Lucio Battisti

Artist: Lucio Battisti

LP: 7" single

Song: "Diece Ragazze"
[ listen ]

Here's a slice of spicy Italian for a drab and dreary Seattle Saturday afternoon. If I had choose only one Italian singer I could listen to for the rest of my life (and could borrow coats and ascots from), I think I'd pick the reclusive Mr. Lucio Battisti. (Lucio withdrew from public appearances in 1982, and then became even more reclusive after the autumn of 1998.) If you haven't heard it, I heartily recommend Battisti's 1971 "Amore e Non Amore" LP, released two years after his first top ten hit, "Diece Raggazze," peaked at #3 on the Italian singles charts in 1969. You can read more about the life and career of Lucio Battisti here.

[ Lucio Battisti: March 5, 1943 — September 9, 1998 ]

Guido & Maurizio

Artist: Guido & Maurizio

LP: Welcome!

Song: "Verde"
[ listen ]

Song: "Goodbye My Friend"
[ listen ]

Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi, whose film THE SALESMAN has just been nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, has decided not to attend the awards ceremony in Hollywood this year. He'd initially planned to be there, but after Friday's executive order banning travel to the USA from seven Muslim-majority countries, Farhadi regretfully announced, "I have decided to not attend the Academy Awards Ceremony alongside my fellow members of the cinematic community...the possibility of (my) presence is being accompanied by ifs and buts which are in no way acceptable to me, even if exceptions were to be made for my trip." 

He continued, "To humiliate one nation with the pretext of guarding the security of another is not a new phenomenon in history and has always laid the groundwork for the creation of future divide and enmity. I hereby express my condemnation of the unjust conditions forced upon some of my compatriots and the citizens of the other six countries trying to legally enter the United States of America and hope that the current situation will not give rise to further divide between nations."

That sucks. Asghar Farhadi's A SEPARATION won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film of 2011, and he's one of the most exciting filmmakers working today.

Speaking of films, brothers Guido & Maurizio De Angelis made music for lots of them, mostly the ones from Italy. They also made pop songs with vocals, but those were released under the name Oliver Onions.

Renato Zero

Artist: Renato Zero

LP: Erozero

Song: "Fermo Posta" 
[ listen ]

This morning I had breakfast in Bothell with my friends David and Yvonne. We'd met for breakfast before at the charming Kozy Korner Cafe, but, sadly, that place wasn't really an option this time around... 

...so we went to Alexa's Cafe up the street instead. Though I'd fantasized about going record shopping in Kirkland after breakfast, turns out Vortex Music and Movies doesn't open until 11am, and it was only 10. (Plus, I'd left my Vortex 20%-off coupon on the counter at home.) Still, en route to my apartment, my Ford Escort somehow managed to steer me toward another record store I'd never been to before—Beats and Bohos in Seattle's Phinney Ridge neighborhood. Filled with vintage furniture and clothing and featuring stacks of vinyl in the center of the room, it reminded me of lots of stores I'd been to in the '80s and '90s that you just don't see around much any more—like Grunts & Postures in Salt Lake City, and some other great little shop that a guy had started in downtown Provo, Utah when I first went to school there in 1987.

Anyway, the guy working the counter at Beats and Bohos (the owner, I think) was friendly enough and offered to play samples from interesting-looking records I'd never heard before, including this 1979 Italian dilly by Renato Zero. As a cross-dressing youngster, Renato was harassed with taunts of "Sei uno zero!" ("You're a zero!") so he changed his name and became famous. He's the only musical artist in Italy to have had #1 hits in each of the past five decades! You can read more about Renato Zero here, and I've included Italian liner notes, song lyrics and photos (yes, that's right. They're Italian photos) below.

[ Renato Zero ]

[ Beats and Bohos — Seattle, Washington ]

Christmas In Italy

Artist: Various

LP: Christmas In Italy

Song: "La Ninna Nanna a Gesù (Lullaby to Jesus)" 
Performed by: R. Lipparini, Tenor w/ Cleva, Soprano e Coro
[ listen ]

Song: "Buon Natale (Merry Christmas)"
Performed by: Coro di Alunne della Piccola Casa San Giuseppe 
accompagnate dal Complesso Speciale del Pistoia
[ listen ]

It's that time of year again—when poor families all across Italy have to hock their furniture in order to provide a decent Christmas meal. I read today that, because of the Internet, stores in countries all over the world now have to participate in Black Friday discounts on the day after Thanksgiving—even though they don't even celebrate Thanksgiving! I bet the Internet has also pretty much destroyed the Italian tradition of the old, witch-like Befana who comes down the chimney with toys at Christmas, described in the liner notes on the back of this 1957 "Christmas In Italy" LP. On the other hand, the Web has probably also helped Italians realize that eating capitone marinato every year during the holidays isn't such a great idea after all, no matter how much wine you try to cover it up with. Buon Natale!

