Articles by RockyCH

What’s more, ninety-five per cent of that ninety-five per cent talk confidently about the unlimited supplies of sun and good weather which they have to offer. The sun is the magnet which draws away more and more of the faithful every year from the bracing squalls of the British coastal resorts, luring them to bask on the burning beaches of Barcelona and Bilbao. Of course it rains there sometimes too, but a lot harder than at home usually, and without that irritating British drizzle and sea mist. And you frequently get a first class display of tropical thunder and lightning to boot.

Speaking of boots, Italy is a leading contender in the sunlight stakes. From the north right down to her southern toe and heel, you can rely on sweltering happily in relentless heat wherever you choose to go. Apart from the climate, there are innumerable attractions for tourists and holidaymakers in this ancient and historic land. Young lady visitors will have the experience of encountering for the first time the Italian male, who is renowned internationally for his amorous persistence. Like the little boy with the sick donkey he just will never take “No” for an answer.

Having enjoyed our braising in the torrid Italian sunlight, we naturally think about a musical souvenir to take back home with us. Something to remind us of that charming little cafe with the gleaming juke-box, the friendly flies who shared our food, and the sultry waitress who thought that we thought the looked like Sophia Loren. That’s where this record comes in.

Let it be said right away that it contains modern Italian popular music – brash, melodic, romantic and rhythmic in turn. There are no nasal Neapolitan tenors crooning about Catari over their guitars to remind us of the night we sipped our Chianti and glanced nervously up at the mephitic, sulphurous glow suffusing the crater of Etna. There are no Venetian gondoliers ululating lustful songs of love to recall the night we reclined in a gondola and were gently poled through an interesting array of flotsam and jetsam near the Doge’s palace. Instead we have an interesting array of contrasting songs reflecting Italian and foreign influences sung by an interesting array of leading pop artistes.

NICOLA ARIGLIANO is a graduate of the night club circuit. His first vocalising was directed at his comrades while engages, upon his national service, and they liked his voice enough to encourage him to continue after demobilisation, playing bass as well as singing. This record presents his greatest hit – the bi-lingual I Sing – Ammore – with its mixture of Latin and jazz in the accompaniment the angelic ComeUn Angelo, a ballad ideally suited to his mellow voice; and Permettete Signorina, an up-tempo plea to a member of the fair sex which should not go unheeded or unrewarded.

Speaking of the fair sex. JULIO DE PALMA contributes three songs too. A familiar voice on most of the European radio networks, Milan-born Julio is also a regular participant in the various song festivals, including the famous one at San Remo. She sings three of her disc successes here: a melodic E’ La Luna, a rhythmic Noi Siamo, and a bi-lingual Lezione D’Inglese, inspired possibly by a romantic English visitor.

ENRICO INTRA achieved nationwide fame as a jazz pianist in Italy before extending his talents to singing popular songs as well. Here he is heard in his vocal capacity performing a languorous cha cha cha with bi-lingual attractions Be Mine Signorina – and obviously aimed hopefully at visiting ladies who speak English.

SILVANA SEVA, another young damsel of song, is a comparative newcomer to the Italian pop scene after a string of first prizes in various Mimi competitions. She sings Wendy Wendy, a ditty falling into the rock-a-cha-cha genre.

FRANCO AND HIS G.5 group are Italy’s most famous exponents of Latin American rhythm. The G stands for giglio – lily- the symbol of the city of Florence, and the 5 denotes the number in his original ensemble formed in 1950. Here they play cha cha ilia called Raggazina and a straight example of il rocko named Innamorata Di Te.

PINO DONAGGIO started his entertainment career as a violinist and dancer before beginning to sing pop songs. Here he’s accompanied by bleeping guitars and echoing choir in a rock-a-cha-cha opus entitled Sulla Verde Terra.

Instrumental in obtaining his recording contract for him was young pianist PINO CALVI, who completes the L.P. with a rhapsodic rendition of Umberto Bindi’s lovely theme Il Nostro Concerto. Twelve items giving an authentic cross-section of current Italian pop music. Short of our impregnating the sleeve with the odour of freshly-cooked spaghetti, you couldn’t find a more realistic souvenir – or appetiser – for a stay in ITALY.

The traditional music of Ireland is basically Irish tunes with English lyrics, but these are translated and sung in Gaelic. Although the songs were originally sung without any accompaniment, over the years the guitar, harmonica, penny whistle and harp have come into ever increasing use.

Patrick, the eldest brother, is an actor and a producer as well as a singer, but he is more interested in music than in the other activities and he plays harmonica on most of their recordings. He was an active member of the I.R.A. and so the rebel songs they sing are naturally done with great gusto and feeling. He was in the R.A.F. during World War II and has done decorating and painting as a living in many pans of the world as he is a keen traveller.

Tom was also an actor, having trained with the English Shakespearean Repertory, and he went to the United States in 1948. He has been a welder, a chef and a Warrant Officer in the R.A.F.

Liam, the youngest of the three, was an actor too and he went to the U.S.A. in 1956. He plays guitar and harmonica.

Tommy Makem was born at Keady, county of Armagh, and he plays penny whistle, warpipes, piccolo and drums. He made his first public appearance when he was five singing ‘The Beggarmarl and at the age of eight he joined the St. Patrick’s Church choir and he continued to sing with them for fifteen years, doing Gregorian chants and motets along with the choral work. When he was fourteen he worked in a garage as a clerk/book-keeper and at nineteen he was a barman and wrote a sports column for the local newspaper. Tommy went to the U.S.A. in 1955 and in 1956 he made his first recordings with the Clancy Brothers. At the Newport Folk Festival in 1959 the New York Times chose him and Joan Baez as the ‘best young folk singers’. Tommy’s advice to the myriad of fans who want to join the ranks of better folk singers is: “The chief thing is to believe in what you are singing. If it’s a fun song, you must be in a fun mood. It’s like acting – don’t try to imitate anyone. Just because Joe Doakes has a bad voice, but is a traditional singer, you don’t have to sound like him. If you have a better voice than those you learned from, use it. It enhances the song.

Here they are, four tough-fisted, gentle-hearted Irish singers, who have opened up a floodgate of entirely new songs; Irish folk music with its lilting charm, fierce independence of spirit arid whimsical view of life. For the first time in the revival of folk music, the line between ‘authentic’ arid ‘entertainment* has been narrowed, to satisfy the core of devotees who know that the real folk music is so much richer, deeper and more durable.