For your convenience, I've attached Vince's bio
VINCENT DEGIORGIO
BIOGRAPHY
With more than 200 songs credits and being instrumental in launching the careers of more than a dozen artists that have resulted in millions of album sales, Vincent Degiorgio has established himself as a dynamo in the music world. Drive and a passion for music have lead his trail-blazing career which has steered him to the ways of the business while kicking the creative side of his brain in high gear.
It started in the heydays of disco when Vincent started as an import buyer at a local record retail chain in his home town of Brampton, Ontario, Canada, which naturally progressed into spinning at the local clubs. Within a few years Vincent became one of the Canada’s premiere club DJ’s. His talent behind the DJ-tables was then recognized by RPM Magazine where Vincent began writing a disco music column and thereby making him, at the age of 17, the youngest writer on dance music in Canadian history. He later became the debut journalist for The Record with another dance music column, and moved on to work at Toronto's key and most influential club music store.
Close to a decade after the start of his career, when pop music as we know it today began to grow out of the ever popular disco era, Vincent began his music business career working for Unidisc Records in Montreal and was instrumental in breaking a half dozen records in one year, including tracks by Lime and most notably, international artists Divine (“Native Love”), Trans X's "Living On Video" and the Imagination classic (“Just An Illusion”). Re-mixing songs also became vital and during this time Vincent co-created the smash remix for The Flirts’ “Passion” (produced by Bobby Orlando) and has since done more than 60 remixes.
His most recent remix is Japanese superstar Hikaru Utada’s interpretation of “Fly Me To The Moon.” "With my concentration on writing these days, I really have to love the artist to do it" Degiorgio says. "To me, Utada was someone who I thought was amazing. Doing the mix was a real honour for me". Foreign language music is one of Degiorgio's passions, and international artists are always his favourites.
His time with Unidisc Records gave Vincent the knowledge and confidence to go at on his own and in the mid 80's, he formed Power Records. With Vincent at the helm, Power Records quickly became Canada’s most aggressive new dance label, producing and releasing 250 12" singles in an eight year period as well as Canada’s most prolific exporters of domestic dance product with releases in virtually every territory. Clubs around the globe were not far behind in the dance music scene and Power Records were tapped into almost every European dance outfit for distribution in North America.
Working one-on-one with artists became Vincent’s calling and he began producing and composing more than a dozen dance records including Tapps’ “My Forbidden Lover” (#10 Record Mirror HI-NRG and first domestic #1 dance record in ten years), Eria Fachin’s “Savin’ Myself” (#50 Billboard Hot 100, one of only two independent Canadian productions to ever reach this chart) and Barbara Doust’s “Dance In Neon Light” (1993's HiNRG Award for Best Domestic Single and #1 Dance Music Authority HiNRG chart). For his work as a producer, Vincent was nominated an innumerable of times as a producer or for the artists produced in various categories of the Hi-NRG Awards only to hear “and the winner is Stock Aitken Waterman” on a dozen occasions.
With the exception of two productions, all of the Degiorgio-produced/penned tracks were released internationally.
In 1989, Vincent ceased the creative A&R operations of Power Records, while retaining the masters, and began devoting his time to solely working with artists. He became co-producer, vocal cutter and lyricist for Andrew “Komix” Komis during his Best Beat association in New York. After co-writing the top 10 "Pull Our Love Together" for Pandella, the Billboard charting "Gonna Get Over You" by KAOS and Inner City’s “Follow You Heart” were his next compositions which garnered worldwide sales of nearly one million units. The latter peaked at #2 on the Billboard Dance Chart. After a six month look at New York, Degiorgio returned to Toronto with a renewed vigor. "Even though Power Records had been very successful, I never felt I showed what could really be done at home". That was about to change in a major way. A fateful phone call, "for free advice again", Vince laughs, was a major motivation to get even and give the major record label world a try.
It was a matter of weeks, and Vincent’s entrepreneurial side imposed itself again and in 1990 Chapter 2 Productions Inc. opened it’s doors and was subsequently hired as a Dance Music and Marketing Consultant for BMG Music Canada. As a consultant with BMG, one of Vincent’s brain-trust was the compilation DISCO CLASSICS which included the 1993 Best Remix HiNRG Award for the remix version of “Turn The Beat Around,” by the late Vicki Sue Robinson. Vincent also unleashed his journalistic skills and wrote DISCO CLASSICS’ liner notes with featured condensed versions of a 15,000 word essay on the music of the era including dozens of actual interviews.
