Mauro Picotto – Verdi (2001)
Mauro Picotto (born December 25, 1966) is an Italian electronic music producer and DJ, and previously a member of the Italian Euro house group “R.A.F.”. He became well known as a solo artist with songs including “Komodo (Save a Soul)”, “Pulsar”, “Iguana”, and “Lizard”. He has collaborated with other electronica/trance musicians such as Tiësto and Mario Più.
He now promotes his own club night, Meganite (named after an early 21st-century track of his), which has run for consecutive years annually since 2005 at Privilege Ibiza. He now produces under his own record label, Bakerloo.
His father ran a mason’s yard called CRW, a name Mauro would later use as a pseudonym for his trance side-project.
Picotto longed to start making his own productions, but felt that to be successful he must first become a disc jockey (DJ). After winning the Walky Cup competition on national TV, an event for the top DMC DJs in Italy, he met with Daniele Davoli, who was there to promote his Black Box single “Ride on Time”, and this led Picotto towards record producing. His first track, “We Gonna Get”, produced under the name RAF, became a Top 20 hit single across much of Europe.
Another RAF release followed, alongside remixes and co-writing credits for Clubhouse (who had a European hit with “Light My Fire”), Cappella (best known for rave hits like “U Got 2 Let the Music” and “Move on Baby”) and the 49ers. A track released under his own name, “Bakerloo Symphony”, ended up being number 1 in Italy for eight weeks. Also in 1996, Picotto became a partner in Media Records alongside Gianfranco Bortolotti.
1998 saw the release of the gatecrasher anthem “Lizard (Gonna Get You)”. The track ended up being a Top 30 hit in the UK Singles Chart, and was followed by two further instalments in the reptilian trilogy: “Iguana” (#39) and “Komodo (Save a Soul)”, which would give Picotto the highest UK chart position of his career – number 13. This would see him make his only solo performance on BBC Television’s Top of the Pops. Picotto was the first DJ to mix live on the show.
Later tracks he was involved in also made an impact on the UK chart. “I Feel Love” – released under the pseudonym CRW – reached number 15 in 2000, whilst “Communication (Somebody Answer The Phone)” – which he produced alongside Mario Più – reached the UK Top 5 at the end of 1999.
“Verdi” reached #74 in the UK charts.
