Raf (singer)
| Raf | |
|---|---|
 Raf | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Raffaele Riefoli |
| Also known as |
Raf Raff |
| Born | September 29, 1959 |
| Origin | Margherita di Savoia, Italy |
| Genres | Adult contemporary, soft rock, new wave, Dance-pop, Pop-rap, Electropop, rock, progressive rock, italian music, pop, punk rock, pop rock, songwriting music, jazz, Smooth jazz, Jazz fusion, italo disco, latin pop |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 1983–present |
| Labels | Carrere, East West, Columbia |
| Website | Raf Official Site |
Raffaele Riefoli (born September 29, 1959 in Margherita di Savoia, Italy) is an Italian singer-songwriter who is better known as simply Raf.
Biography
Riefoli lived the few first years of the 1980s in London, England, before starting out his musical career in 1984, landing mostly in the new wave scene with his English language debut album, Raf. His first single, "Self Control", which he co-wrote with Giancarlo Bigazzi and Steve Piccolo, was a huge hit not only in his native Italy but also in Austria (No. 7), Switzerland (No. 1)[1] and Germany, where the single climbed as high as No. 2 in the Media Control single chart and spent a total of seven weeks within the Top 10.[2] Raf's version of the song also managed to enter the Top-40 in France.[1]
"Self Control" was recorded and released contemporaneously by American pop star Laura Branigan, previously best known for the hit singles "Gloria" (another cover version originally released by Umberto Tozzi) and "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You". Branigan's version was released as the first single off her 1984 album, also titled Self Control, and became a worldwide dance and pop success, hitting No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. Branigan's version hit the No. 1 spot in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, South Africa and Canada, and was a major hit in Ireland, Australia, France, the Netherlands and the UK. Raf's version, which was charting high in numerous markets in 1984/85, was highly expected to become the most popular song in the history of the Italian music industry.[3]
Other English-language singles from Raf, "Change Your Mind", "London Town" and "Hard", were not as successful, and after an unsuccessful 1987 re-release of his first album with two of these songs as bonus tracks, Riefoli began to transition from the new wave/dance-pop genre into a softer pop style featuring vocals in his native language. Raf has released 11 studio albums throughout the years, including the 1993 Cannibali, which has been certified six times platinum in Italy. That album contains many successful tracks including "Il battito animale", "Due" and "Stai con me".
Riefoli has also written songs for other Italian artists; the track "Si può dare di più", written for the trio Morandi-Ruggeri-Tozzi, won the first prize at the San Remo Festival. Riefoli co-wrote the song "Gente di mare" with Umberto Tozzi and Giancarlo Bigazzi, and his duet with Tozzi became Italy's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1987, placing third. The recording was a top ten hit in Switzerland, Austria and Sweden.
In the Germanic territories, where the German Red Army Faction, a terrorist cell, was popularly known by the acronym RAF, Riefoli was marketed as Raff, with a second "f".[4] In the intervening years, a number of other artists including German and Italian artists unaffiliated with Riefoli have made recordings under the names Raf, RAF or R.A.F.
