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Alfredo "Larry" Pignagnoli is a well-known Italian producer^[1] and is behind several international dance hits. He runs the production unit Off Limits in Italy. Among the artists he has produced is:

• Whigfield
• Benny Benassi
• Ann Lee
• Spagna
• Benassi Bros
• Dhany
• Sandy Chambers
• In-Grid
• Pochill
• Favretto
• D-Bag
• Powerfrancers
• Katerfrancers
• Fun Fun
• J.K.
• Channing^{[disambiguation needed ]}
• Gambafreaks

References[link]

This article on an electronic musician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Ann Elizabeth Lee
Mother Ann Lee tombstone
Born	(1736-02-29)29 February 1736 Manchester, England
Died	September 8, 1784(1784-09-08) (aged 48) Watervliet, New York, USA
Other names	Ann, the Word Mother Ann

Mother Ann Lee (29 February 1736 – 8 September 1784) was the leader of the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, or Shakers.

In 1774 she and a small group of her followers emigrated from England to New York. After several years, they gathered at Niskayuna, renting land from the Manor of Rensselaerswyck, Albany County, New York (the area now called Colonie). They worshiped by ecstatic dancing or "shaking", which dubbed them as the Shaking Quakers, or Shakers. Ann Lee preached to the public and led the Shaker church at a time when few women did either.^[1]

Early history[link]

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Ann Lee was born in Manchester, England, and baptised privately at Manchester Cathedral on 1 June 1742,^[2] aged 6.

Ann Lee's father, John Lees, was a blacksmith during the day and a tailor at night. It is probable that Ann Lee's original surname was Lees, but somewhere through time it changed to Lee. Little is known about her mother other than she was a very religious woman. When Ann was young she worked in a cotton factory, then she worked as a cutter of hatter's fur, and later as a cook in a Manchester infirmary.

Beginning during her youth, Ann Lee was uncomfortable with sexuality, especially her own. This repulsion towards sexual activity continued and manifested itself most poignantly in her repeated attempts to avoid marriage and remain single. Eventually her father forced her to marry Abraham Stanley. They were married at Manchester Cathedral on 5 January 1761.^[3] She became pregnant eight times, experiencing four stillbirths and four living children, none of whom lived past the age of 6. Her difficult pregnancies and the loss of eight children were traumatic experiences that contributed to Ann Lee’s dislike of sexual relations.^[4] Lee developed radical religious convictions that advocated celibacy and the abandonment of marriage, as well as the importance of pursuing perfection in every facet of life. She differed from the Quakers, who, though they supported gender equality, did not accept forbidding sexuality within marriage.

In 1758 she joined the Wardleys, an English sect founded by Jane and preacher James Wardley; this was the precursor to the Shaker sect.^[5] She believed in and taught her followers that it is possible to attain perfect holiness by giving up sexual relations. Like her predecessors, the Wardleys, she taught that the shaking and trembling were caused by sin being purged from the body by the power of the Holy Spirit, purifying the worshiper.

Rise to prominence[link]

In England, Ann Lee rose to prominence by urging other believers to preach more publicly concerning the imminent second coming, and to attack sin more boldly and unconventionally. She spoke of visions and messages from God, claiming that she had received a vision from God the message that celibacy and confession of sin are the only true road to salvation, the only way in which the Kingdom of God could be established on the earth. She was frequently imprisoned for breaking the Sabbath by dancing and shouting, and for blasphemy.^[6]

Lee often was characterized as a virago (a woman with masculine, domineering attributes), possibly because most English and Americans could not accept her ideals of gender equality, or possibly because she was extraordinarily outspoken.

She claimed to have had many miraculous escapes from death. She told of being examined by four clergymen of the Established Church, she spoke to them for four hours in 72 tongues.^[7]

While in prison in Manchester for 14 days, she said she had a revelation that "a complete cross against the lusts of generation, added to a full and explicit confession, before witnesses, of all the sins committed under its influence, was the only possible remedy and means of salvation." After this, probably in 1770, she was chosen by the Society as "Mother in spiritual things" and called herself "Ann, the Word" and also "Mother Ann." After being released from prison a second time, witnesses say Mother Ann performed a number of miracles, including healing the sick.^[8]

Ann Lee eventually decided to leave England for America in order to escape the persecution (i.e. multiple arrests and stays in prison) she experienced in the hostile religious climate of the United Kingdom.^[6]

Move to America[link]

