Federico "Freddy" Curci (born October 30, 1962) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. He was lead vocalist for the rock band

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

and later founded and became frontman for the band Alias, a position he retains to this day. Curci provided lead vocals on the

song " When I'm with You", which reached the number one spot in 1989, and the Alias

power ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner.J. M. C ...

" More Than Words Can Say", which reached the number two spot in 1990 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' charts. BMI presented Curci with the Million-airs award for "More Than Words Can Say". According to BMI's website, only 1,500 songs have achieved Million-air status (one million air plays) among the 4.5 million songs by 300,000 BMI represented artists. One million performances is the equivalent of approximately 50,000 broadcast hours, or more than 5.7 years of continuous airplay. In January 2009, Alias announced the release of their long delayed second album, '' Never Say Never'', which was recorded in 1992 but not released due to the rapidly evolving music scene of that time where grunge was the new rage and metal was out. A few of the songs from this "lost" album were re-recorded and appeared on Curci's solo album ''Dreamer's Road'', but the rest remained unreleased.

Early influences

Of Italian descent, Curci grew up in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

. At an early age Curci listened mostly to classical opera music. He started listening to

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy metal music. The band helped de ...

and other rock music in his teenage years. Aside from opera music, some of Curci's musical influences were Lou Gramm of Foreigner and Tom Johnston of The Doobie Brothers. Before

, Curci performed in Italian wedding bands in Toronto.

Songwriting career

As a ''Billboard'' top 10 hit songwriter, Curci co-wrote with his Sheriff and Alias bandmate Steve DeMarchi the number 2 hit song " More Than Words Can Say", and the

Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched i ...

number 18 hit song "Haunted Heart". He also co-wrote most of the songs on the ''Alias'' album, his solo album ''Dreamer's Road'' and the ''Zion'' album. Curci is also a songwriter for the motion picture industry. In 2007, Curci's songs were featured in several episodes of the

Lifetime Lifetime may refer to: * Life expectancy, the length of time a person is expected to remain alive Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Lifetime (band), a rock band from New Jersey * ''Life Time'' (Rollins Band album), by Rollins Band * ...

's Army Wives. Curci was the primary composer for the sitcom

Two Guys and a Girl ''Two Guys and a Girl'' (titled ''Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place'' for the first two seasons) is an American television sitcom created by Rick Wiener, Kenny Schwartz and Danny Jacobson. The series started as a short-run (13 episodes) mid-sea ...

(2000–2001), and also wrote the title theme. In addition to DeMarchi, accomplished writers Curci has collaborated with include Brett Walker; Jeff Paris; Romina Arena; Jason Hook; his wife,

Lara Cody Lara Cody is an American voice actress. She also goes under the name Deanna Morris and is best known for voicing Rosemary in '' Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty'' and '' Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of The Patriots''. Roles Anime *'' A Little ...

; F. Grossi; Donny Hackett and Douglas Vallance.

Discography

With Sheriff *''

'' (1982),

Capitol A capitol, named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome, is usually a legislative building where a legislature meets and makes laws for its respective political entity. Specific capitols include: * United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. * Numerou ...

*''Sheriff Live'' (1983), Capitol (Promo Only) With Alias *'' Alias'' (1990), EMI *''Haunted Heart'' (1990, EP), EMI *'' Waiting for Love'' (1991, EP), EMI *''Perfect World'' (1992, EP), EMI *'' Never Say Never'' (2009), EMI Solo albums *''Dreamer's Road'' (1994), EMI *''Then & Now'' (2000), EMI, Frontiers (Italy) Compilation inclusions *''The Boys of Summer'' (1994), EMI With Zion *''Zion'' (2006), Frontiers With Who's Your Daddy! *''Who's Your Daddy!'' (2010), WYD Recordshttp://www.whosyourdaddymusic.comwww.whosyourdaddymusic.com *''Paternity Suit'' (2012), WYD Records *''Anti-Social Security'' (2015), WYD Records Singles with Alias

Filmography

*1991 Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead Soundtrack: Performer / Producer "Perfect World" *1999

and a Pizza Place : Au Revoir Pizza Place (#3.2) Primary Composer *1999

and a Pizza Place (#3.4) Primary Composer *2006 Metal Mania: Stripped Across America Live *2007 Army Wives: After Birth (#1.2) TV Episode oundtrackSongwriter / Performer: "Whatcha Tryin' To Do" and "Echoes in the Darkness" *2007 Army Wives: Independence Day (#1.5) TV Episode oundtrackSongwriter / Performer: "Home" *2007 Army Wives: Only The Lonely (#1.8) TV Episode oundtrackSongwriter / Performer "Crazy Day" and "Carrie"

Footnotes

Citations

References

Freddy Curci interview
Strutter Magazine
"''Billboard''"
Billboard ''Hot 100 airplay and sales charts''. Retrieved 2006-06-11 * Feldman, Christopher (2000). ''The Billboard Book of Number Two Hits''.
BMI Website

Sheriff Album review
written by Robert Lunte, author of Four Pillars of Singing, Amazon.com

www.melodicrock.com

External links

Freddy Curci
(archived copy)
Freddy Curci Myspace Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Curci, Freddy 1962 births Canadian hard rock musicians Canadian male singer-songwriters Canadian singer-songwriters Canadian people of Italian descent Living people Musicians from Toronto Place of birth missing (living people) Alias (band) members Sheriff (band) members