Fausto Leali
Encyclopedia
Fausto Leali is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
) is an Italian
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
singer, famous for his rough and aggressive voice, in sharp contrast with Italian melody conventions. Due to his voice
Human voice
The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal folds for talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, etc. Its frequency ranges from about 60 to 7000 Hz. The human voice is specifically that part of human sound production in which the vocal folds are the primary...
, he is nickname
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
d "The black white" ("Negro bianco").
Beginnings
Leali began his musical career as a singer in several bands in his native BresciaBrescia
Brescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 197,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan...
. He released his first single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
in 1962 as 'Fausto Denis', for the magazine Nuova Enigmistica Tascabile.
Then he joined a group from Alessandria
Alessandria
-Monuments:* The Citadel * The church of Santa Maria di Castello * The church of Santa Maria del Carmine * Palazzo Ghilini * Università del Piemonte Orientale-Museums:* The Marengo Battle Museum...
, the Novelty, which had already released an EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
in 1961. With the group he managed to obtain a recording contract
Recording contract
A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...
with the record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
, and began to release singles, including two covers
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
songs, "Please Please Me
Please Please Me
Please Please Me is the debut album by the English rock band The Beatles. Parlophone rush-released the album on 22 March 1963 in the United Kingdom to capitalise on the success of singles "Please Please Me" and "Love Me Do" .Of the album's fourteen songs, eight were written by Lennon–McCartney...
" and "Lei ti ama" ("She Loves You
She Loves You
"She Loves You" is a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney based on an idea by McCartney, originally recorded by The Beatles for release as a single in 1963. The single set and surpassed several records in the United Kingdom charts, and set a record in the United States by being one of the...
"). Most of the other tracks released in the period were included in their first album, released in 1965. In 1966 Leali and the band Novelty changed their record label from Music to Ri-Fi.
Success
His first real success was "A chi" in 1967 (an ItalianItalian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
version of an 1954 American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
song "Hurt", written by Roy Hamilton
Roy Hamilton
Roy Hamilton was an American singer, who achieved major success in the US R&B and pop charts in the 1950s...
, which was also issued years later by Francesco De Gregori
Francesco De Gregori
Francesco De Gregori is an Italian singer-songwriter. He is popularly known as "Il Principe Poeta" , a nickname referring to the elegance of his lyrics.-1970s:...
). "A chi" sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
. In the same year Leali took part for the first time in the television festival Un disco per l'estate, with the song "Senza di te", but he did not progress beyond the first round.
The following year he married the singer Milena Cantù, a former member of Clan Celentano, with whom he had a daughter, Deborah, so named after the success of the homonymous song sung in that year Festival di Sanremo edition with Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett was an American R&B/Soul singer and songwriter.A major figure in the development of American soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, and frequently crossed over to the US Billboard Hot 100...
(fourth place).
In 1969, 1971 and 1974, he returned to Un disco per l'estate with the songs "Tu non meritavi una canzone", "Si chiama Maria", and "Solo lei". After a period of obscurity, he came back to fame in 1976 with the single, "Io camminero", which reached the top of charts, and in 1980 with a performance of Totò's
Totò
Prince Antonio Focas Flavio Angelo Ducas Comneno De Curtis di Bisanzio Gagliardi, best known by his stage name Totò and nicknamed il principe della risata was an Italian comedian, film and theatre actor, writer, singer and songwriter...
song "Malafemmena". In late 1980s he had several successful performances at Sanremo festival
Festival della canzone italiana
The Festival della canzone italiana di Sanremo is a popular Italian song contest, held annually in the city of Sanremo, in Italy, and consisting of a competition amongst previously unreleased songs...
; in 1987 with "Io amo" (fourth place), 1988 with "Mi manchi" (fifth place) and in 1989 in duet
Duet (music)
A duet is a musical composition for two performers. In classical music, the term is most often used for a composition for two singers or pianists; with other instruments, the word duo is also often used. A piece performed by two pianists performing together on the same piano is referred to as...
with Anna Oxa
Anna Oxa
Anna Oxa is an Italian singer of Albanian descent, well-known through her numerous appearances in the televised Italian song contest, the Sanremo Music Festival. In 1978, at the age of sixteen, she took second place with the song "Un'emozione da poco" at the Sanremo Festival...
, with the song "Ti lascerò" which won the contest. The same year Oxa and Leali represented Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
with "Avrei voluto
Avrei Voluto
"Avrei voluto" was the Italian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1989, performed in Italian by Anna Oxa & Fausto Leali....
". He came back to Sanremo in 2002, with "Ora che ho bisogno di te", sung in duet with Luisa Corna, and the next year with the successful, platinum disc
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
single, "Eri tu".
After taking part in 2006 in the Rai Due
Rai Due
Rai 2 is one of the three main television channels broadcast by Italian public television company RAI alongside with Rai 1 and Rai 3. Rai 2 first started transmissions on November 4, 1961...
reality show
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
, Music Farm, where he reached the finals, Leali released a new album Profumo e Kerosene, with ten new songs, all in a different musical styling.
Discography
Albums
Singles
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Duets
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