When I first heard Baltimora's debut album, all the way back in 2018, it was a sleeper hit for me. I found track after track that I really enjoyed, prompting me to immediately pick it their second, and final studio album, 1987's Survivor In Love.
Maurizio Bassi, and Jimmy McShane met in 1984, forming a duo. Though little history is readily available these days on their past, the two apparently adopted their name when McShane closed his eyes, and pointed randomly on a map of the USA. Finding his finger on the name, "Baltimore", the two made one slight change, making the "e" an "a", keeping with their Italian roots.
The two released their first album, Living In The Background, in September 1985. While McShane was established as the frontman, producer Tom Hooker has claimed that Baltimora's lead vocals were performed by Bassi, who also served as the primary song writer. Though this claim has never been validated, it's also never been refuted.
Their first, and biggest single, Tarzan Boy took some time to build up momentum. It first peaked in European countries at number six before making its way to the UK, where it reached number three. From there, it hit Canada, peaking at number five. Though it took more time from there, it eventually entered the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number thirteen in February 1986. Their second single, Woody Boogie, entered the top twenty in Switzerland, Germany, and Sweden. However, since it didn't reach other shores, the band has since been labeled a one hit wonder.
Despite the success of their first single, the album as a whole didn't perform well. It charted in the top twenties in a few countries in Europe, and reach number forty-nine in the USA.
When it came time for their second album, Baltimora released Key Key Karimba as the lead single. It performed poorly, and support from their label was pulled. Survivor In Love would only be released in select countries as a result, skipping over Canada and the USA entirely. This would be rectified in 2003, when both of Baltimora's albums were re-released on CD. However, by this point, the duo had long since disbanded, having done so almost immediately after the albums initial release in 1987.
I really had high hopes for Survivor In Love. I wanted to find all sorts of hidden gems, the likes of which were discovered when I first played Living In The Background. I wanted to add song after song to my shuffle list, and enjoy them over and over again. I wanted to come away from it wishing Baltimora continued in the 80's and released one more album.
I got none of this.
Survivor In Love delivers forgettable track after forgettable track. None of them are catchy, none of them made me want to hear them again. None of them made it to my shuffle list. This was pure and utter disappointment. Seriously, I'm so bummed out right now. I seriously have nothing positive to say about this one. It was forty-three minutes wasted.
Truely, I have nothing else to say about the album itself.
There is a giant gap from 1987 to 1992 for McShane, where he learned after the death of his longtime partner that he was HIV positive. He would make a few appearances here and there, and even booked some studio time in 1994 to record some tracks. However, nothing came to fruition from these sessions. He announced in January 1995 his intentions to re-record Tarzan Boy, releasing the single with all proceeds going to Northern Ireland AIDS Helpline and the AIDS clinic at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast. However, this too never happened. McShane succumbed to the illness in March.
As for Bassi, little is known of what he did after Baltimora. He doesn't appear active these days in the music scene, nor to have done much with it since the duo broke up.
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS August 28, 1982 |