The Gaylords

Artist: The Gaylords

LP: That's Amore

Song: "That's Amore"

[ listen ]

What better way to start off a New Year where gay people can get married in Utah (of all places...it was nice while it lasted) than with The Gaylords! Formed in Detroit in 1949 as a trio (an amore triangle, perhaps?), the group was whittled down to a duo sometime before this album full of Italian hits came out. You can read about The Gaylords musical group (not to be confused with the Chicago street gang) here and here, but nothing in the information I found indicates whether or not these fellows are actually "friends of Dorothy," if you know what I mean. One has to wonder after seeing the (heart-shaped) photo on the back of the album, where it's pretty clear The Gaylords both conveniently forgot to ask female dates to the prom.

[ The Gaylords, in triangle formation. ]

The DiMara Sisters

Artist: The DiMara Sisters

LP: Italian Songs Mama Never Taught Me 
(Le Canzoni Che Mamma Non Mi Ha Mai Insegnato)

Song: "Il Solletico"

[ listen ]

Since my last posting I've started a new job, I went on several lousy dates, I finally watched THE DARK KNIGHT RISES at the cinema, and I've kicked leaves down sidewalks on crisp, sunny days throughout my favorite month of the year—October! My doldrums are in storage and I'm riding high with this cheery, giggly (some might even say gay) ditty by the lovely and talented DiMara Sisters on the console. Notes are included below, and you can hear more from these charming sisters at an older posting here.

 

[ Italian Hairstyles Mama Never Taught Her ]

Ugo Calise

 
Artist: Ugo Calise

LP: Songs of Siren Land [10" EP]

Song: "L'Ammore Mio...È Francese!"

[ listen ]

This 1955 Ugo Calise 10" was one of the things I was going to clear out of my collection, but I just found copies for sale online for 300€! Guess I won't be dumping this one at the local thrift store. If anyone out there's interested, just make me an offer; the record's in really good condition and I'm willing to let it go for less than 250€. If and when this one does leave my hands, I'm gonna miss staring into Ugo's beautiful dark eyes. He's so darn handsome, even if he doesn't have any legs. You can read all about Ugo Calise in Italian here and Google awkwardly translates the page into English here (just click on Ugo's name). Notes, photos, and an "Ugo Calise" pronunciation guide from the back of the record are included below.

[ Ugo Calise: May 6, 1921 — August 6, 1994 ]

Gianni Morandi

Artist: Gianni Morandi

LP: Gianni 5

Song: "Il Giocattolo"

[ listen ]

Italian pop star and heartthrob Gianni Morandi was born in the small town of Monghidoro, Italy in December of 1944. In his youth he helped his father sell newspapers for the Italian Communist Party, shined shoes, cobbled, and sold candy in the town's only cinema. He signed to RCA Italiana when he was just 18 years old and rose to national stardom with the hit single "Fatti Mandare Dalla Mamma." You can read more about the handsome and talented Gianni Morandi on Wikipedia here, find additional info and listen to more of his songs on the European Film Star Postcards blog here, and visit Gianni's official website here, where you'll find his complete discography, filmography, and lots of other neat things.

Gianni Morandi on YouTube:

[ "Fatti Mandare Dalla Mamma" ]

Raffaella Carrà

Artist: Raffaella Carrà

LP: Applauso

Song: "Joggin'"

[ listen ]

After being born in Bologna, Italy in 1943, Raffaella Carrà first appeared on screen in TORMENTO DEL PASSATO in 1952. She moved to the USA in 1965 and made an auspicious Hollywood debut in VON RYAN'S EXPRESS with Frank Sinatra and Trevor Howard. Feeling homesick, she returned to Italy a few years later, where she became the first woman to show her bellybutton on national television. You can read more about the lovely and talented Raffaella Carrà on Wikipedia here, and I've included links to some delectable Raffaella Carrà videos below. After trying to describe the song "Joggin'" to my friend Ryan last night, she assured me that it likely wasn't about jogging at all, but was instead one of the worst euphemisms ever set to music. That may have been partly my fault, since I got a little carried away imitating the song's panting effects, but I've always found jogging to be so exhausting.

Raffaella Carrà on YouTube:

[ "Hay Que Venir al Sur" ]

[ "A Far L'amore Comincia Tu" ]

 

[ Raffaella Carrà ]