Matt Bianco are a British band formed in 1983, performing sophisti-pop, jazz-funk and Latin-flavoured music. From around mid- to late-80s, the group scored a number of internationally charting singles, including "Get Out of Your Lazy Bed", "Whose Side Are You On?", "Half a Minute", "Yeh Yeh" and "Don't Blame It on That Girl".

The group's name suggests that Matt Bianco is a person, often assumed to be an alias for the main member and front man Mark Reilly. According to the group, however, Matt is in fact "a made up spy, a secret agent; we loved spy TV themes and film scores; we were really into that 60s spy movie image". Initially, the line-up included Danny White and Basia Trzetrzelewska, who left the band to focus on Basia's solo career, but rejoined Matt Bianco briefly in the mid-2000s.

History

Early years

thumb|right|The band featured Polish singer-songwriter [[Basia as a co-vocalist from 1983 to 1985 and again from 2003 to 2005.]]

Matt Bianco was formed in 1983 by Mark Reilly (vocals), Danny White (keyboard), Kito Poncioni (bass) – all of whom had just left art pop group Blue Rondo à la Turk – and Polish vocalist Basia Trzetrzelewska. Basia had performed in a short-lived band called Bronze alongside White, having answered their ad placed in Melody Maker.

The group was pictured as a quartet for their first single "Get Out of Your Lazy Bed", although Poncioni only played on the non-album B-side "Big Rosie". He dropped out of the group entirely before the recording of their first album Whose Side Are You On?, released through WEA in August 1984, although he received a co-writing credit on the track "Half a Minute". The album spawned five UK and European hits, including "Get Out of Your Lazy Bed", "Half a Minute", "Sneaking Out the Back Door", "More Than I Can Bear" and the title track. This pushed the joint single release of "Don't Blame It on That Girl"/"Wap Bam Boogie" up to number 11 on the UK Singles Chart,

The band's fourth studio album, Samba in Your Casa, was released in 1991 by Warner Brothers. It was not a commercial success, though one of its singles, a cover of "What a Fool Believes" (originally by Kenny Loggins and popularized by The Doobie Brothers), reached number 23 in Ireland. Reilly and Fisher split from their record company and started recording albums in their own studios. They scored contracts with ZYX Music and Intercord in Europe, and Victor Entertainment in Asia, but failed to sign on with another major label. Their fifth album, Another Time Another Place, was first released only in Japan in 1993, and in other countries the following year.

Their 1997 album World Go Round reached number 23 in Japan, and the lead single "Sunshine Day" was a moderate dance hit in the US. Reilly carried on under the Matt Bianco moniker, and released a new album, Gravity, in 2017. In October 2017, Cherry Red Records re-issued their album Matt Bianco in a 2-CD deluxe edition format, having re-issued a similarly packaged version of Whose Side Are You On? in June 2016.

November 2020 saw the release of a second collaboration album with New Cool Collective, High Anxiety. In June 2022, Matt Bianco released a double album The Essential Matt Bianco. Re-imagined, Re-loved, which featured new versions of 15 of their classic songs plus 15 remixes and special versions. In September 2025, the band released yet another album, Masquerader.

Band members

;Current members

  • Mark Reilly (born 20 February 1960 in High Wycombe) – vocals (since 1983)

;Past members

  • Danny White – keyboards (1983–1985; 2003–2005)
  • Basia Trzetrzelewska – vocals (1983–1985; 2003–2005)
  • Kito Poncioni – bass guitar (1983–1984)
  • Mark Fisher – keyboards
  • Jenni Evans – vocals

Discography

  • Whose Side Are You On? (1984)
  • Matt Bianco (1986)
  • Indigo (1988)
  • Samba in Your Casa (1991)
  • Another Time Another Place (1993)
  • Gran Via (1995)
  • World Go Round (1997)
  • Rico (2000)
  • Echoes (2002)
  • Matt's Mood (2004)
  • Hifi Bossanova (2009)
  • Hideaway (2012)
  • The Things You Love (2016; with New Cool Collective)
  • Gravity (2017)
  • High Anxiety (2020; with New Cool Collective)
  • Masquerader (2025)

References

  • Official YouTube channel