Any Newz On Rafaella Carra?

[Videoskooter]

The absolute Diva of Italian television during the 70' and 80's but I lost sight of her. Is she still on da tube? Jussi??? She made some good DISCOrecords too!

"A Far L'amore Comincia Tu"


"Rumore"


"Al Sur"


"Musica (Rumore Remicks)"




"Daddy Cool" (With Boney M)


"It's Raining Men (With Geri Haliwell)"


MADONNA IS THAT YOU, WITH THE BIG BABYLONS?

[markydefad]

Did Ms. Carra do a song called "5'3 -5'3 4-5-6"?(that's what it says in Billboard on the Montreal chart!!!).....at allmusic I see these titles...

"03456"
1,2,3, 4 Dancing"

Are these all different titles? Was Ms. Carra the Queen of numerology disco?
I'm just askin'!!!:p

[Videoskooter]

Marky, you are referring to the B-side of "Tornerai" which is called "53.53.456"



Here you can check her Discography in all countries!

Discografia

[markydefad]

thanks v/s...that must be it...what is that--a Euro phone number?

[Videoskooter]

Probably a phone number but I never heard that song. Maybe Jussi can give more info!

BTW it's "cinque tre.cinque tre.quattro cinque.sei" Try it, one never knows who picks up da phone :-)

[JussiK]

It's a great image for sure that cover of the Tornerai 7-incher! I got intriqued and phoned a friend in Italy to ask about the meaning of the b-side. As usual when confronted with Rafu, as they call her over there, he pretended not to know. They are so totally embarrassed by her. When I deejayed in Rome they even made me promise not to spin any Raffaella records.

[Bernie]

Originally Posted by JussiK

When I deejayed in Rome they even made me promise not to spin any Raffaella records.

Jussi,

Did you keep that promise? :evil:

[Nano]

Marky: 53-53-456 was one of Raffaella's greatest hits BITD and yes, it's a phone number. For some reason, she changed it to do the Spanish version and it became 03-03-456. The Spanish lyrics went like this:

CERO-TRES-CERO-TRES-CUATRO-CINCO-SEIS!!!!! (na-na-na-nana-naná)
el teléfono suena y tú no estás! (na-na-na-nana-naná)
si el numeró (sic), si el numeró tú no lo sabes
escucha bien, escucha bien lo que yo te diréeeeeee...

CERO-TRES-CERO-TRES-CUATRO-CINCO-SEIS! etc.

(0303456, the phone is ringing and you're not there, if you don't know the number listen closely and I will tell you... 0303456)

This must be one of the most catchy Italian songs of all time. You really got to hear it! Of course for us latins it was too "grease" to play it in a club, but you'll love it.



I understand she keeps with her talk show, been doing that for some 20 years now. Last year she was in Buenos Aires to do the Maradona TV show and confided that the Spanish versions of some her hits (including this one) had been rewritten to please the rampant censorship of the era (i.e. military dictatorship, very Catholic).

She also said she has a new husband, and his ex-husband (then her lyricist or choreographer, I don't remember well) lives just across the street from them, and they're friends.

Pronto Raffaella!

[Videoskooter]

Nano, thank you for the update! But on the phone-number song: Is it Disco? Never heard of it!

Now, about Jussi's post: I already noticed there's a lot of mockvids on YT about La Carra and you can even call it Carra-Bashing!

I never understood why. Was she too much, too long on da tele? Who knows? Is it her attitude???

Fact is, and I think Remicks already noticed: The "New Disco Madonna" certainly borrows big from Raffaella's performances!

BTW, I like her, I think she is a gorgeous woman and she made some good music!

[markydefad]

Was Rafaella Carra the Italian equivalent of Charo in America????
Or who---Disco Dinah Shore????

[Nano]

Johan: my guess is, if you think "Tanti Auguri" is disco, then this one also is, as many others from Raffaella's golden days: "Festa", "Lola", "Rumore", etc.

Of course she borrowed freely from the disco image:



However for us Latins disco was not a Latin music, so we listened to the English-spoken tracks. Firefly and Kano were hot in the clubs because we DIDN'T know they were Italian! For a local DJ, playing Raffaella would have been like playing Spice Girls at The Hacienda, i.e. the horror!

Dance songs with Spanish or Italian lyrics we despised, even Kool & The Gang's Spanish version of "Celebration" (these versions' lyrics were too corny... maybe we would thought the same had we understood their English counterparts). Plus, TV shows usually featured Italian or Spanish singers (like Raffaella) so they weren't "exclusive" enough for the clubs, plus their rhythm tracks tended to be cheap imitations of the real stuff. Remember "music for us" and "television" were antithesis in those times. The usual music in our TV (and radio) was tango, chacarera, Pedrito Rico, Libertad Lamarque, Raffaella, Raphael... And when they wanted to be "cool" they screened a Sinatra concert. No rock whatsoever, and no disco either. In Argentina, of course.

All that TV exposure is what makes of her something widely known and of course lovable (child memories) and mockable. Also, like with many singer-dancers of the day, she became something of a gay icon.

[Nano]

Originally Posted by markydefad

Was Rafaella Carra the Italian equivalent of Charo in America????
Or who---Disco Dinah Shore????

Sorry Marky, don't know these people. I think the Spice Girls comparison should work here. Or imagine how "real" would have been if Leif Garrett or Donny Osmond had done disco. The John Travolta records were mostly ballads, but I think you get it ;)

[Videoskooter]

Nano, never knew about the Latin lyrics being so unpopular overthere. We Italians went bezerk on records like Pino D'Angio's "Ma Quale Idea" and Lucio Battisti's "Il Veliero" That was US, we liked 'em

BTW, there's some stuff that even we, ehmmmmn don't click this, don't!

[markydefad]

Lucio Battisti's "Il Veliero"...vs could you find a video of this one???
This also charts on the Montreal chart in late 1976.

[Nano]

Well... "Ma quale idea" was very big in discos here... until it started to sound in TV (was even a Spanish version of this one? I'm not sure).

Some Italian records, and of course le French, were "cool", but of course they were "cooler" when almost nobody had them. If rumor spread and they had a local release (not to say a Spanish version) then they were absolutely OUT. Call it snobbish... That's the way the machine works down here.