Aldo Nova

Aldo Nova
Aldo Nova performing in 2024
Background information
Birth name	Aldo Caporuscio
Born	(1956-11-13) November 13, 1956 (age 68) Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Genres	Hard rock
Occupations	Musician producer
Instruments	Vocals guitar keyboards
Years active	1979–present
Labels	Portrait JAMBCO Records BMG Canada Viral Records

Aldo Nova is the stage name of Aldo Caporuscio^[1] (born November 13, 1956),^[2] a Canadian hard rock musician and music producer. He is a guitarist, keyboardist, and vocalist. He gained recognition with his 1982 debut album Aldo Nova, which peaked at Billboard's number 8 position, and its accompanying single, "Fantasy", which reached number 23 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and boosted sales for its parent album.^[3][4] In 1997, he won a Grammy Award for Album of the Year as co-producer of Celine Dion's 1996 album Falling into You. He co-wrote four songs on the 2000 album Uno by La Ley, which won the Grammy Award for Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album.

Early life

Nova was born in Montreal, Quebec, to Italian immigrant parents from a small village near Rome.^[2][5] He adopted the stage name Aldo Nova when he started playing guitar and keyboards at age 15.

Career

1980s–1990s

Signing with Portrait Records, Nova released a self-produced album Aldo Nova in 1982,^[1] that had two singles: "Fantasy" and "Foolin' Yourself". The Top 40 success of "Fantasy" led to Nova being listed as a one-hit wonder by VH1 in 2009.^[6][7]

Nova's second album Subject...Aldo Nova from 1983,^[1] had two singles: "Monkey on Your Back" and "Always Be Mine". His third album Twitch from 1985,^[1] had two singles: "Rumours of You" and "Tonite (Lift Me Up)".

Nova was displeased with the third album and the record company's insistence on making a more commercial album.^[1] After supporting the Twitch album, Nova's label refused to release him from his contract, and he stopped working with Portrait. In 1990, Aldo Nova wrote the main guitar riff used in the Jon Bon Jovi song, "Blaze of Glory".^[1] In 1991, to return the favour, Bon Jovi worked with Nova to release Blood on the Bricks on Bon Jovi's label Jambco Records.^[1] It had three singles: "Blood on the Bricks", "Medicine Man", and "Someday".

In addition, Nova produced some early Celine Dion albums. He co-wrote the hit song, "A New Day Has Come" for Dion, and has been featured playing guitar, synthesizer, and percussion on her records. He also wrote her songs "Your Light", "I Can't Fight the Feelin'", and "You and I" (which was used as Hillary Clinton's campaign song and as the Air Canada theme song). He co-wrote the Blue Öyster Cult song "Take Me Away" and was a member of the Guitar Orchestra of the State Of Imaginos on their album Imaginos.

In 1996, he received a Grammy Award as producer for Celine Dion's Falling into You for Album of the Year.^[4] In 1997, he released his own album Nova's Dream, which was seen as a return to his "signature" style of hard rock.^[8] He co-wrote the Latin Grammy nominated song "Aqui" for the Chilean rock group La Ley on the album Uno. He also co-wrote and co-produced four other tracks on that album, which won a Grammy for best Latin/Alternative/Rock Album.

As a songwriter, Nova's hits include Clay Aiken's "This Is The Night" (co-written with Chris Braide and Gary Burr), which in the US was a number 1 hit and the best-selling single of 2003. He wrote one and co-wrote more songs on Dion's Taking Chances album.^[9]

2000s–present

In 2003, Nova received an International Achievement Award at the SOCAN Awards in Toronto for co-writing the Dion song "A New Day Has Come".^[10]

In early 2019, Nova announced to Loudwire that he would release a rock opera in June 2020 under the name The Life and Times of Eddie Gage. He had been working on the album from 2008.^[11] The release was delayed, eventually coming out in the smaller EP format on 1 April 2022.^[12]

Discography

Studio albums

• Aldo Nova (1982) No. 8 US 2× Platinum^[13]
• Subject...Aldo Nova (1983) No. 56 US Gold & Canada Platinum
• Twitch (1985) Canada Gold
• Blood on the Bricks (1991) No. 124 US
• Nova's Dream (1997)
• The Life and Times of Eddie Gage – A Rock Opera – 10-song EP – A Little Preview (EP) (2022)
• 2.0 Reloaded (2022)
• Short Stories (EP) (2022)
• Sonic Hallucinations (EP) (2022)

