Tiziano Ferro’s current album, Il Mestiere della Vita, continued to show the singer-songwriter’s versatility and why Ferro has become the top selling Italian artist in the world. He’s able to rule the Italian summer radio airwaves with happy pop like “Lento/Veloce,” throw in some rap on “My Steelo,” and get serious with a love song like “Il Conforto.” Of particular note to this poster is “Quasi Quasi,” a track that could be mistaken for a Mina cover; Ferro seems to be able to transport his voice to any era.
A touch of the 60s sound seems to always be part of the Ferro’s album mix. In his previous album, Ferro channels Don Backy in “Paura No Ho:”
Tiziano Ferro - Paura non ho
Ferro’s love of the era also was shown on a track he wrote with Roberto Casalino for Giusy Ferreri, who made her radio debut with this single, “Non ti scordar mai di me.” Her performance here reminded many of Amy Winehouse, herself a great admirer of 60s bands.
Recently in a Roman court, a lawyer who has written books on the death of singer Rino Gaetano formally requested the courts re-open an investigation into the death of the singer-songwriter who died in a car accident on June 2, 1981 at age 30. Gaetano suffered serious head injuries during the crash and hospitals in the area were unwilling to treat him due to lack of space and unavailable specialists.
Gaetano is best known for hits “Ma il cielo è sempre più blu” and “Gianna.” Shortly before his passing, Gaetano took part in a concert series titled Qconcert with Riccardo Cocciante where he had performed a cover of a Cocciante single from 1978, “A Mano a Mano.” In the song, the singer attempts to convince an ex-love to return to him – italian and translated lyrics here.
Rino Gaetano - A Mano a Mano
Although “A mano a mano” never charted, Gaetano’s tender grit quietly made the song a favorite of many in Italy and its popularity has increased immensely in the past few years. It has become a staple in music reality shows, was featured in the soundtrack and trailer for the 2014 film “Allacciate le cinture,” and was part of the deluxe edition of Andrea Bocelli’s 2013 “Passione” album, cementing the single as an Italian pop classic to international audiences.
Below are the original and Bocelli versions of the ballad:
Riccardo Cocciante A mano a mano (con Mia Martini da "Festa d'inverno" 1977)
Marcella Bella was credited with the first Italian disco hit with “Nessuno Mai” and later she even recorded a disco version of “Resta Cu’mme”. Lucio Battisti incorporated the disco sound in his latest releases and Italian disco music from Raffaella Carrà and Umberto Tozzi even became world-wide hits. A favorite of that era and one that still enjoys great popularity today in Italy, with two recent films inspired by its lyrics, is “Se mi lasci non vale” from Latin crooner Julio Iglesias. The hit, written by singer-songwriter Luciano Rossi and actually released and recorded first by Rossi, was also done in Spanish by Iglesias and later released in English by Canadian Patrick Norman (“Let’s Try Once Again”).
Fifty years ago this month, the Supremes’ “You Can’t Hurry Love” was at the top of the Billboard charts and the trio were becoming international stars. To help spread the music of Motown across the globe, founder Berry Gordy had his biggest stars re-record their music in different languages and Italian seems to have been the most popular. Here’s an old NPR segment on the topic and samples of “L’Amore Verra / You Can’t Hurry Love” and Stevie Wonder’s “Il sole è di Tutti / A Place In The Sun” from Italian TV.
The Supremes - L'amore verrà
♫ Stevie Wonder ♪ Il Sole è Di Tutti (New Release) ♫ Video & Audio Restaurati
