Eiffel 65
Eiffel 65 is an Italian Eurodance group that was formed in 1997 in the studios of the Turin record company Bliss Corporation, consisting of Jeffrey Jey, Maurizio Lobina, and formerly Gabry Ponte. They gained global popularity with their singles "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" and "Move Your Body" from their 1999 debut studio album Europop. The singles reached number one in many countries, while the album peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 chart. Their following two albums, Contact! (2001) and their 2003 self-titled album did not gain international success, but still managed to gain success in Italy.
For other uses, see Eiffel (disambiguation).
Eiffel 65
Throughout their career, the group won a World Music Award in 2000 for the World Best Selling Italian Group, and a B.M.I USA in Los Angeles, rewarding the most-broadcast song on radio in the United States. They were also nominated at the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording for "Blue (Da Ba Dee)".[4]
Eiffel 65 also produced remixes of numerous popular songs, and they recorded "One Goal", one of the official songs of the UEFA Euro 2000, and "Living in My City" for the 2006 Winter Olympics. With more than 20 million copies sold[5] and many gold, platinum and diamond records, it is one of Italy's most popular electronic groups.
In 2005, Ponte focused on his solo career, and then Jey and Lobina collaborated as a duo called Bloom 06. In 2010, the original group reunited, though Ponte no longer participates.
History[edit]
1992: Formation[edit]
Randone, Ponte and Lobina met at Bliss Corporation, which was founded in 1992 by Massimo Gabutti. A computer chose the name Eiffel randomly from a group of words the three had selected but the number 65 was added to it by mistake: the producer had written a phone number on a piece of paper and two digits of it ended up on the label copy. The graphic artist who received it assumed that it had been added afterwards so he just fused it to the band name for their first release.[6]
1992–2001: Breakthrough with Europop[edit]
Eiffel 65 became famous for their international chart-topping hits "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" and "Move Your Body". Both songs were featured singles on their debut album Europop, which was released on 22 November 1999.
The band achieved considerable success in Italy and the rest of Europe,[7] in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Brazil.[8] Europop peaked in the top five on the Billboard 200[9] and on the Billboard Canadian Albums chart.[10] "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" peaked at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100,[11] reached No. 1 in the UK[12] and in Germany[13] and number 3 in Italy.[14]
2001-2005: Follow-up albums[edit]
Their second album, Contact! was released in 2001, with "'80s Stars" peaking at No. 9 in Italy. A self-titled album was released in 2003.
Eiffel 65 also remixed, between 1999 and 2002, other artists' tracks like the Bloodhound Gang's "The Bad Touch",[15] Nek's "La vita è", S Club 7's "Reach"[16] and in early 2005, a remix of Yo Yo Mundi's "L'ultimo testimone".[17]
Zorotl[edit]
Zorotlekuykauo "Zorotl" Sushik IV [22] is a character created by the Bliss Corporation and featured in the videos of "Blue (Da Ba Dee)", "Move Your Body" and "Lucky (In My Life)". Zorotl was supposed to be a malicious character but since he was designed with a funny round body, the authors of the "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" video decided to portray it as tender, changing the script and giving it a happy ending.[23] In 2000, Bliss Corporation made a video for the unreleased Eiffel 65 song "I Wanna Be". An alpha version of the video appeared as enhanced content for Eiffel 65's single "Too Much of Heaven". The song is credited to Zorotl even though it was recorded by members of Eiffel 65, so Zorotl is considered a virtual group.