Raf (singer)

Raf

Raf
Background information
Birth name Raffaele Riefoli
Also known as Raf
Raff
Born (1959-09-29) 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]
  • Released: 1987
  • Label: Carrere
  • Formats: Cassette, CD, LP
Svegliarsi un anno fa
  • Released: May 16, 1988
  • Label: Warner
  • Formats: Cassette, CD, LP
Cosa resterà...
  • Released: February 7, 1989
  • Label: Warner
  • Formats: Cassette, CD, LP
7
Sogni ...é tutto quello che c'é
  • Released: March 1, 1991
  • Label: Warner
  • Formats: Cassette, CD, LP
6
Cannibali
  • Released: May 1993
  • Label: East West (Warner)
  • Formats: Cassette, CD, LP
3
Manifesto
  • Released: June 8, 1995
  • Label: East West (Warner)
  • Formats: Cassette, CD, LP
5
La prova
  • Released: November 19, 1998
  • Label: East West (Warner)
  • Formats: Cassette, CD, LP
Iperbole
  • Released: June 1, 2001
  • Label: East West (Warner)
  • Formats: Cassette, CD
3 75
Ouch 7 90
Passeggeri distratti
  • Released: May 26, 2006
  • Label: Columbia (Sony BMG)
  • Formats: CD, Digital Download
3
Metamorfosi
  • Released: September 20, 2008
  • Label: Columbia (Sony BMG)
  • Formats: CD, Digital Download
4
Numeri
  • Released: May 10, 2011
  • Label: Colombia (Sony Music)
  • Formats: CD, LP, Digital download
6
Le ragioni del cuore
  • Released: September 15, 2012
  • Label: Colombia (Sony Music)
  • Formats: CD, Digital download
13
"—" denotes items that did not chart or were not released.

Compilation albums

Title Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
ITA
[8]
Collezione temporanea
  • Released: October 3, 1996
  • Label: Warner
  • Formats: Cassette, CD, LP
5
Tutto Raf: Collezione Definitiva
  • Released: October 20, 2005
  • Label: Warner
  • Formats: CD, Cassette
7
Semplicemente Raf: I Grandi Successi
  • Released: April 7, 2009
  • Label: Warner, Digital Download
  • Formats: CD
58
"—" denotes items that did not chart or were not released.

Live albums

Title Album details Peak chart positions
ITA
[10]
Soundview
  • Released: October 30, 2009
  • Label: Colombia (Sony BMG)
  • Formats: CD, Digital Download
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.
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

  1. 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. 1 2 "Raf: Self Control". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
  2. "CHARTS-DEUTSCHLAND: Single Top 100 (1984-06-25)". charts.de. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
  3. Italy's Self Control in Worldwide Charts Assault. Billboard Magazine. 1984-06-24. Retrieved 2010-09-06.
  4. "One Hit Wonder: Raff -Self Control". Bayerischer Rundfunk Online. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
  5. "Raf: Album positions on Italiancharts.com". Hung Meiden. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
  6. Peak positions for Italy's studio albums:
  7. 1 2 3 "Schweizer Hitparade: Raf". Schwiezer Hitparade Hung Medien. Retrieved 2015-04-05.
  8. Peak positions for Italy's compilation albums:
  9. "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
  10. "FIMI: Classifica settimanale WK 45 (dal 2009-11-02 al 2009-11-08)". FIMI. Retrieved 2015-04-04.
  11. For peaks positions in Italy:
  12. "Austriancharts.at: Raf (Singes)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2011-07-14.
  13. "Lescharts.com: Raf (Singes)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2011-07-14.
  14. 1 2 "Charts: Raf (Singes)". Charts.de. Retrieved 2015-04-05.
  15. "Indice per Interprete R: Raf (Singes)". hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 2011-07-14.
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
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