Sunday Song

In celebration of Mina Italy's Queen of Pop who was 70 just a few days ago on the 25th of March.

Portati via (Take Away)

 

 

The text is from You Tube and originally produced by sarc2

Mina Anna Mazzini, OMRI,[1] best known as Mina, (born 25 March 1940 as Anna Maria Mazzini[2]) is an Italian pop singer. For her voice and performing talent, she was a star attraction of the Italian television variety shows and a dominant figure on the Italian charts. She has sold over 76 million records.[3] Mina gave up public appearances in 1978 while has continued to release albums on a yearly basis to date.
Mina's TV appearances in 1959 presented the first female rocker in Italy. Her loud syncopated singing earned her the nickname "Queen of Screamers". For her wild gestures and body shakes, the publicity labeled her the "Tiger of Cremona". Having turned to light pop tunes, her chart-toppers in West Germany and Japan in 19621964 earned Mina the title of the best international artist in the countries. Originally in surf rock style, her hit "Renato" is a pop standard in Estonia. Mina's more refined sensual manner was introduced in 1960 with Gino Paoli's ballad "Il cielo in una stanza", which charted in U.S.
Mina's pregnancy and relationship with a married actor caused her a ban on the public Italian channels in 1963 as it did not accord with the dominant catholic and bourgeois morals. After the ban, the Italian broadcasting service RAI continued trying to prohibit her songs which were forthright in dealing with subjects such as religion, smoking, or sex (e.g. the songs "Ta-ra-ta-ta" and "Sacumdì Sacumdà"). To her bad girl image, Mina added a sexy appeal and a cool act, featuring public smoking, dyed blond hair, and shaved eyebrows.
Mina's voice has a distinctive timbre and great power. Her main theme are anguished love stories interpreted in a dramatic way (e.g. "Un bacio è troppo poco" in 1965 and "Portati via" in 2005). The singer combined classic Italian pop with blues and soul music (e.g. the songs "Se stasera sono qui" (1968), "Deborah" (1968), and collaborations with the composer Lucio Battisti in 19691970). She introduced nuevo tango in Italy, recording the song "Balada para mi muerte" with Ástor Piazzolla in 1972. Italian top songwriters created material with large vocal range and unusual chord progression to showcase her singing skills, particularly Bruno Canfora's "Brava" (1965) and Ennio Morricone's pseudo-serial "Se telefonando" (1966). Her ballad "Grande grande grande" was carried to the U.S., U.K., and Australian charts by Shirley Bassey in 1973. Mina's easy listening duet "Parole parole" was turned into a worldwide hit by Dalida and Alain Delon (1973).

 

The artists and songs featured are not always particular favourites of mine, but I want to introduce a selection of the type of music that is popular in Italy.

I discovered this morning that another Blog 5 Minutes Just for Me   which I have recently started following also features a Sunday Song. Her choice today is from Sissel Kyrkjebo.  I had never heard of her before, she has a beautiful voice.  I hope you will have time to click on the link and listen yourself.

Sunday greetings to you all, have a relaxing day.