Gigi D’Agostino is an Italian DJ, mixer and record producer. Born in Turin in 1967, D’Agostino spent his childhood dreaming of becoming someone in the disco industry. As a young adult he worked as a stonemason and fitter, fulfilling his fantasy of being a DJ over the weekends, when he organized parties in nightclubs. From 1993 – 1998 he was a resident DJ at an Italian disco named Ultimo Impero.
In 1999, D’Agostino released a single called “Bla bla bla“. It was an instant success and became a chart topper across much of Europe. He described the song as “a piece I wrote thinking of all the people who talk and talk without saying anything”. The voice and nonsensical lyrics that play throughout the song are taken from UK band Stretch‘s song “Why Did You Do It”.
The style of the Bla Bla Bla music video is based on La Linea, an animated TV series by Italian cartoonist Osvaldo Cavadoli. Episodes of La Linea are quite short, about 2 or 3 minutes in length, which meant that the cartoons were often used as interstitial programs – short videos that were played between longer shows and adverts. The style of La Linea was simple – at the bottom of the screen was a line, from which grew a man caled “Mr. Linea”. As the character moved across the screen, other props were introduced, usually attached to the line in the same manner as Mr. Linea. La Linea was popular with both children and adults, so when the music video for Bla Bla Bla was released, the song was enjoyed by people of all ages. The linear character moves in rhythm to the music, creating a jivey animated music video that was enjoyed on MTV and on night club screens. The German internet magazine Dagbladet released videos of the La Linea animations – you can click on this link to view them. Enjoy the weekend!
