Raggio di Luna / Moon Ray Biography Discography Italo Disco Music

"Raggio di Luna" or "Moon Ray", born Mandy Ligios is a French Italo-Disco dancer. Mandy Ligios was born in 1961 and participated as a dancer in some musicals including Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita and Hair. She was then discovered and launched as an image girl for the great success "Comanchero" by Aldo Martinelli and Simona Zanini. The stage name "Moon Ray" evoked the world of Native Americans; in Italy the singer instead adopted the pseudonym "Raggio di Luna". During those times, mimes were often hired as images to lip-sync on television appearances and in nightclubs. The single "Comanchero" was sung in the recording room by Simona Zanini and reached the second position in Austria, the third position in West Germany, the fourth position in Switzerland and the fifth position in France. In 1985, the second single of the "Moon Ray" project entitled "Viva" was released. In 1986, the third and final single entitled "Tornado Shout" was released. The disc was released under Martinelli-Gatto's "Moonray Record" record label but far fewer copies were pressed than the previous singles. Probably for this reason it did not achieve great radio and dance hall success. Over the years, this song has been greatly re-evaluated and appreciated by all fans and collectors of Italo-Disco music.

ALDO MARTINELLI

Aldo Martinelli was born in Milan, and graduated in piano at the Conservatory of Alessandria. He started as a keyboard player in various live groups and worked as a teacher of Music Education in schools. Composer, singer and poly-instrumentalist, from keyboards to guitar, Aldo soon turned to arranging and producing his own music. At the beginning of the 1980s he achieved a series of important successes in the world of the record, starting with "Take a chance" (Bizzy & Co.), the theme of the popular television program "Premiatissima" (82/83). In 1983, in search of a native English-speaking artist for singing and the lyrics of his songs, Aldo met Simona Zanini in 1983 and began a collaboration among the most important of Italo-Disco.

DISCOGRAPHY ALDO MARTINELLI :

Album

1984 - Gee Wiz (Doctor's Cats)

Singles

1983 - Voice (In The Night) (Martinelli)
1983 - Locomotive Breath (Cat Gang)
1983 - Feel The Drive (Doctor's Cat)
1983 - Watch Out! (Doctor's Cat)
1984 - Shame (You Were The Big Sensation) (B.Blase)
1984 - Under The Ice (Topo & Roby)
1984 - Choose Your Lover (Shoo-Wha Shoo-Wha) (Implantation)
1985 - Comanchero (Moon Ray/Raggio Di Luna)
1985 - Cenerentola (Martinelli)
1985 - Viva (Moon Ray)
1986 - O. Express (Martinelli)
1986 - Revolution (Martinelli)
1987 - Victoria (Martinelli)
1987 - Summer Lovers (Martinelli)

SIMONA ZANINI

Simona Zanini, Italian-American, was born in 1961 in Ashland, Kentucky, and grew up in the United States. In the 1970s the family, of Italian origin, moved to Italy. In 1980 Simona was chosen by the La Bionda brothers in a selection on a national scale and signed a contract with CBS as singer of the Oldaxe Band group. The group released a single "Charter" then Simona started working with some of the most important Italian musicians of the moment. In 1983 he met the musician and producer Aldo Martinelli who was looking for a native English-speaking singer for his dance music projects and began to collaborate with him as a songwriter and singer. The first single was "Feel the Drive" under the stage name "Doctor's Cat". This was followed by a series of Italo-Disco successes. Simona provided the lyrics and the voice while Aldo Martinelli performed all the instrumental arrangements and performances, as well as many vocal interventions. To justify the numerous releases in a short period of time, the productions were published with different art names even though they were all performed by the same duo. For the promotional period, mimes were hired as an image to perform playback in TV appearances or at the disco. The most famous art names used by the couple were "Doctor's Cat", "Martinelli", "Topo & Roby", "Moon Ray", "Raggio Di Luna" and "Radiorama". From 1983, for five years these different names, often at the same time, will meet in the highest positions of the Italian, French, German and Swiss rankings, earning the gold record. In addition to working with Martinelli, Simona collaborated with many singers of the time, Diana Barton, Valerie Dore, Miko Mission, Ago, Moonshine to name a few. Today Simona, in addition to being an English teacher, continues to perform, especially with Aldo Martinelli, and is still unleashed, after so many years, with these splendid examples of made in Italy records that have allowed our country to become a point musical reference throughout Europe.

DISCOGRAPHY OF SIMONA ZANINI :

Singles

DUST MAN - King Of The Ghetto - 1983 (Back Vocal)
DOCTOR'S CAT - Feel The Drive - 1983

MARTINELLI - Voice (In the night) - 1983 (Back Vocal)
DOCTOR'S CAT - Watch Out - 1983
RAGGIO DI LUNA - Comanchero - 1984
DOCTOR'S CAT - Gee Wiz Lp - 1984
TOPO & ROBY - Under The Ice - 1984
DUST MAN - King Of The Ghetto (re-edit) - 1984 (Back Vocal)
GIAK - Inside You - 1984 (Back Vocal)
RADIORAMA - Chance To Desire - 1985
MARTINELLI - Cenerentola (cinderella) - 1985
MOON RAY - Viva - 1985

MOONSHINE - China - 1985

DOCTOR'S CAT - Andromeda - 1985
DIANA BARTON - Tango - 1986
VALERIE DORE ‎- Lancelot - 1986 (fonte non ufficiale)
VALERIE DORE ‎- King Arthur – 1986 (fonte non ufficiale)

BARBIE - Barabba - 1987

BARBIE - Cuccaracha Paraiso - 1987