Baltimore was an Italy-based new wave-disco project who had a short but notable success in the mid ’80s.
It all started in 1984, when Maurizio Bassi, an Italian music producer, met Jimmy McShane, a talented dancer and bass player, who at that time, was working as an emergency medical technician for the Red Cross in Ireland. Together, and with the help of other Italian musicians, created the Baltimora act, with McShane being the visual frontman of the group and Bassi and Naimy Hackett writing music and lyrics.
Rumour has it that it was Bassi himself who performed lead vocals, while McShane was just lip synching in videoclips and on stage. However, in an Italian TV show from 1987, McShane performed a live duet with Linda Wesley, showing that he might have actually been the Baltimora lead vocal.
Their first single, Tarzan Boy, was a huge success all over Europe (n.6 in the Italian singles chart and n.3 in the UK) and even in the US, where it stayed in the Billboard Hot 100 chart for an amazing 6 months, peaking at n.13 in the spring of 1986. Despite the enormous popularity of Tarzan Boy, Baltimora’s following singles had disappointing sales, so the project was disbanded after only two years.
Jimmy McShane, away from the music scene, settled in Milan, where in 1994 was diagnosed with AIDS. Shortly later he went back to Ireland where he decided to spend the last months of his life. He died in his native Derry on March 1995 at the young age of 37.



Lyrics

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

Jungle life
I’m far away from nowhere
on my own like Tarzan Boy
hide and seek
I play along while rushing cross the forest
monkey business on a sunny afternoon

Jungle life
I’m living in the open
native beat that carries on
burning bright
a fire the blows the signal to the sky
I sit and wonder
does the message get to you

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

Night to night
gimme the other, gimme the other
chance tonight
gimme the other, gimme the other
night to night
gimme the other, gimme the other world

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

Jungle life
you’re far away from nothing
it’s all right
you won’t miss home
take a chance
leave everything behind you
come and join me
won’t be sorry
it’s easy to survive

Jungle life
we’re living in the open
all alone like Tarzan Boy
hide and seek
we play along while rushing cross the forest
monkey business on a sunny afternoon

Night to night
gimme the other, gimme the other
chance tonight
oh yeah
night to night
gimme the other, gimme the other
night to night
you won’t play
night to night
gimme the other, gimme the other
chance tonight
oh yeah
night to night, night to night
gimme the other, gimme the other…

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh