Adriano Celentano

[Videoskooter]

In the few months that I joined this forum I seldom read something about Italian icon Adriano Celentano.

Is he a discostar? No, not really but... On his rockalbums you can find surprising stuff.

For instance, the album "Uomo Macchina" (1976) which produced one of his biggest hits "Svalutation" ( an honest rockabilly song), there's a hidden treasure. The fourth song "La neve" is a relaxed rockballad and then after 3 minutes it suddenly swifts into a 5-minutes-disco-extravaganza which is in the same league as "Brazil" by The Ritchie Family. Perfectly mixable those 2. So, try to find it, it is awesome!!! The last song on this album is "I want to know" which can be played after "Why did you do it?" by Stretch.

The second surprise is his album "Disco Dance" (1977). Same trick. It starts with an almost classical version of the Italian evergreen "Azzuro", then goes into standard Italian rock but the fourth number "Ma che freddo stasera" is a 7'54" piece of excellent disco. So is "Nata per me" and "Mondo in mi 7".

I have the impression that this guy is not known very well.

So, check him out and be overjoyed :D but do make sure you're buying the right albums.

[discosavvy]

I like his disco song "Lascero'" from 1978, even though I have no idea what he's singing about :)

His 1980 album also has an interesting mix of rock and disco sounds.

His 1982 song "Non Succedera Piu" was so mellow that it reminded me of Julio Iglesias's version of "Begin the Beguine". What I mean is that the song has disco elements but is so light and airy because the beat is so soft.

Well, it's always good music to hear for "something different". But when I think of great Italian disco I think of Kano, Kasso, Rainbow Team, Firefly, Jimmy Ross, etc. where the lyrics are in English but the sound is distinctive, like a further development of the Chic funk sound.

[JussiK]

Adriano's 1977 "When Love..." is genuine, throbbing, fully orchestrated bona fide peak hour etc etc disco, with a great melody, chanting girls and great breaks.

[QUINNY]

He's a complete unknown to me except for one track from 1972 that did the business momentarily. So I'm legitimately able to mention one more time, the wonderfully silly:-

PRISENCOLINAINSINENCUISOL or however it's spelt.

This was a heavy slab of pop euro funk with inane lyrics and a rather strange rhythm pattern that had the first beat of every bar really accentuated. Overall, I liked it for its quirkiness and it was played in Discos/clubs and radio including the U.S.A. apparently, as I managed to identify it for an American guy (NY I think) in the "what's this" forum, who remembered it.

[Videoskooter]

"Prisenco..." is one of my all time favourites. It simply doesn't have lyrics, it's in non-existing language alltough many people think he's singing it in an Italian dialect. The horns simply draw you to the dancefloor.

I allways considered this as a floorfiller. When we play it, it still works but almost nobody remembers the singer. One of Italy's biggest stars of the 70's though.