Raf continues to have a successful recording career in Italy with his latest studio albums, Metamorfosi (2008), Numeri (2011), Le ragioni del cuore (2012) reaching No. 4, No.6, No. 13 respectively in the Italian album charts.[5]
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ITA [6] |
SWI [7] | ||||||||||||
| Raf | — | — | |||||||||||
| Self Control[lower-alpha 1] |
|
— | — | ||||||||||
| Svegliarsi un anno fa |
|
— | — | ||||||||||
| Cosa resterà... |
|
7 | — | ||||||||||
| Sogni ...é tutto quello che c'é |
|
6 | — | ||||||||||
| Cannibali |
|
3 | — | ||||||||||
| Manifesto |
|
5 | — | ||||||||||
| La prova |
|
— | — | ||||||||||
| Iperbole |
|
3 | 75 | ||||||||||
| Ouch | 7 | 90 | |||||||||||
| Passeggeri distratti |
|
3 | — | ||||||||||
| Metamorfosi |
|
4 | — | ||||||||||
| Numeri |
|
6 | — | ||||||||||
| Le ragioni del cuore |
|
13 | — | ||||||||||
| "—" denotes items that did not chart or were not released. | |||||||||||||
Compilation albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ITA [8] | |||||||||||||
| Collezione temporanea |
|
5 | |||||||||||
| Tutto Raf: Collezione Definitiva |
|
7 | |||||||||||
| Semplicemente Raf: I Grandi Successi |
|
58 | |||||||||||
| "—" denotes items that did not chart or were not released. | |||||||||||||
Live albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ITA [10] | |||||||||||||
| Soundview |
|
29 | |||||||||||
| "—" denotes items that did not chart or were not released. | |||||||||||||
Singles
As lead artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ITA [11] |
AUT [12] |
FRA [13] |
GER [14] |
SWI [7] | |||||||||
| "Self Control" | 1984 | 1 | 7 | 40 | 2 | 1 | Raf | ||||||
| "I Don't Want to Lose You" | 1985 | 36 | — | — | — | — | |||||||
| "Change Your Mind" | 18 | — | — | 19 | — | ||||||||
| "Hard" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "London Town" | 1987 | 32 | — | — | — | — | |||||||
| "Inevitabile follia" | 1988 | 10 | — | — | — | — | Svegliarsi un anno fa | ||||||
| "Svegliarsi un anno fa" | 39 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "La Battaglia del sesso" | 1989 | — | — | — | — | — | Cosa resterà... | ||||||
| "Cosa resterà degli anni '80" | 6 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Ti pretendo" | 2 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "E' meglio così " | 1991 | — | — | — | — | — | Sogni ...é tutto quello che c'é | ||||||
| "Interminatamente" | 3 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Oggi un dio non ho" | 3 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Senza respiro" | 22 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Siamo soli nell'immenso vuoto che c'è" | 3 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Anche tu"(Raf featuring Eros Ramazzotti) | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Il Battito animale" | 1993 | 4 | — | — | — | — | Cannibali | ||||||
| "Cannibali" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Il Canto" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Due" | 5 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Stai con me" | 1994 | 20 | — | — | — | — | |||||||
| "Dentro ai tuoi occhi" | 1995 | — | — | — | — | — | Manifesto | ||||||
| "Il Suono c'è" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Un Grande salto" | 1996 | — | — | — | — | — | Collezione temporanea | ||||||
| "Lava" | 1998 | — | — | — | — | — | La prova | ||||||
| "La Danza della pioggia" | 1999 | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||
| "Infinito" | 2001 | 1 | — | — | — | 89 | Iperbole | ||||||
| "Via" | 19 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "In tutti i miei giorni" | 2004 | 7 | — | — | — | — | Ouch | ||||||
| "Superstiti" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Dimentica" | 2006 | 4 | — | — | — | — | Passeggeri distratti | ||||||
| "Passeggeri distratti" | 23 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Non è mai un errore" | 2008 | 12 | — | — | — | — | Metamorfosi | ||||||
| "Ossigeno" | 12 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Ballo" | 2009 | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||
| "Per tutto il tempo" | 47 | — | — | — | — | Soundview | |||||||
| "Un'emozione inaspettata" | 2011 | 28 | — | — | — | — | Numeri | ||||||
| "Le ragioni del cuore" | 2012 | 49 | — | — | — | — | Le ragioni del cuore | ||||||
| "Show Me the Way to Heaven" (VS. F-Clef) |
2014 | 35 | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | ||||||
| "—" denotes items that did not chart or were not released. | |||||||||||||
As featured artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ITA [15] |
GER [14] |
SWI [7] | |||||||||||
| "Gente di mare" (Umberto Tozzi featuring Raf) |
1987 | 5 | 39 | 7 | Invisible | ||||||||
| "Tu vivrai" (Pooh, Eros Ramazzotti, Enrico Ruggeri, Raf, Umberto Tozzi) |
1990 | — | — | — | Non-album track | ||||||||
| "Per la gloria" (Mario Lavezzi, Gianni Bella, Riccardo Cocciante, G. Combo, Mango, Raf) |
1991 | — | — | — | Non-album track | ||||||||
| "Mi rubi l'anima" (Laura Pausini featuring Raf) |
1993 | — | — | — | Laura Pausini | ||||||||
| "—" denotes items that did not chart or were not released. | |||||||||||||
Footnotes
- ↑ The album Self Control was a re-released version of the 1984 album, Raf. The '87 version contained two new additional songs, "Hard" and "London Town".
