U.S.U.R.A.

U.S.U.R.A. was an Italian electronic dance music group active from 1991-1998, best known for their crossover hit "Open Your Mind".[1]

U.S.U.R.A.
Origin	Brescia, Italy
Genres	Eurodance
Years active	1991–1998
Associated acts	Datura
Past members	Claudio Varola Michele Comis Elisa Spreafichi

History

U.S.U.R.A. was started by Time Records owner Giacomo Maiolini, producers Walter Cremonini and Alessandro Gilardi. The name is derived from that of Maiolini's mother, Ursula. The group is best known for the 1992-93 hit single (and later album) "Open Your Mind", featuring a dialog sample from the film Total Recall, as well as from "Solid" by Ashford & Simpson (that famous 'owh') and incorporating sampled elements from the Simple Minds song "New Gold Dream" from 1982.[2] Its video morphs the faces of Ronald Reagan, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin, Ian Paisley, Margaret Thatcher, Richard Nixon, Mary Whitehouse, and Joe McCarthy.

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
		AUS [3]
Open Your Mind	Released: 1993 Label: Deconstruction Records	218

Singles

Year	Title	Peak chart positions											Album
		ITA [4]	AUS [3]	AUT [5]	BEL [6]	FIN [7]	GER [8]	IRE [9]	NED [10]	SWE [11]	SWI [12]	UK [13]
1993	"Open Your Mind"	2	29	3	4	6	8	6	5	19	3	7	Open Your Mind
	"Sweat"	4	48	9	20	4	—	10	—	—	22	29
	"Tear It Up"	3	99	—	—	3	—	—	—	—	—	—
1994	"Drive Me Crazy"	8	—	—	—	11	—	—	—	—	30	—
1995	"Infinity"	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	(single releases only)
	"The Spaceman"	5	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1996	"Flying High"	14	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
	"In the Bush"	20	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1997	"Open Your Mind '97"	19	—	34	—	—	64	—	—	—	—	21
1998	"Trance Emotions"	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"—" denotes items that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

References

1. See New Gold Dream (81–82–83–84)
2. http://www.whosampled.com/U.S.U.R.A./Open-Your-Mind/
3. Australian chart peaks:
   • Top 50 peaks: "australian-charts.com > Discography Usura". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2016-02-08.
   • Top 100 peaks: Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
   • "Tear It Up": "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart – Week Ending 23 Jan 1994". Imgur.com (original document published by ARIA). Retrieved 2017-05-14. N.B. The HP column displays the highest peak reached.
   • Open Your Mind (album): "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 13 September 2016". Imgur.com. Retrieved 2017-05-14.
4. "Italian Singles". hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 2016-07-17.
5. "Austrian Singles". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 2016-07-17.
6. "Belgian (Flanders) Singles". ultratop.be. Retrieved 2016-07-17.
7. "Sisältää hitin: Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1961" (in Finnish). Sisältää Hitin - Suomen listalevyt (Timo Pennanen). Retrieved 2016-07-17.
8. German Singles:
   • "Open Your Mind": "U.S.U.R.A. - Open Your Mind" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 2016-07-17.
   • "Open Your Mind '97": "U.S.U.R.A. - Open Your Mind '97" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 2016-07-17.
9. "Irish Singles". irishcharts.ie. Retrieved 2016-07-17.
10. "Netherlands Singles". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 2016-07-17.
11. "Swedish Albums". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 2016-07-17.
12. "Swiss Singles". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2016-07-17.
13. "UK Singles". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2016-07-17.