Customer Reviews

Living In The Background

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McShane was the sole singer and musician of Baltimora. He wasn't a figurehead; Baltimora was a one-man outfit. There isn't as much mystery to Baltimora as most believe; it's actually more tragic than anything else. McShane died in the mid-90's of AIDS. Still "Tarzan Boy" IS a great song that will forever live on in bars all over the world.

Although I don't care too much for "Tarzan Boy", Baltimora's "Living in the Background" is a great album. There are only six songs (the songs range from 5-7 minutes long), it's still worth checking out.

Personal favorites: the title track "Living in the Background" and "Chinese Restaurant". Every album has to have a slow song, and "Living in the Background" is no different, as "Pull the Wires" fills this role.

As we all know, there isn't much know about Baltimora. I've heard that the person singing and writing the music is Italian and that a fellow by the name of Jimmy McShane was the "front" of the group. This mystery adds to the collectability of this album, which in whole isn't bad.

One of the bigger flukes of one-hit-wonderdom, Baltimora (born Jimmy McShane on May 23rd, 1957) had a surprise hit with the infectious, if somewhat silly song "Tarzan Boy." Though barely remembered otherwise (and scarce in all formats nowadays), the rest of this album is actually pretty decent, even with its air of silliness in some places. The title track is a catchy, well-produced piece of 80s synth-pop, and "Chinese Restaurant" is pretty catchy and hummable for a song with such a curious title.

Note: You may notice when searching Amazon for this title, that there are two different cover pictures for the full-album versions. Unlike many other instances, there is actually a difference. The "blue" version contains two songs (The Jukebox Boy and Up With Baltimora) that are not available on the "red" version.