Mauro Scocco

(Redirected from Johan Ekelund)

Mauro Scocco (born 11 September 1962) is a Swedish pop musician of Italian descent. He has been described as "one of the sharpest songwriters in Sweden".[1] Scocco was the singer for the pop group Ratata (1980–83) transformed into a duo with Johan Ekelund (1983–89). After Ratata, Scocco has continued as a solo artist since. In 2014, he cooperated with Plura Jonsson releasing a joint album as Mauro & Plura.

Mauro Scocco
Mauro Scocco wearing faded blue jeans, a light blue shirt and brown jacket, sitting sideways next to a piano, head propped up on one elbow, smiling and looking right of camera
Scocco in 2012
Born
Mauro Scocco

(1962-09-11) 11 September 1962 (age 62)
Fristad, Sweden
Occupations
  • Musician
  • songwriter
Musical career
GenresPop
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • bass
  • piano
  • keyboards
Years active1980–present
Labels

Early life and career

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Scocco was born in Fristad in Borås.[2] He grew up in Stockholm and in Borås. Scocco formed the pop group Ratata in 1980 along with a few classmates while he was still in school. The first single was "För varje dag" ("For each day") released on the debut album Ratata in 1981. After the break-up of Ratata in 1989 Scocco started a successful solo career and has released many songs that have reached top positions on the Swedish charts; "Sarah", "Vem är han?" ("Who is he?"), "Till de ensamma" ("For the lonely"), "Nelly", "Långsamt farväl" ("Long Goodbye") and "Överallt" ("Everywhere") are among the most recognized. Besides being a solo artist he also writes and produces music for other pop singers, of which Lisa Nilsson is the most famous. Scocco wrote "Himlen runt hörnet" ("Heaven around the corner") for her and it became a hit in Scandinavia in the early 1990s that made her career skyrocket.

In 1991, Scocco released an album with instrumental piano music, Det Sjungande Trädet ("The singing tree"), with inspiration from Erik Satie and expressionistic art. In the spring of 2004, Scocco was a disc jockey in the talkshow Sen kväll med Luuk on TV4, in line with the dry, ironic humour of the show. In the fall of 2005 Scocco released the single "Kall Stjärna" ("Cold star") from the album Herr Jimsons Äventyr ("The adventures of Mr. Jimson"), which made it to the top list over downloaded singles on iTunes.

Ratata

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Mauro Scocco was also a lead singer of the four-piece Swedish band Ratata, formed in 1980, which also included Heinz Liljedahl, Anders Skog, and Johan Kling. Their debut single was "För varje dag" in 1981 followed by "Ögon av is". Both appeared in their self-titled 1982 debut album Ratata. Immediately after release of Jackie, their second album, including the title track as single, Ratata disbanded in 1982 after just three years of activity.

But Scocco continued to use the name as a duo when he was joined by Johan Ekelund. For studio and live gigs, the duo relied on musicians to aid in the shows. The duo continued to have a great number of hit singles and released many more charting albums. The duo had a brief comeback in 2002.

Personal life

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Mauro Scocco's brother Sandro Scocco is a well-known Swedish economist.[3]

Discography

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For a full discography while in Ratata from 1980 to 1989, refer to band / duo page)
Albums
Year Album Peak positions Certification
SWE
[4]
1988 Mauro Scocco 1
1991 Dr. Space Dagbok 5
Det Sjungande Trädet
1992 Ciao! 3
1994 28 grader i skuggan 1
1996 Godmorgon Sverige 1
1999 Tillbaks till världen 3
2003 Beat Hotel 5
2005 Herr Jimsons äventyr 4
2007 Ljudet av tiden som går 5
2011 Musik för nyskilda 1
2013 Årets julklapp! (Christmas album) 36
2020 Den stora glömskan 19
[5]

Others

  • 2007: Saker Som Jag Gjort: texter & noter – prosa & bilder [Book + 3 CDs]

Solo compilations

Year Album Peak positions Certification
SWE
[4]
1997 Hits 12
2003 La Dolce Vita - Det Bästa 1982-2003 16

Singles

Year Single Peak positions Album
SWE
[4]
1988 "Sarah" 1
1991 "Det finns..." 4
"Ingen vinner" 16
"Någon som du" 33
1992 "Till de ensamma" 12
"Om du var min" 1
"Nelly" 17
1994 "Överallt" 26
1996 "Om det är o.k." 15
1997 "Långsamt farväl" 56
1999 "Du är aldrig ensam" 30
2005 "Kall stjärna" 35
2010 "Adrenalin" 20

Mauro & Plura

Year Album Peak positions Certification
SWE
[4]
2014 Mauro & Pluras Tågluff 8

References

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  1. ^ Hvidfeldt, Anders (14 November 1997). "Mauro Scocco – Hits (review)". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 3 January 2007.
  2. ^ Andersson, Jan (5 June 2015). "Mauro Scocco tillbaka med ny singel". Göteborgs-Posten (in Swedish). Retrieved 8 July 2016.
  3. ^ Kellberg, Christina (3 September 2000). "Söndagsintervjun Sandro Scocco: En ny Scocco på scen". Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d "Mauro Scocco discography". swedishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  5. ^ "Veckolista Album, vecka 29". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
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