Gino Vannelli is the son of Russ Vannelli, big band musician who played with the likes of Bix Belair and Maynard Ferguson. During his formative years growing up in Montreal, Vannelli played the drums and went to McGill University for music theory.
During this period he formed a band with his brother Joe while brother Ross was added later. Gino and Joe would eventually be signed by RCA Records and put out some less than stellar recordings under the name Vann Elli.
Having toured the Canadian provinces as Gino Vannelli And Good Friends, the pair headed to Los Angeles with demo tape in hand, to seek fame and fortune.
After being rejected by nearly every US record label, Gino waited to ambush A & M Records co-founder Herb Alpert outside the gates of the label's LA offices with his guitar. After about 4 hours Alpert showed up and Vannelli practically ran him over. Following a scuffle with security Alpert realized Vannelli was not a crazed fan and allowed him to audition. Alpert granted Vannelli the record deal under one condition - Alpert had to produce his debut album. Which happened in 1973. The album didn't produce a single and languished in unattended fashion.
His sophomore release, 'Powerful People' on the other hand, was enthusiastically received. 1974, saw the beginnings of the disco era, and the lead off single "People Gotta Move" reached number 22 on Billboard's Hot 100 in October and garnered a Grammy nomination.
At the height of his disco-stud rise to fame, Vannelli took a left turn and released 1975's 'Storm At Sunup' which was pure jazz with a continuous synth injection. A & M got nervous and insisted Vannelli return to the accessible funk and dance material he had previously taken to the top of the charts. Vannelli compromised and released commercially viable singles with enough conceptual material to satisfy his own artistic sense.
Vannelli's fifth album, ' A Pauper In Paradise', mixed classical and pop as the sessions were recorded in London with the help of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
With the release of 'Brother To Brother' in 1978, Vannelli found himself with much sought after hit records in "I Just Wanna Stop", "Appaloosa" and "The Wheels of Life"). The success of the album brought him a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Performance' and major radio airplay. On the concert front, the Brother To Brother' tour played major world venues like Carnegie Hall as well as larger arenas. In Canada, Vannelli, along with his brothers Joe and Ross, had by now earned five consecutive Juno awards as Canada's Top Male Vocalist, Producer, and Engineer Of the Year, respectively. It would also mark the end of his tenure with A&M Records.
Vannelli re-assessed his career and signed on with Arista who released 1981's 'Nightwalker' which further explored the pop genre. The single, "Living Inside Myself", reached number 7 on the Billboard charts. His association with Arista was short lived however due to a house cleaning at the label and Vannelli took another break to once more redefine not only his sound but his look.
In 1985 Vannelli decided to haul out the big production guns by utilizing the studio he had built in the intervening years and run by him and his brother. 'Black Cars' was a contemporary '80's album with serious production values. The album spawned four hit singles including the title track and put Vannelli at the top of the charts and the cover of magazines.
The Vannelli's literally carbon copied the successful 'Black Cars' album on 1987's 'Big Dreamers Never Sleep', but tipped the style more towards Latin and R&B flavors. "Wild Horses" hit the charts as did "Young Lover" and "Persona Non Grata" received major airplay in Canada and Europe, yet the USA had all but ignored it.
With the release of 'Inconsolable Man' in 1990, Vannelli delighted fans everywhere by launching his first world tour in 12 years. As a celebration of this rare occasion a live album was recorded at Le Spectrum in Montreal on November 18, 1990 and released as 'Live In Montreal' in 1992.
Once again, during the lay-off between 'Inconsolable Man' and his next studio recording Vannelli switched musical gears by tuning into his own spirituality and revisiting his jazz influence . The results would be released five years later as 'Yonder Tree'.
Vannelli made a commercial comeback once again with 1998's 'Slow Love'.
Singles
as VANN ELLI
1970 Gina Bold (RCA)
as GINO VANNELLI
1974 People Gotta Move (A & M)
1975 Powerful People (A & M)
1975 Love Me Now (A & M)
1976 Keep On Walking (A & M)
1976 Love Of My Life (A & M)
1978 I Just Wanna Stop (A & M)
1979 Appaloosa (A & M)
1979 Wheels Of Life (A & M)
1979 The River Must Flow (A & M)
1981 Living Inside Myself (Arista)
1981 Nightwalker (Arista)
1985 Black Cars (Mercury)
1985 Hurts To Be In Love (Mercury)
1985 Just A Motion Away (Mercury)
1987 Wild Horses (Mercury)
1987 Persona Non Grata (Mercury)
1987 Young Lover (Mercury)
1987 In The Name Of Money (Mercury)
1991 Cry Of Love (Mercury)
1991 The Time Of Day (Mercury)
1991 If I Should Lose This Love (Mercury)
1993 L'Amour Est Loi (Mercury) [duet with Martine Saint-Claire]
Albums
1973 Crazy Life (A & M)
1974 Powerful People [retitled People Gotta Move] (A & M)
1975 Storm At Sunup (A & M)
1976 The Gist Of The Gemini (A & M)
1977 A Pauper In Paradise (A & M)
1978 Brother To Brother (A & M)
1978 The Best Of Gino Vannelli (A & M)
1981 Nightwalker (Arista)
1985 Black Cars (Mercury)
1987 Big Dreamers Never Sleep (Mercury)
1990 Inconsolable Man (Mercury)
1992 Live In Montreal (Mercury)
1995 Yonder Tree (Verve/Mercury)
1998 Slow Love (Mercury)
Video
Compilation Tracks
Submit corrections, additions and feedback