In 1774 a revelation led her to take a select band to America. She was accompanied by her husband, who soon afterwards deserted her. Also following her to America was her brother, William Lee (1740–1784); Nancy Lee, her niece; James Whittaker (1751–1787), who had been brought up by Mother Ann and was probably related to her; John Hocknell (1723–1799), who provided the funds for the trip; his son, Richard; and James Shepherd and Mary Partington. Mother Ann arrived on 6 August 1774, in New York City. Here they stayed for nearly 5 years. In 1776 Hocknell leased land at Niskayuna, in the township of Watervliet, near Albany, and the Shakers settled there, where a unique community life began to develop and thrive.^[6]

Ann Lee recognized how revolutionary her ideas were when she said, "We [the Shakers] are the people who turned the world upside down." Lee was also neutral during the American Revolution. Maintaining the position that they were pacifists, Ann Lee and her followers did not side with either the British or the colonists.

Beginning in the spring of 1781 Mother Ann and some of her followers went on an extensive missionary journey to find converts in Massachusetts and Connecticut. They often stayed in the homes of local sympathizers, such as the Benjamin Osborn House near the New York - Massachusetts line. There were also songs attributed to her which were sung without words.^[9]

The followers of Mother Ann came to believe that she embodied all the perfections of God in female form. The fact that Ann Lee considered herself to be Christ’s female counterpart was unique. She preached that sinfulness could be avoided by not only treating men and women equally, but also by keeping them separated so as to prevent any sort of temptation leading to impure acts. Celibacy and confession of sin were essential for salvation.^[10] Ann Lee's mission throughout New England was especially successful in converting groups who were already outside of the mainstream of New England Protestantism, including followers of Shadrack Ireland. However, the Shakers were sometimes met by violent mobs, such as in Shirley, Massachusetts, and Ann Lee suffered violence at their hands more than once. Because of these hardships Mother Ann became quite frail; she died on 8 September 1784, at the age of 48.^[6] She died at Watervliet and is buried in the Shaker cemetery located in the Watervliet Shaker Historic District.^[11]

It is claimed that Shakers in New Lebanon, New York experienced a 10-year period of revelations in 1837 called the Era of Manifestations. It was also referred to as Mother Ann's Work.^[12]

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Accounts of Spiritualism: Redeeming the Dead
• Shaker Music History
• Gift to be Simple
• Claus Bernet (2002). Bautz, Traugott. ed (in German). Ann Lee. Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). 20. Nordhausen. cols. 899–911. ISBN 3-88309-091-3. http://www.bautz.de/bbkl/l/lee_a.shtml. 

External links[link]

• Quotations related to Ann Lee at Wikiquote
•  Jacob Henry Hager (1892). "Lee, Ann". Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. 
•  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Lee, Ann". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (March 2011)

Ann Lee (born Annerley Gordon, 12 November 1972, Sheffield, South Yorkshire) is a British Electropop/Eurodance singer and songwriter, who rose to fame in the late 1990s.

Career[link]

Having moved to live in Italy in the late 1980s, she was talent scouted, and was often used as the lead singer on a series of Europop dance music singles, issued under various aliases. These have included Charme, Anne, Ally & Jo, DJ Space'C, A Kay BJ, Alex, Wienna and TH Express.

Annerley Gordon is attributed with contributing to the composition of the breakout, international, chart topping song "Rhythm of the Night", released in Italy in December 1993 on the DWA record label, by the Eurodance project Corona (captained by Francesco Bontempi).

Her first solo single under her own name was "Two Times", first released in 1998. It was a Top 10 hit in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Norway, as well as in Australia and New Zealand. It also hit Number 2 in her native United Kingdom,^[1] and reached Number one in Belgium and Denmark. In Canada it reached number 14 on the singles chart.^[2] "2 Times" was featured in the 2001 film Head Over Heels as the movie's theme song.

Her second single, "Voices", fared considerably less well, although it was a Top 10 hit in the Czech Republic, Denmark and Spain, and Top 30 in the United Kingdom.^[1]

2007 saw the return of Lee with a new album, So Alive, with the single "Catches Your Love". The releases have only been available as digital downloads. She appeared on the BBC TV show Never Mind the Buzzcocks on 31 January 2008.

