Sally Shapiro is the pseudonym of a Swedish vocalist and the name of the

Italo disco Italo disco (variously capitalized, and sometimes hyphenated as Italo-disco) is a music genre which originated in Italy in the late 1970s and was mainly produced in the early 1980s. Italo disco evolved from the then-current underground dance, p ...

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

duo composed of Shapiro and musician Johan Agebjörn. On 28 April 2016, Sally Shapiro announced the end of their 10-year career alongside the release of the final single "If You Ever Wanna Change Your Mind". They returned from retirement in January 2018 for a collaboration with

Ryan Paris Fabio Roscioli (born 12 March 1953), known by his stage name Ryan Paris, is an Italian singer, songwriter, musician and actor who gained international popularity in 1983 for the worldwide hit single " Dolce Vita", written and produced by Pierlu ...

called "Love On Ice". In 2021, they signed with

Italians Do It Better Italians Do It Better is an independent record label based in Portland and West Hollywood. It was started by Johnny Jewel and Mike Simonetti on July 20, 2006, to focus on Jewel's projects Glass Candy and Chromatics and later Desire, Symmetry a ...

and announced the 2022 release of their fourth studio album ''Sad Cities''.

History

Shapiro grew up listening to Swedish pop and disco and the band was influenced by

Eurobeat Eurobeat refers to two styles of dance music that originated in Europe: one is a British variant of Italian Eurodisco-influencedAng, Ien & Morley, David (2005). "Cultural Studies: Volume 3, Issue 2". ''Routledge''. pgs. 171, 173, 170. . "Eurore ...

and

. Agebjörn shed some light on the choice of the fictional stage name in an October 2007 interview with ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'' magazine: Sally Shapiro's debut album, 2007's '' Disco Romance'', was produced by Agebjörn. The album received strong reviews, and Shapiro was championed by many prominent music blogs including

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

. The album was released in North America on 16 October 2007 by Canadian-based indie label

Paper Bag Records Paper Bag Records is a Canadian independent record label, artist-management company, and music publisher founded in 2002 and based in Toronto. History The label was created to focus on the Toronto-area indie rock music scene. Initial signings w ...

; it is a ten-track album featuring artwork by Canadian designer Geoff Wilson. Shapiro is notable for shunning publicity and has never revealed her real name. However, in an interview with Swedish webzine ''Judy'' in September 2007, she talked for the first time about considering performing live: In spring 2008, Sally Shapiro went on a short DJ tour, but on a February 2009 post on Sally Shapiro's Myspace blog, Agebjörn stated that Sally would not perform again: On 15 April 2008, Sally Shapiro's remix album '' Remix Romance Vol. 1'' was released worldwide by Paper Bag Records. Some of the names on this remix album are

Junior Boys Junior Boys are a Canadian electronic pop group, founded in 1999 in Hamilton, Ontario by Jeremy Greenspan and Johnny Dark. Dark left the project shortly after, and was replaced by engineer Matt Didemus. The duo initially gained critical prais ...

, Jon Brooks, Lindstrøm, Holy Fuck and Juan Maclean. Quickly following ''Vol. 1'', ''

Remix Romance Vol. 2 ''Remix Romance Vol. 2'' is a remix compilation album by Sally Shapiro. Like its predecessor '' Remix Romance Vol. 1'', it collects previously existing and newly produced versions of tracks from '' Disco Romance''. This collection includes remi ...

'' was released on 17 June 2008. It contains remixes by

Dntel James Scott "Jimmy" Tamborello, also known by his stage name Dntel , is an American electronic music artist and DJ. Aside from his main solo project, Tamborello is also known as a member of the groups The Postal Service, Headset, and Figurine ...

, The Russian Futurists,

Solvent A solvent (s) (from the Latin '' solvō'', "loosen, untie, solve") is a substance that dissolves a solute, resulting in a solution. A solvent is usually a liquid but can also be a solid, a gas, or a supercritical fluid. Water is a solvent for ...

and

Alexander Robotnick Alexander Robotnick (a.k.a. ''Maurizio Dami'') is an Italian electronic musician. He made his debut on the Italian music scene as the founding member of Avida, a dance-cabaret band featuring Daniele Trambusti and Stefano Fuochi. In 1983 he atta ...

. This volume is only available as a download. Sally Shapiro's single "Miracle" was released on 16 June 2009. It is similar in style to previous Shapiro singles. Their second studio album, '' My Guilty Pleasure'', was released in August 2009. Like the previous work, it was recorded alone. In 2011, the duo revealed that they had been working on new material to be released in the near future. In 2012, they officially announced their third album, "Somewhere Else", which was released on 26 February 2013. The album was produced by Agebjörn, and featured collaborations with Cloetta Paris' Roger Gunnarsson and Le Prix. The album's leading single, "What Can I Do", was released in December 2012. In June 2021, the duo released a new single, "Fading Away." A new album entitled ''Sad Cities'' was released on 18 February 2022.

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Disco Romance'' (2006) * '' My Guilty Pleasure'' (2009) * ''Somewhere Else'' (2013) * ''Sad Cities'' (2022)

Compilation albums

* ''The Collection'' (2016)

Remix albums

* '' Remix Romance Vol. 1'' (2008) * ''

'' (2008) * ''My Guilty Pleasure – Remixes'' (2010) * ''Elsewhere'' (2013) * ''Sweetened'' (2013)

Singles

* "I'll Be By Your Side" (2006) * "Anorak Christmas" (2006) * "Jackie Jackie (Spend This Winter with Me)" (2008) * "Spacer Woman from Mars" (with Johan Agebjörn, Rude 66 and Elitechnique) (2008) * "He Keeps Me Alive" (2008) * "Miracle" (2009) * "Love in July" (2009) * "The Explorers" ( CFCF featuring Sally Shapiro) (2009) * "Don't Be Afraid" ( Anoraak featuring Sally Shapiro) (2010) * "Casablanca Nights" (Johan Agebjörn featuring Lovelock & Sally Shapiro) (2011) * "Alice" (Johan Agebjörn featuring Le Prix, Fred Ventura & Sally Shapiro) (2011) * "Spacer Woman From Mars" (Johan Agebjörn featuring Sally Shapiro) (2011) * "What Can I Do" (2012) * "Starman (featuring Electric Youth)" (2013) * "If You Ever Wanna Change Your Mind" (2016) * "Fading Away" (2021) * "Forget About You" (2021)

References

External links

Official websiteSally Shapiro's MySpaceJohan Agebjörn websiteDISKOKAINE is Sally's Label Worldwide except North AmericaPaper Bag Records is Sally's Label in North AmericaAudiojunkies Interview with Sally ShapiroJudy.se interview with Sally Shapiro, in SwedishSwedish Dancing Queen Comes to Canada
AOL Music Canada article
Sally Shapiro article
November 2007
Venus Zine articleOut articleDummy interviewStream: "The Leftovers" (with Loney Dear)
{{Authority control Electronic music duos Italo disco groups Musical groups established in 2006 Paper Bag Records artists Swedish synthpop groups Swedish musical duos Male–female musical duos