The success of DISCO CLASSICS paved the way for Vincent to create other dance compilations through out the years. He developed the first all domestic dance compilation “Beatclub,” of which eight participants have gone on to platinum careers including Brad Daymond (*NSYNC), Chris Sheppard (Love Inc.), Derek Brin (Kristine W., Innosense, Billie) and current Chapter 2 writer Tomas Brabec (Sabrina, Pamela Gordon, remixes for Thalia, Justin Timberlake et al). By creating various dance compilation brands including “Club Cutz” and “Groove Station” – totaling over 2 million albums sold – Vincent discovered the untapped dance music market in Canada.
Degiorgio: "What I did essentially is do what Canadians really had never done at the major record label level: I looked to Europe. Because the labels truly only marketed the next great rock band I took a page from Canada's foundation, I used that framework and applied it to the dance market". Giving credence to club DJ's as he once was and record pools, BMG went on a tear, going from a 4% share to a 24% share of the market within 12 months.
In addition to contributing to artists racking up HiNRG and Dance Music Authority (DMA) Awards, Vincent started his run on the Juno Awards (Canadian GRAMMY Awards). The group Love & Sas – the first rhythmic domestic signing for which he was also responsible for all the remixes on their project – took home two consecutive Juno victories in 1992 and 1993. Hi-Bias' Red Light and Temperance were also on or close to the podium. And through his independent work with BMG, he promoted the BKS songs “Take Control” and “Astroplane” to nominations and wins in the Juno Awards dance category. Years later, that combination of braintrust (Chris Sheppard) and remixer/producer (Peter Ries) and impatient lyricist in Degiorgio himself would hit paydirt.
Vincent continued to contribute to BMG’s dance music catalogue by spearheading at least a dozen hits by Swedish producers and production teams, thereby boosting the region to become the first international territory to break “Happy” by Legacy of Sound featuring Meja (Anders Bagge’s first hit territory outside of Scandinavia), the #1 territory for Herbie Crichlow (aka Herbie) and his Denniz Pop produced masterpiece “Fingers,” and the region that spawned red-hot singles including Dr Alban’s “It’s My Life” and Ace of Base’s “All That She Wants.” It is a love affair that continues to this day. "The Swedes are amongst the most creative people I've ever met, written with or worked with".
On a trip to Germany, he discovered and later broke out of Canada to a global stage “Another Night” by Real McCoy, “What Is Love,” by Haddaway and “Rhythm Is A Dancer” by Snap. Outside of Sweden and Germany, Vincent scooped up “Movin’ Up” by Dreamworld from then Air Chrysalis creative head and now Murlyn Music chairman Pelle Lidell, which resulted in an amazing 1.5 million units in North American sales. “Sweet Dreams” by La Bouche was another in what Vince calls "Canada leading the way with another pop dance crossover hit".
With his proven track record with BMG and now focused more on his writing, Vincent signed a publishing deal with BMG Music Publishing Canada for the world and he began to secure various local cuts. "It was incredibly uncommon for any publisher to sign a pop writer, who was not in a band, or was not a touring creator. Almost 80% of the writers signed to publishing deals in Canada were amongst the concrete foundation of self-contained act." The deal has since gone on to produce one of the most successful in BMG Canada's history, with the original contract about to enter its 10th year, an unprecedented feat in the Canadian market. Vincent's songs and holdings have sold in upwards of 25 million copies,
By 1998, Vincent had traveled the world, discovered and broke more than 20 artists internationally and had made a name for himself as the master of crafting super hits. The case could not have been more true for Los Del Rio’s “Macarena.” When Vincent got his hands on the single it was in heavy rotation in the club circuit of Venezuela. He immediately recognized the possibilities for this would-be hit and pushed it through to RCA Records’ president, Bob Jamieson. In tandem with long-time friend and current FlyLife Music chairman Carmen Cacciatore, the new discovery of pop radio quickly caught on and the song became an international phenomenon as well as RCA’s all-time best selling single. It was the final record to be broken before New York called for his international and rhythmic insight.
