24 April 1956. Roberto Turatti was born in Milan - the man who, together with Miki Chieregato, created Den Harrow, one of the most successful Italo-disco projects. By 1983 Turatti was already a drummer (the group Decibel, album "Punk," 1978) and a DJ at the American Disaster club in Milan. But the real story began in 1983, when Turatti and Chieregato produced the first Den Harrow single - "To Meet Me." The name Den Harrow was a wordplay: from the Italian denaro - money.
Turatti and Chieregato: a studio duo
Roberto Turatti started playing drums in 1972. In 1978 he founded the group Decibel with Piercarlo Mancini, Sandro Longhin and Enrico Ruggeri - their first album "Punk" was released in 1978. In early 1979 Turatti started DJing at the Milan club American Disaster. In parallel he met Miki Chieregato, and by 1983 they had formed a production duo that for five years became one of the most productive in Italo-disco.
Turatti and Chieregato were not performing musicians - they were producers and writers. They conceived a project, found a face for the sleeve, recorded the track with session vocalists and released it on a label. The model was factory-like: from idea to finished 12-inch single - six to eight weeks. Between 1983 and 1988 the duo wrote and produced dozens of releases.
Den Harrow: who really sang
Den Harrow was a project conceived by Turatti and Chieregato. The face of the project was Stefano Zandri - a model who appeared on sleeves, in videos and on television. But the vocals on the records belonged to others: Tom Hooker (lead vocals on most hits), Chuck Rolando, Silvio Pozzoli and Anthony James. In 2012 Zandri publicly admitted that he never sang on any Den Harrow records. More on the vocal mystery in our Den Harrow deep dive.
Tom Hooker - an American singer living in Milan - was the main voice of the project. He also wrote the lyrics for many songs. Hooker said he recorded vocals in the studio while Zandri "sang" on stage to a playback. This was not a secret in the industry, but the public did not know. More on Hooker in our Tom Hooker profile.
Key Turatti-Chieregato releases
- Den Harrow - "To Meet Me" (1983) - first single, project debut
- Den Harrow - "Mad Desire" (1984) - hit in Italy and Germany
- Den Harrow - "Future Brain" (1985) - one of the most recognisable Italo-disco tracks
- Den Harrow - "Bad Desire" (1986) - the formula continued
- Tom Hooker - "Real Men" (1987)
The Turatti-Chieregato formula: synth bass on eighths, a drum machine (Roland TR-808 or LinnDrum), an arpeggiator on a Jupiter-8, a melodic bridge and a male vocal in the middle register. By 1988 the formula was stale - house and eurodance replaced Italo-disco, and the Turatti-Chieregato duo dissolved.
Detail: the name Den Harrow is a wordplay on the Italian "denaro" (money). Turatti and Chieregato came up with it while discussing what to call a project that was supposed to make money.
After Den Harrow
In 1988 Italo-disco began to fade. Turatti and Chieregato ended their collaboration. Den Harrow continued as a brand, but without the production duo behind it the machine was not the same. Zandri kept performing under the Den Harrow name at nostalgia festivals. Turatti stepped back from production. But the hits of 1985-1987 - "Future Brain," "Mad Desire," "Bad Desire" - stayed in retro radio rotation and playlists. The recipe that two Milanese producers devised in 1983 outlasted its era.