References
- 1 2 "Raf: Self Control". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
- ↑ "CHARTS-DEUTSCHLAND: Single Top 100 (1984-06-25)". charts.de. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
- ↑ Italy's Self Control in Worldwide Charts Assault. Billboard Magazine. 1984-06-24. Retrieved 2010-09-06.
- ↑ "One Hit Wonder: Raff -Self Control". Bayerischer Rundfunk Online. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
- ↑ "Raf: Album positions on Italiancharts.com". Hung Meiden. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
- ↑ Peak positions for Italy's studio albums:
- For all albums except those listed below: "Italiancharts.com: Raf (Albums)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2011-07-14.
- For Cosa resterà...: "Gli album più venduti del 1989". hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 2011-07-14.
- For Sogni ...é tutto quello che c'é: "Gli album più venduti del 1991". hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 2011-07-14.
- For Cannibali: "Gli album più venduti del 1993". hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 2011-07-14.
- For Manifesto: "Gli album più venduti del 1995". hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 2011-07-14.
- 1 2 3 "Schweizer Hitparade: Raf". Schwiezer Hitparade Hung Medien. Retrieved 2015-04-05.
- ↑ Peak positions for Italy's compilation albums:
- For Collezione temporanea: "Gli album più venduti del 1996". hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 2011-07-14.
- For Tutto Raf: Collezone Definitiva: "Italiancharts.com: Raf (Albums)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2011-07-14.
- For Semplicemente Raf: I Grandi Successi: "FIMI: Classifica settimanale WK 44 (dal 2008-10-27 al 2008-11-02)". FIMI. Retrieved 2015-04-04.
- ↑ "F.I.M.I.: Certificazioni (Archivio)" (in Italian). Federation of the Italian Music Industry. Retrieved 2014-05-23.Note: To retrieve the certifications, 1) select "Album e Compilation" in the box of "Sezione" 2) type in Raf in the box of "Filtra "3) select "2014" in the box of "Anno" 4
- ↑ "FIMI: Classifica settimanale WK 45 (dal 2009-11-02 al 2009-11-08)". FIMI. Retrieved 2015-04-04.
- ↑ For peaks positions in Italy:
- For all singles up to the year 2001: "Indice per Interprete R: Raf (Singles)". hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 2011-07-14.
- For "Infinito", "Via", "In tutti i miei giorni", "Dimentica", "Passeggeri distratti", "Non è mai un errore", "Ossigeno": "Italiancharts.com: Raf (Singles)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2011-07-14.
- For "Per tutto il tempo": "FIMI: Classifica settimanale WK 46 (dal 2009-11-09 al 2009-11-15)". FIMI. Retrieved 2015-04-04.
- For "Un'emozione inaspettata": "FIMI: Classifica settimanale WK 22 (dal 2011-05-30 al 2011-06-05)". FIMI. Retrieved 2015-04-04.
- For "Le ragioni del cuore": "FIMI: Classifica settimanale WK 35 (dal 2012-08-27 al 2012-09-02)". FIMI. Retrieved 2015-04-04.
- For "Show Me the Way to Heaven": "FIMI: Classifica settimanale WK 20 (dal 2014-05-12 al 2014-05-18)". FIMI. Retrieved 2015-04-04.
- ↑ "Austriancharts.at: Raf (Singes)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2011-07-14.
- ↑ "Lescharts.com: Raf (Singes)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2011-07-14.
- 1 2 "Charts: Raf (Singes)". Charts.de. Retrieved 2015-04-05.
- ↑ "Indice per Interprete R: Raf (Singes)". hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 2011-07-14.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Raf (singer). |
| Preceded by Romina Power & Al Bano |
Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 1987 (with Umberto Tozzi) |
Succeeded by Luca Barbarossa |