7 on 17 June, the same week Branigan's version debuted at No. His single debuted in the Swiss top 30 at No. The only other territory where Raf topped the charts was in Switzerland. Raf's version exceeded the success of Branigan's only in his native Italy, where her single reached No.
"Self Control" also topped the charts in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Portugal, South Africa and Sweden, while reaching No. 1 position, where it remained for six weeks, while Raf's version occupied the No. Both the Raf original and Branigan's version of "Self Control" entered the German top 20 in May 1984: on 25 June, Branigan's single attained the No. 2 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart and No. In the United States, Branigan's cover became her fourth consecutive top 10 entry on a Billboard chart in a year and a half, following " Gloria", " Solitaire" and " How Am I Supposed to Live Without You". According to Bryan Buss of AllMusic, the song is about "finding sex in the seamy side of town". Rather than actually invoking more self-control, the singer addresses someone: "you take my self, you take my self-control". The song narrates the singer's slip into the world of nightlife, the allure of which has her "livin' only for the night" and deeming herself to "live among the creatures of the night". A keyboard hook in Raf's version was changed to a guitar riff for Branigan's version and a vocal break was paired with a sharper and repeated percussive element. Also, unlike the other songs, Branigan's version was contemporaneous with that of its co-writer.īranigan's recording was arranged by Giorgio Moroder's protégé Harold Faltermeyer with Robbie Buchanan and produced by Buchanan with Jack White in West Germany and Los Angeles. "Self Control" was the only one of the four Italian songs recorded by Branigan that was originally composed in English, and Branigan chose to record the song as written. The second one, "Self Control", became the title track to the album and her most successful single internationally. Branigan chose two more Italian songs for her third album: the first one, " Ti Amo" with lyrics by Diane Warren once again based on the original by Tozzi and Bigazzi that had been a 1977 single for Tozzi.
The following year, Branigan recorded another English song written over a Tozzi and Bigazzi song, "Mama", which was included on her 1983 album Branigan 2. It was released as the lead single from her third studio album of the same name, released the same year.īranigan's first major hit had also been co-written by Bigazzi: " Gloria" (1982) was an English cover of the 1979 original Italian song recorded by Umberto Tozzi. Charts Īmerican singer Laura Branigan covered "Self Control" in 1984. Although his English-language album and especially the singles proved to be successful in Italy and elsewhere, he began releasing his later albums in his native language, almost all of which were received better in Italy than the English-language albums many of them charted within the top 10 in Italy. He would release several more tracks in English and re-release his 1984 self-titled debut album in 1987 under the title Self Control, featuring two of these tracks. Raf released an extended dance mix of the song, like Branigan, but Raf's version featured a rap (performed by two other rap vocalists), relatively rare for a white artist at the time. 1 in Switzerland, between runs at the top spot by Branigan's version of "Self Control", and peaked at No. 1 in Italy for seven non-consecutive weeks. His version of "Self Control" reached No. Raf (born Raffaele Riefoli) co-wrote the song "Self Control" with Giancarlo Bigazzi and Steve Piccolo. Notable covers include Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin in 1993, a dance remake by Branigan in 2004, Royal Gigolos in 2005 and Danish dance group Infernal in 2006. "Self Control" has become one of the defining songs of the 1980s, with a number of remakes recorded each year. Both versions of the song were commercially successful across Europe during much of the summer of 1984, with Branigan's rendition becoming the most successful single of the year in Germany and Switzerland. 1 in countries such as Austria, Canada, Germany and Switzerland, as well as No. That same year, "Self Control" was covered by American singer Laura Branigan, whose version reached No. The track topped the charts in Italy and Switzerland, and started the explosion and dominance of Italo disco-style recordings in continental European charts during the 1980s.
It was written by Giancarlo Bigazzi, Steve Piccolo and Raf, and arranged by Celso Valli. " Self Control" is a song by Italian singer Raf, released in 1984.
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