Den Harrow
| Den Harrow | |
|---|---|
Den Harrow (2009)
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Stefano Zandri |
| Born |
4 June 1962 Nova Milanese, Italy |
| Origin | Italy |
| Genres | Italo disco |
| Years active | 1983–present |
| Labels | |
Den Harrow is an Italo disco project fronted by Stefano Zandri (born 4 June 1962), an Italian fashion model. The name Den Harrow was conceived by the project's producers Turatti and Chieregato, who based it on the Italian word denaro (money). Stefano Zandri, however, uses the name Den Harrow as his stage name.
Den Harrow was a popular project in the 1980s and reached the top ten in Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and Sweden with hits like "Future Brain", "Mad Desire", "Bad Boy", "Don't Break My Heart", "Day by Day", and "Catch the Fox", all from the first two albums Overpower and Day by Day. The name "Den Harrow" was invented by the producers of the project, which according to them is based 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 the Den Harrow songs; he was essentially a character who lip-synched to vocals recorded by a number of other singers. Furthermore, since they did not consider Zandri's name and origin to be "trendy" enough, the producers R. Turatti and M. Chieregato concealed Zandri's Italian origin, marketing him as having been born Manuel Stefano Carry in Boston, Massachusetts. This was done so Polydor Records could market him more easily in the English-speaking world, where Italian-produced music was, at the time, viewed with skepticism.
American vocalist Tom Hooker, a.k.a. Thomas Barbey, who was residing in Italy during the Italo disco era, sang most of the songs for the Den Harrow project, including the 1985–1986 European hit singles "Don't Break My Heart", "Bad Boy", "Catch the Fox", and "Future Brain". Another vocalist, Anthony James from England, was contracted to sing the lead vocals on the Lies album (1988), and also provided the lead vocals on songs like "Holiday Night", "My Time", "You Have a Way". During an interview, Tom Hooker explains why it was decided to be done this way:
Also according to Tom Hooker, Chuck Rolando's voice was used in the early singles "To Meet Me" and "A Taste of Love". Later on, Silver Pozzoli was chosen to do the single "Mad Desire"; however, Hooker provided the vocals for the album releases of "Mad Desire". Although Hooker continued co-writing tracks for Den Harrow project, the producers wanted to use a higher-voiced vocalist for the 1988 album Lies. Hooker says that Zandri did sing on the 1991 Den Harrow single "Ocean".
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