Valerie Dore

Monica Stucchi (born May 28, 1963), best known by her recording name, Valerie Dore is an Italian musician from Milan, Italy. She came to fame during the mid-1980s as part of the Italo disco movement.

History

Prior to her career in music, Stucchi worked as graphic designer and was a singer in a bluegrass band that played at Milano pubs called the "Watermelon String Band" (led by Bruno Guaitamacchi) when she was discovered at age 20 by the Italo producer Roberto Gasparini.

After being discovered, Monica Stucchi choose the stage name "Valerie Dore" and began work on her first song, "The Night," an Italo disco track that would be released in 1984 in conjunction with the album of the same name. The song sold 1.5 million copies^{[citation needed]} and charted in several European countries^{[citation needed]}. That year, Italian music news publication Sorrisi e Canzoni ("Smiles and Songs") awarded her the prize of best new artist of year. Dore's next two songs, "Get Closer" and "It's So Easy" were released in 1985 and had similar arrangements to "The Night." The latter song was a Top 10 hit in Italy and Switzerland.^{[citation needed]} She won second place at the Festibar singing contest in Italy and performed on the TV show "Azzurro."

Later in 1985, she fired her staff due to personal and artistic differences, feeling that her songs' arrangements were lacking variety. In an old castle near Milan, in Carimate, she began work with a new staff on The Legend, her next LP. with a generally electronic disco style combined with unique Celtic influence and lyrics about the legends of King Arthur. The album is unique in the sense that it is one of the few concept albums of the Italo disco genre, and it was released to wide critical acclaim. The first single released from the album, "Lancelot," was a hit single in Italy, and the second single, "King Arthur" was a moderate hit outside of Italy and was performed on the Italian music program Discoring. The songs "The Magic Rain" and "Bow and Arrow" were radio hits as well.

In 1986, Dore was voted the 6th best female artist in Italy by readers of Sorrisi e Canzoni. The following year, she left her producer Roberto Gasparini and then moved to London. In 1988, in London, Valerie Dore recorded the single "Wrong Direction" produced it with her future husband, Mauro Zavagli, for their new disco label "MZM PRODUCTION" (MauroZavagliMonica Production). She worked in a studio with German tecnic producer Ralph Ruppert and collaborated with musicians Nick Beegs from Kajagoogoo and Marck Price. The record only hit #23 in the Italian charts because it was not heavily promoted as had been the case with her past work.

Between 1990 and 1991, Dore and husband were in Madagascar where they began a casual collaboration with a local group, an aspiration that Dore long had. She wanted to record a new LP in a Caribbean style, but after some contact with international labels companies, she came to believe that such a record would be too different from her previous work and the rest of Italian dance music. In 1992, the ZXY label released Dore's The Best of Valerie Dore with bonus tracks: the extended versions of her dance hits "The Night", "Get Closer" and "It's So Easy," plus two remixes of "The Night" done by DJ Oliver Momm. In 1995, Mauro and Dore were living in Arezzo, Toscana, where they sold golden antique iron beds which Dore restored by hand. At the same time, they had a gallery store in Milan.

Return

November 2006 : Valerie Dore returned in an Italian compilation with a new song "How do I get to Mars?". She also created a personal web site www.valeriedore.it (Italian).

In 2007 she promoted non-smoking, on "Radio 24". She had been smoking for 15 years, and it was affecting her voice and shortening her career. She wanted to inspire others to stop smoking as well, and, through radio and in an internet forum, she encouraged abstinence.

In 2007 she recorded two singles in order to stay with her father during his illness. She has composed new songs in her home studio.

She is preparing new publications.

Notes

Her album "The best of Valerie Dore" was re-released in 2001.

German electronic band Scooter covered "The Night" which became a huge dance hit in 2003. Electronic group also made a version of "The Night". With five million of her singles and albums sold, Dore's name featured prominently in compilations that included her work.

Swedish recording act Sally Shapiro cites Valerie Dore as one of the biggest influences in her music, an update of the Italo disco style with electro-techno production styling. A promo poster for Valerie Dore's Get Closer appears tacked to the wall in Shapiro's video for "Jackie-Jackie (Spend This Winter With Me)".

French house artist Play Paul sampled "Get Closer" in his house music tracks, "Spaced Out I" and "Spaced Out II".^[1]

Discography

Singles

• 1984 - The Night [#14 Italy, #8 Switzerland, #5 Germany, #23 France, #29 Austria]
• 1984 - Get Closer [#12 Germany, #12 Italy, #11 Switzerland, #33 France]
• 1985 - It's So Easy [#13 Italy, #10 Switzerland, #51 Germany]
• 1985 - It's So Easy To Get Closer In The Night Megamix
• 1985 - Bow & Arrow
• 1985 - The Wizard
• 1985 - The Magic Rain
• 1985 - Guinnevere
• 1985 - King Arthur [#26 Italy, #24 Switzerland]
• 1986 - Lancelot [#9 Italy, #36 Germany, #10 Switzerland]
• 1986 - King Arthur / The Battle
• 1987 - The Sword Inside The Heart
• 1987 - The End Of The Story
• 1988 - On The Run
• 1988 - Wrong Direction [#23 Italy]
• 2006 - How do I get to Mars?

Albums

• 1986 - The Legend
• 1992 - The Best Of

See also

• Italo disco
• Euro disco
• Europop

References

1. ^ http://www.discogs.com/Play-Paul-Spaced-Out-Holy-Ghostz/release/7563

http://www.valeriedore.it"

External links

• http://www.valeriedore.it

Persondata
Name	Dore, Valerie
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	May 28, 1963
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death