Compilations

• A Portrait of Aldo Nova (1991)
• The Best of Aldo Nova (2006)
• Under the Gun...A Portrait of Aldo Nova (2007)

Singles

Year	Title	Chart Positions			Album
		CAN	US	US Main
1982	"Fantasy"	14	23	3	Aldo Nova
	"Foolin' Yourself"	45	65	—
1983	"Monkey on Your Back"	—	—	12	Subject
	"Always Be Mine"	—	107	—
1985	"Tonight (Lift Me Up)"	—	—	—	Twitch
	"Rumours Of You"	—	—	—
1991	"Blood on the Bricks"	65	—	14	Blood on the Bricks
	"Someday"	45	—	—
	"Medicine Man"	—	—	—
2018
	"Fantasy 2.0"	—	—	—	Aldo Nova 2.0
2019	"I'm a Survivor"	—	—	—

Songwriter/producer

Artist	Title	Year
Blue Öyster Cult	"Take Me Away"	1983	Music/Lyrics
Nicole McCloud	"Don't You Want My Love"	1985
Beau Geste	"No More Heroes"	1986
Celine Dion	"Partout Je Te Vois"	1987
	"Have a Heart"	1990
	"Des Mots Qui Sonnent"	1991
	"Dreamin' of You"	1996	Music/Lyrics/Producer
	"I Love You"		Music/Lyrics
	"Your Light"		Music/Lyrics/Producer
Saints & Sinners	Saints & Sinners	1992
Jetsam	"Drive"	1997
Faith Hill	"I Love You"	1998
Jon Bon Jovi	"Mister Big Time"
Garou	"Au Plaisir De Ton Corps"	2000	Music/Lyrics
	"Le Monde Est Stone"	2001	Producer
Celine Dion	"A New Day Has Come"	2002	Music/Lyrics/Producer
Chenoa	"Una Mujer (I'm A Woman)"	2002	Music/Lyrics
Clay Aiken	"This Is The Night"	2003	Music/Lyrics
Garou	"L'aveu"	2004	Producer
	"Pour L'amour D'une Femme"		Music/Lyrics/Producer
Celine Dion	"You and I"
Agnes Carlsson	"I Believe"	2005	Music/Lyrics
Marilou Bourdon	"Le Coeur De Mon Coeur"		Music/Lyrics/Producer
Garou	"Que Le Temps"	2006	Producer
	"Trahison"
Celine Dion	"A Song For You"	2007	Music/Lyrics
	"Can't Fight The Feelin'"
	"Fade Away"
	"Shadow Of Love"

Tours

Fantasy Tour (1982–1983) Subject Tour (1983–1984) Blood on the Bricks Tour (1991)

See also

• Canadian rock
• List of Canadian musicians
• List of bands from Canada

References

1. Colin Larkin, ed. (1999). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Heavy Rock (First ed.). Virgin Books. p. 326. ISBN 0-7535-0257-7.
2. "Aldo Nova Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
3. Adam White & Fred Bronson (1988). The Billboard Book of Hits. Billboard Books. ISBN 0-8230-8285-7.
4. "Aldo Nova – Artist Profile". Eventseeker.com. Retrieved December 20, 2019.
5. Derrough, Leslie Michele (April 5, 2022). "40 Years Later, Aldo Nova Still Out To Prove He's No One Hit Wonder (interview)". Glide Magazine.
6. June 24, Leah Greenblatt Updated; EDT, 2022 at 04:45. "VH1's 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the '80s: Do You Agree?". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
7. "Aldo Nova". Billboard. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
8. Ankeny, Jason. "Aldo Nova – Nova's Dream". AllMusic. Retrieved December 17, 2023.
9. "Aldo Nova in 1981". Jam! Music's Canadian POP Music Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on July 10, 2012.
10. "2003 Socan Awards | Socan". Archived from the original on October 12, 2016. Retrieved November 1, 2016.
11. katherineturman (January 26, 2019). "Aldo Nova Shares Why He Disappeared After His Hit 'Fantasy'". Loudwire. Retrieved December 20, 2019.
12. "Aldo Nova Releases The Life And Times Of Eddie Gage EP; Full Audio Stream Available". BraveWords. April 1, 2022. Retrieved December 17, 2023.
13. "certification of albums at RIAA". Recording Industry Association of America. Archived from the original on December 10, 2010. Retrieved November 26, 2006. Requires running a searches for Artist or year

External links

• Interview with Aldo Nova
• Second Interview with Aldo Nova
• Everything2 writeup
• Aldo Nova discography at Discogs