The new team at the top of the then recently reorganized RCA Records recognized Vincent’s creativity and offered him a position in the A&R department. In his new post, he was given the duties of International A&R and remix functions of the label when required and his first signing was dance act Le Click. The next one was *NSYNC.
For their self-titled debut album, he decided to do a complete overhaul, removing seven songs, adding four massive singles including “God Must Have Spent A Little More Time On You” and “I Drive Myself Crazy.” The album has sold in excess of 10 million worldwide. While *NSYNC was topping the charts and selling out nationwide arena tours, Vincent developed and provided complete A&R for their holiday project HOME FOR CHRISTMAS. The project included “Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays,” which Vincent co-wrote with the group members and produced by Veit Renn. Sales for this album currently exceed 4 million units and is slated to celebrate its sixth holiday season. He was in the throes of working on the group's "No Strings Attached" blockbuster with A&R SVP Dave Novik when the group left to join Jive Records.
Shortly after the incredible success of the *NSYNC, the RCA top brass once again highlighted Vincent’s talent and promoted him to Vice President of International A&R. While in tenure, he continued to break artist in the dance music genre providing A&R for Kristine W’s STRONGER which features the #1 Billboard hit “Lovin’ You” which Vincent also co-wrote, as well as for RCA Victor release QUEER AS FOLK (RCA Original Television Soundtrack) which includes a track, Carole Pope’s classic “High School Confidential,” that Vincent co-produced and another "Do Ya Feel The Love" by Love Inc, that he co-wrote.
Vincent continued to uphold his roots with collaborating with writers and producers and helped secure North American publishing rights to Peter Ries, former Sandra keyboardist. He once again paired up Peter with Canadian dance impresario Chris Sheppard, and together the trio with Brad Daymond (*NSYNC) made the record books with Love Inc.’s debut album on BMG Canada which was certified platinum making it the biggest Canadian domestic dance album in history.
Peter also went on to produce “Can You Feel It,” which has been featured on the five million selling units of the “Macarena” single. Since, Mr. Ries has emerged as one of Germany’s hottest producers working with and producing No Angels, BroSis, Rivage and a host of others. His publishing deal has been extended until 2006. It continues to build upon sales in excess of 10 million units and its latest success was a terrific re-working of "When The Angels Sing" done by H.I.M Taiwan pop divas, S.H.E., selling over 300,000 units.
In the summer of 2001, Vincent parted company with RCA and dedicate his full attention to the production and writing careers of his staff at Chapter 2 Productions Inc with an office and studio in Vancouver, British Columbia after a brief stint in Los Angeles. Since its inception, not only has the company been the key link for BMG’s Music Publishing, but it has also helped satisfy Vincent’s innate talent for composing and producing songs.
He broke out in Canada with his original composition “You’re A Superstar,” which lead to top 10 success in five territories and an unprecedented #1 standing in the club charts for three weeks. Three years after his release, due in part to the support of a new team at BMG UK's associated label NuLife, "Superstar" became a legitimate bona-fide smash single, reaching # 7 on the UK Top 100, and spending no less than eight weeks in the top 10. Sales in total have reached 6 million copies on singles, albums and compilations. It remains the only domestically produced album to go platinum in the pop rhythm genre. “Here Comes The Sunshine” for Love Inc. by way of consumer and DJ interest had also exploded a few years after its initial release.with current compilation sales approaching one million units. Degiorgio stands alone as the only pop writer in Canada to have 5 # 1 dance chart singles in the country's history.
Additional compositions that made their way to the top of the charts include “Baby Come Back” for Alcazar (BMG Sweden) and a certified gold single including “Can’t Stop The Pop” for the A*Teens. In Japan, Vincent continued his introduction to the territory which began with such songs as “I Wanna Be Your Superstar” for Dance Infinity (Warner Japan) and “I’m On Fire” for Shotgun (Warner Japan) as well as the singles “Tears Don’t Lie” and “Precious” for Japanese superstar Tomomi Kahala.
Collaborations have also filled Vincent’s time including “Cinderella” recorded by Sony Australia's urbanesque duo Shakaya – a collaboration with Rebecca Hortlund and Huggy Bear Productions that was certified Gold in Australia; Sony Australia labelmates Human Nature's recording of the co-written "Haunted" has also been certified gold plus in the territory on their current album.