In 2009, Lee released a new single, "2 People", on the Off Limits label. In December that year, Lee provided the vocals for Favretto's single "I Get The Feeling", also released by Off Limits.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• 1999 Dreams
• 1999 Standard Edition
• 2007 So Alive

Singles[link]

• 1998 "2 Times"
• 1999 "Voices"
• 2000 "Ring My Bell"
• 2000 "Ring My Bell (Eiffel 65 Edit)"
• 2001 "So Deep"
• 2003 "No No No"
• 2007 "Catches Your Love"
• 2007 "2 Times - The Green Mixes"
• 2007 "2 Times - The Purple Mixes"
• 2009 "2 People"

Featured on[link]

• 2009 "I Get The Feeling" - Favretto
• 2010 "Sound of the Sea" - Pochill

Songwriter credit[link]

Ann Lee is also credited as songwriter on "Another Day", "Sexy Eyes" for Whigfield and "Try Me Out" for Corona

Eurobeat aliases[link]

• A.Gordon
• Lolita
• Virginelle
• Annalise
• Go Go Girls (Singer)
• Ally & Jo

Eurobeat songs[link]

A.Gordon

• "On My Own"

Lolita

• "Try Me"
• "Pizza Dance"
• "Move Your Body"

Virginelle

• "Tango Tango"

Annalise

• "Bad Love"
• "New Love"
• "Promised Land"
• "With Your Photograph"
• "Love Toy"

Ally & Jo

• "Nasty Girl"
• "Holding You"
• "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"
• "In the Zodiac"

References[link]

External links[link]

• Unofficial website
• Official MySpace Profile

Fun Fun were a popular Italian Italo disco/synthpop musical group during the 1980s. Their hits included "Colour My Love" and "Baila Bolero".^[1]

Producers Dario Raimondi and Alvaro Ugolini teamed up with studio vocalists Antonella Pepe, Angela Parisi and Ivana Spagna to create a bouncy, high-energy, dancefloor-friendly sound. Their first release, 1983's "Happy Station", found success in Italy and other parts of Europe, thanks to several extended versions, including the notorious "Scratch" version.

Upon receiving invitations for live performances, Raimondi and Ugolini decided to use models for Fun Fun's public image rather than the vocalists themselves, a common tactic used in the European dance music scene by artists like Baltimora and The Real McCoy. "Have Fun!", the band's first full album from 1984, featured Francesca Merola and Roberta Servelli as the on-stage faces for the group. "Have Fun!" featured other popular dance singles, including "Give Me Your Love," "Living In Japan" and the band's oft-covered signature hit "Colour My Love", which became popular in American nightclubs because of its insistent synth bassline and easily-mixable percussion intro.

After "Have Fun!", Spagna left Fun Fun and started a solo career, returning for occasional lyrical contributions. Fun Fun continued on with Merola and Elena Trastulli (who replaced Servelli) as models and a new musician/producer Larry Pignagnoli, releasing a second album, 1987's "Double Fun". "Double Fun" had several singles, including "Could This Be Love" and a cover of Spencer Davis Group's "Gimme Some Lovin'." However, the biggest hit from "Double Fun" was "Baila Bolero", a Spanish-flavored dance ballad. A megamix featuring most of the group's major hits, the "Mega Hit Mix", was released on a 12" single soon afterward.

As the Italo-Disco and High-Energy music scene decreased in popularity toward the end of the 1980s, Fun Fun tried a new direction in 1989 with the House style single "Give Me Love", which had only minimal success. Several years later, the band released its last original song, "I'm Needin' You", in a 90's Eurodance style, to equally minimal success. Since then, the only Fun Fun releases have been best-of compilations or DJ remixes/reconstructions of their previous hits.

Discography[link]

Singles[link]

• 1983 - Happy Station [#11 Germany, #4 Netherlands]
• 1984 - Colour My Love [#17 Germany, #6 Sweden, #10 Netherlands]
• 1984 - Give Me Your Love [#17 Germany, #18 Sweden, #25 Netherlands, #10 Switzerland]
• 1985 - Living In Japan
• 1985 - Sing Another Song
• 1985 - Tell Me
• 1986 - Baila Bolero [#22 Germany, #16 Switzerland, #17 Netherlands]
• 1987 - Gimme Some Lovin'
• 1987 - Could This be Love
• 1987 - Mega Hit Mix [#5 Netherlands]
• 1989 - Give Me Love
• 1994 - I'm Needin' You

Full albums[link]

• 1984 - Have Fun!
• 1987 - Double Fun

External links[link]

• Allmusic.com: Fun Fun

References[link]