Mike Francis's Biography - Official Website of Ciancio DJ

Mike Francis, born Francesco Puccioni, was born in Florence on April 26, 1961. At the age of 14, Francesco began playing the piano and guitar and formed his first band with a group of friends he met at school. He attended the Institute of American Studies in Rome developing an excellent knowledge of the English language. At the same time he studied self-taught composition and arrangement. Cousin of the singer-songwriter Grazia Di Michele and of the RAI television journalist Danila Bonito, after several experiences in various disco-clubs of the Capital in 1981 she had her first recording experience with Al Festa and Claudio Giusti, with whom she formed the project group "Metropole" interpreting "Miss Manhattan "(with the text by Enrica Bonaccorti), a dance atinte soul, jazz and funk he co-produced, which achieved some success in the disco and was also printed in Canada by PBI-Records. The publication of both the single and the Disco Mix, a 12-inch dance with black inspirations, pointed him out in the world of the most refined discos. The following year the Disc Recorder Claudio Casalini's Best Record label released the songs "Love Has Found You" and "Nightime Lady", which represented the debut album with the art name "Mike Francis". The songs, published on 12 inches, had a reduced distribution, however they were widespread for radio and played in discos. He began the artist's collaboration with Paul Micioni, an expert dj-producer (having already had the experience with "Easy Going", and with the "Traks", gold record in France with the remake of "Long Train Running" ). In 1984 Mike Francis released his biggest hit "Survivor". The song became very popular and reached the fifth position of the Hit Parade. Also in 1984, Mike Francis entrusted the singer, Friends, to the American singer Amii Stewart, who reached the top spot of the singles (and the fourteenth-best seller of the year), gaining considerable success abroad. In the wake of his success, his first album "Let's Not Talk About It" was released, which in addition to "Survivor" and a new recording of "Nightime Lady" (already B side of his first single) contained eight other tracks. Presented in a concert at the Teatro Olimpico in Rome, the artist's first public performance, the album reached the fifteenth position in the Italian ranking. In the autumn of 1984, with the collaboration of Rossana Casale, the single "Let Me In" was released, an even more beautiful and romantic song than the previous ones. In the following years he made other albums. He also composed film music for both film and television. At this point Mike Francis took a pause for reflection, during which, however, he concentrated on making songs in Italian. He collaborated with Mogol and Pasquale Panella. In 1991 he published, in fact, his first Italian album "Mike Francis in Italian", in anticipation of his participation in Sanremo; however, this participation did not materialize. Three years later, in 1994, Mike released his second album in Italian (the sixth of his career), this time on texts by Panella: "Francesco innammorato". The disc contained another of his classics, "Beautiful closed eyes". The production of Mike Francis was enriched and in 1995 the album "A different air" was released, whose title track is a cover of the group "Living in a box". During this time he performed in California (Los Angeles, Hollywood Palladium and S. Francisco) and also in the East. From these performances will be treated the collection "The very best - Live". In 1998 he published the album "Misteria" and the collection "The best of". In 2000 and 2004 he returned to the Philippines for some concerts. Manila's Araneta Coliseum sports hall sold out with 16,000 people. In 2007, after a few years of silence as a soloist, during which he devoted himself to the experience of "Mystic Diversions", his new work "Inspired" was released. On this record, personal interpretations of famous covers loved by the singer are re-proposed, along with some new songs. On January 16, 2009, the collection "The best of Mike Francis (All was missing)", containing some unpublished articles, comes out. This was the last album released before his death at the age of 47, on January 30, 2009 due to lung cancer.

 

Discography:

Solo

Studio Album
1984 - Let's Not Talk About It
1985 - Features
1986 - Mike Francis
1988 - Flashes of Life
1991 - Mike Francis in italiano
1994 - Francesco innamorato
1995 - A Different Air
1998 - Misteria
1999 - All Rooms with a View
2007 - Inspired
 

Album Live

1990 - Live in Manila
1995 - The Very Best - Live
  

Compilation

1987 - Songs 1

1992 - Classics
1998 - The Best of
1999 - I Grandi Successi - The Best of - Vol.2
2000 - I Grandi Successi Originali - Flashback
2009 - The Very Best of Mike Francis (All Was Missing)
2011 - Anthology
2011 - The Best of...
 

Singles
1982 - Love Has Found You / Nightime Lady
1984 - Survivor/Late Summer Night
1984 - Let Me In
1985 - Together (con Amii Stewart)/Do It All Again
1985 - Features of Love / Upside Down
1986 - Iron It Out / You Can't Get Out of My Heart
1987 - Suddenly Back to Me / Suddenly Back to Me (Instr.)
1987 - Dreams of a Lifetime / Body Thrill
1988 - Times Out of Time (Extended) / Don't Start Givin' Up
1988 - Still I'm Runnin' Back to You / Dusty Road
1991 - Se tu provi (Club version)/Se tu provi (Piano version)
1992 - I Want You

1994 - Bellissimi occhi chiusi (Dub mix) + (Remix)
2005 - Josephine (Express Deluxe edit)
 

With Mystic Diversions
2001 - Crossing the Liquid Mirror
2002 - Beneath Another Sky
2004 - Colours
2006 - From the Distance
2007 - Wave a Little Light

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