“Baby I’m Yours” recorded by Triple Image, a collaboration with Gary Carolla (“Tears”). Other current 'cuts' include country crossover star Beverley Mahood's "Wheels Got Wings", Operacion Triunfo's Sofia (Sony Portugal) and appearances on international Pop Idol projects by Canadian Idol Ryan Malcolm (platinum) who recorded "Crash & Burn" and South Africa pop starlet Anke.
To cap off an extremely busy year, A new recording of Kristine W's "Lovin' You" by the UK's Atomic Kitten has also been included on their current "Ladies Night" album, selling in excess of 1 million units. "To be on this record was amazing. I'm just happy the girls liked the song", Degiorgio laughed. "Never underestimate the power of pop".
Aside all of the above, Vincent continues to travel and work tirelessly in pursuit of the next great song in his catalogue, or that of his writers. His yearly travels to the Asia Pacific to provide support and do workshops in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur with Taiwan being potentially added this year. Europe is like a second home, as the base of writers he collaborates with across the pan-European stage is immense.
Vincent was elected to the Canadian dance music Hall of Fame in 1996 and has also served on the Juno Awards dance committee for five years. He is currently living in Vancouver, B.C. and is a member of the National Academy of Records Arts and Sciences (GRAMMY) dance music nominating committee, an on going six year commitment. He is a maniacal reader and loves to travel.
IN BRIEF
-Based in Vancouver, BC, Canada
-Former A&R VP at RCA New York, signed N Sync, Kristine W
-5 # 1's in Canada, most by any non-performing lyricist in the country
-signed to BMG Music Publishing Canada since 1995
-has written in innumerable countries with a host of writers including Johnny "Jam" Pedersen (Aqua, Mandy Moore), Steve Smith and Anthony Anderson (Laura Pausini), Gary Carolla (NSync, Aaron Carter), Niklas Pettersson (No Angels), Wollbeck and
Lindblom (Alcazar, Army of Lovers), Jorgen Elofsson (Gareth Gates, Westlife), Peter Ries (Bro'Sis, Rivage, No Angels), Francis & Lepont (Backstreet Boys) etc.
Cut List 2003 last quarter/2004 first half
"Lovin' You"/Atomic Kitten/
MULTI PLATINUM
"Lovin' You"/Kristine W
#1 Billboard Dance Track
"Wheels Got Wings"/Beverley Mahood/Spin-EMI Canada
"All I Need Is Love"/Gudrun/Universal-Denmark GOLD
"Ai-Tai-Yo" (Japanese All I Need Is Love)/Mayuko Kaneshita
"Get Down On The Get Down"/Kiyotama (EMI Toshiba Japan)
"Get Down On The Get Down"/Most Wanted-Q Sound UK
"You're A Superstar"/Love Inc./BMG Canada + 6 album cuts
MULTI PLATINUM, Top 10 UK
"Here Comes The Sunshine"/Love Inc./BMG Canada
MULTI PLATINUM, # 1 Dance Record
"Do It"/Noa Noa (BMG Funhouse Japan)
"Crash & Burn"/Ryan Malcolm/BMG Canada
PLATINUM
"Haunted"/Human Nature/Sony Music Australia
GOLD
"Tears Don't Lie"/Anke/BMG South Africa
GOLD
"What Best Friends Do"/Jodie/JVC Japan
"I'm The One"/Alicia Johnson/Overture/EMI
"Ready To Go"/Donatella/KLM-DEP
"Dimi Dimi Dimi"/Joe Puga/KLM-DEP
"Loco"/Joe Puga/KLM-DEP
"All About You"/Joe Puga/KLM-DEP
"My Everything"/Joe Puga/KLM-DEP
"Why You're Gone"/Joe Puga/KLM-DEP
"All That's Left Behind"/Katie Underwood/Encompass Australia
"That's All You Have To Know" (Japanese)-Bless IV-BMG Japan
"Say You Love Me"/Sabrina-Overture-release TBA
"Run"/Tess/Ministry of Sound Sweden-release TBA
"I'm Yours"/Triple Image/WEG USA/Columbia Japan
"Speechless"/Giorgia/BMG Poland
"It's Too Little, You're Too Late"/Blushed-EMI Canada
"Snowflake In June"/Sofia/BMG Portugal -aka "Days Like These"
"I'll Be There"/Taras/Hi Bias/Warner/Canada
"I Need You"/Karen David/Label Pending
Additional cut list available on request
