v=yz_RQVkvke4&feature=emb_logo
I’ sure you know this already Paul.. Tom Hooker was a success in his own right. Released many singles and albums under his own name throughout the Eighties.. including a number of Italo-Disco records and some synth-pop/rock. Well worth checking out if you like music like that (as I do). I agree with you Paul: The producers most likely wanted a younger-looking model type boy but with a great, seasoned voice. I think this 12″ really delivers. Great A side and a great B side too. Thank you very much for this Paul. It’s much appreciated. x
I don’t recall this song but after reading the vocal history I too was reminded of Milli Vanilli. I don’t know if it caused the same type on controversy. Given that this type of dance music was usually produced by sequencers, synths and samples, I never saw a problem with a “fake” vocalist as it was just another sample track in the mix; but of course they were presented as being the “real” singer so I can how that upset people.