Living in the Background (album)

Living in the Background is the debut studio album by Italian-based act Baltimora, released in the United States in April 1985 by EMI-Manhattan Records and in Europe on 4 September 1985 by EMI.

Overview
Jimmy McShane supposedly performed the lead vocals, although there is some controversy surrounding who the actual singer is, while the songs were written by Maurizio Bassi and Naimy Hackett. "Tarzan Boy", the first single released from the album, became an international success, peaking at number 13 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and at number three in the United Kingdom. "Woody Boogie" and "Living in the Background" were also released as singles, with the latter becoming the group's only other song to crack the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 87 on the chart.

The album has been released with at least three different covers. The US and Canadian cover features Jimmy McShane jumping in the air on a red background with black text. The text is an extract from a prose poem by French poet Stéphane Mallarmé, "Le Phénomène Futur" (The Future Phenomenon).

The album has also been released and re-released in various forms, though none of these different versions of the album seem to correlate with any particular one of the various album covers. A bonus track from one of these later pressings of the album, "Juke Box Boy" was also released as a single.

The original CD issue of Living in the Background, from 2003, is out-of-print. An Italian CD release was issued in 2005, and that same year an unofficial Russian release circulated too.

Musicians

 * Maurizio Bassi – keyboards, piano, lead vocals
 * Leandro Gaetano – keyboards, Fairlight CMI programming, PPG Wave 2.3, Xpander, Yamaha synthesizer
 * Claudio Bazzari, Giorgio Cocilovo – electric guitars
 * Claudio Pascoli – saxophone
 * Pier Michelatti – bass
 * Gabriele Melotti – drums, Linn drum programming, Simmons EDS 7
 * Moreno Ferrara, Malcom Charlton, Silvano Fossati, Naimy Hackett, Lella Esposito, Jimmy McShane, Silver Pozzoli – backing vocals

Technical

 * Maurizio Bassi – producer, arrangement
 * Jurgen Koppers – mixing
 * Paolo Mescoli – recording

Artwork

 * Michele Bernardi – cover illustration
 * Martin Beckett – photography (UK edition)