Eiffel 65

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Eiffel 65
Background information
Origin	Turin, Italy
Genre(s)	Electronic music / Eurodance
Years active	1999 - 2006
Label(s)	Universal Music
Members
Jeffrey Jey Maurizio Lobina
Former members
Gabry Ponte

Eiffel 65 was an Italian electronic/eurodance three-piece group, formed in the late 1990s and best known for their international hit "Blue (Da Ba Dee)". Their other hit singles include "Move Your Body" and "Too Much of Heaven". The name "Eiffel" was chosen randomly by a computer program and the "65" was scribbled onto their name on a demo by mistake; it was actually part of a phone number. Eiffel 65 achieved rare success in the US. Their debut single became a top ten hit and their album a top five placing and sold over two million units. No other Italian pop or dance group before or since has ever achieved such sales in the USA.

Their second album Contact! was released in 2001 and whilst it did not sell as well as Europop, it did enjoy a fair share of success in Europe. The group continued to enjoy success in their native Italy with such songs as "Viaggia Insieme a Me", "Voglia di Dance All Night", and "Cosa Resterà". In 2003, Eiffel 65 released a self-titled album, mainly in Italian.

Eiffel 65 also made thirty remixes of tracks by other artists (like S Club 7's hit single "Reach") between 1999 and 2002 and in early 2006 a remix of Yo Yo Mundi's "L'Ultimo Testimone".

In early March 2005 the group's DJ, Gabry Ponte, left the group to be able to focus on his solo career.

On May 16, 2006, the remaining two members, Maurizio Lobina and Jeffrey Jey, left Bliss Corporation to continue on their own with their own production company. Since the name "Eiffel 65" is property of Bliss Corporation, the duo has decided to continue under a new name.

Eiffel 65's long anticipated fourth album, under the working title 'Crash Test', had already finished production by the time of Maury's and Jeffrey's departure from Bliss Corporation, and has been released. The album's lyrics are in both English and Italian.

In June 2006, it was announced that Eiffel 65's new name would be Bloom 06. The first album "Crash Test 01", originally to be Eiffel 65's fourth album titled "Crash Test", was released on October 13, 2006. The debut single, which will be on air from September 2006, will be "In the City" of which an instrumental version featured (as "Living in my City") on the Special Edition of Eiffel 65's third album. Bloom 06's first single "In The City" became available for radio airplay on September 1st, 2006.

It has been hinted that the name 'Eiffel 65' could be used for a new Bliss Corporation group that might possibly consist of Gabry Ponte, Roberto Molinaro (a DJ/producer with whom Eiffel 65 have worked frequently) and other Bliss Corporation artists.

Contents 1 Members 2 Trivia 3 Discography 3.1 Albums 3.2 Singles 4 External links

[edit] Members

• Jeffrey Jey (real name Gianfranco Randone) - Born in Lentini, Sicily, on January 5, 1970 - vocals, bass.
• Maury Lobina (old name Apollo, real name Maurizio Lobina) - Born in Asti, Piedmont, October 30, 1973 - keyboards, guitar.
• Gabry Ponte (real name Gabriele Ponte) - Born in Turin, Piedmont, 20 April 1973 - DJ, left the group on 8 March 2005 to pursue a solo career.

[edit] Trivia

• Eiffel 65's "I'm Blue (Da Ba Dee)" was featured in one of the original soundtracks of Universal Pictures movie "Big Fat Liar (2002)".

• Used the vocoder frequently in their first two albums "Europop" and "Contact", but used it sparingly in their third self-titled album.

• Made a world tour in 1999/2000, performing in countries such as USA, Russia, Germany, Poland, UK and France. This was the only world tour Eiffel 65 had ever done.

• Their favourite hobbies are as follows: Jeffrey Jey - videogames, and going to the movies; Maurizio Lobina - soccer, Ferrari, and videogames; Gabry Ponte - martial arts, and collecting cartoon soundtracks. All of these hobbies can be seen, heard and understood and often portrayed from their songs and music videos.^{[citation needed]}

• Eiffel 65's "One Goal" was used as a musical theme for the French football team at the Euro 2000 competition in 2000.

• Gianfranco Randone got his nickname "Jeffrey" by his American friend who called him this as a joke, to make his name sound more American. Gianfranco then went to a vocalist audition at a disco and someone there thought he should come up with a cool nickname. So he took "Jeffrey" and added "Jay" (as in VJ or VeeJay) to the end. To make it sound more like a name, he changed the "Jay" to "Jey". "Jeffrey Jey".

• Eiffel 65's "Living In My City" was used as the theme song to a presentation by the ATRIUM Foundation due to the 2006 Winter Olympics.

• Officially disbanded in early 2006, when Jeffrey and Maury left Bliss Corporation to pursue other musical goals. However, as Eiffel 65 is still a branded name owned by Bliss Corporation, it is still available to make music. Gabry Ponte, former member of the band, had considered performing under the name, as had fellow Bliss Corporation artist Robert Molinario.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

• Europop (1999) US #4, 2x Platinum
• Contact! (2001)
• Eiffel 65 (2003) (mostly Italian language)
• Eiffel 65 2 Disc (2004)(Disc One: Eiffel 65, Disc 2: Eiffel 65 in English)
• Crash Test 01 (2006) (As Bloom 06)

[edit] Singles

• "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" (1999) - #3 IT,#6 US, #1 UK, #1 IRE, #1 FR, #1 AU, #1 Germany, #1 Latvia (10 wks)
• "Episode I" Only released in Italy as a Vinyl
• "Move Your Body" (2000) - '#1 IT,#53 US, #3 UK, #4 IRE, #1 FR, #4 AU, #4 Germany, #7 Latvia
• "Too Much of Heaven" (2000) - #1 IT,#98 US, #20 FR, #50 AU, #5 Latvia, #35 Germany
• "My Console" - Only released as a promo in Spain and Portugal
• "One Goal" #37 France
• "Episode II"
• "Back In Time" #13 Italy
• "Lucky (In My Life)" #26 Canada, #15 Italy, #23 Austria, #57 Germany, #68 France
• "80's Stars" #27 Italy
• "Losing You" - Only released in Canada as a Vinyl
• "Cosa Resterà (In A Song)" #5 Italy
• "Quelli Che Non Hanno Età" #4 Italy
• "Viaggia Insieme A Me" #13 Italy
• "Viaggia Insieme A Me RMX"
• "Una Notte E Forse Mai Più" #10 Italy
• "Voglia Di Dance All Night"
• "In The City"
• "Per Sempre"

[edit] External links

• Official Eiffel 65 Website
• Official Bloom 06 Website
• Big Russian Site about Eiffel 65
• Eiffel 65 | Gabry Ponte | Bloom 06
• Eiffel 65 Website
• French Eiffel 65 Website