Rita Pavone

Rita Pavone (Italian pronunciation: [ˈriːta paˈvoːne]; born August 23, 1945) is an Italian ballad and rock singer and actress, who enjoyed success through the 1960s.

Rita Pavone
Pavone in 1965
Born (1945-08-23) August 23, 1945
Turin, Italy
OccupationSinger, actor
Years active1962–present
Spouse(s)
Teddy Reno (m. 1968)
Websitehttp://www.ritapavone.it

Singing career

In 1962 she participated in, and won, the first Festival degli Sconosciuti ("Festival of the Unknown"), a song competition for amateur artists. Her self-titled 1963 album, led by the hit single La Partita di Pallone ("The Soccer Game") made her a national star at 17, and international attention soon followed. La Partita di Pallone sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc.[1] Her recording of Cuore ("Heart") also sold a million copies in 1963 and spent 9 weeks at #1 in Italy.[1]

In the summer of 1964 she had chart success in North America with a single "Remember Me", sung in English, backed with "Just Once More". The song reached #26 in the United States and #16 in Canada.

In 1965, Pavone made her first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show; she became a frequent musical guest there until 1970. Meanwhile she scored a string of hits, both ballads and rock songs in Spain, where she became a teen idol, enjoying so much fame there that it was commented during a 2005 Spanish-television documentary that such success there for a foreign singer is rare.

In the United States she sang alongside Diana Ross and The Supremes, Ella Fitzgerald, Tom Jones, Duke Ellington, and Paul Anka. It is said that Elvis Presley made a painting of her after she went to Memphis and met her at a recording studio. Also during this era, she sang at Carnegie Hall in New York City and recorded a duet with Barbra Streisand.

Returning to Italy, Pavone made her acting debut, working in five films and participating in shows like Giornalino di Gian Burrasca] (a children's TV show), Alta Pressione, Stasera Rita ("Tonight Rita"), and the variety show Studio Uno.[2] In 1982, she participated in Come Alice ("Like Alice"), which became a hit on Italian television.

Rita Pavone starred in six movies during the 1960s: Clementine Cherie (1963), Rita, la Figlia Americana (1965), Rita La Zanzara (1966), Non Stuzzicate la Zanzara (1967), Little Rita nel West (1968), and La Feldmarescialla (1968). The two "Zanzara" movies and the Giornalino di Gian Burrasca (1965) were directed by Lina Wertmüller. Although her movie career targeted a teen audience and lacked great artistic value, today her films have found a cult niche.

Pavone was also popular in the UK during 1966 and 1967. RCA Victor issued two of her singles; in quick succession both were hits, "Heart" peaking at #27 and "You Only You" peaking at #21 in the UK Singles Chart.[3] During this same period she appeared at the London Palladium. She also recorded Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Try It And See", which later became "King Herod's Song" in the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar.

In 1968 Pavone married Teddy Reno in Switzerland. He was her talent scout and the organizer of the first song contest she won, but their union caused a scandal in Italian society because he was still married to his first wife, Livia Protti, and Italy had no divorce law until 1970. They remarried in Italy in 1971 and had two sons: Alessandro in 1969 and Giorgio in 1974.

During the 1980s Pavone acted in comedy films like 2 sul Pianerottolo, Risate in Salotto, and Santarellina.

In 1992 Pavone returned to the United States, where she sang during a multiple-artist concert that included Whitney Houston, Frank Sinatra, the Bolshoi Ballet, and Cher at the Sands hotel in Atlantic City. She then turned to theater acting and participated in a William Shakespeare play. In 2002 she gave a concert at Miami's Dade Auditorium.

Pavone and her husband Reno now live in Ticino, Switzerland. Their elder son Alessandro is a radio-show host, and their younger son Giorgio is a rock singer.

The main character in the 2000 Argentine film Nine Queens tries to remember a Pavone song throughout the film; the song Il Ballo Del Mattone plays as the credits run.

Pavone was a Senate candidate in the Italian general election of 2006. She participated as candidate for Per l'Italia nel Mondo (For Italy in the World), a centre-right list led by minister Mirko Tremaglia.

She participated at the Sanremo Music Festival 2020 with the song Niente (Resilienza 74).[4]

Discography

Pavone recorded a total of 13 albums. She mainly recorded for RCA until 1968, then signed briefly with Ricordi, which launched her vanity label RitaLand, but she eventually returned to the label that had launched her and recorded three more albums with RCA.

Italian discography
  • Rita Pavone (1963, re-released on CD format in 2003)
  • Non è Facile Avere 18 Anni (1964)
  • Il Giornalino di Gian Burrasca (1965)
  • Stasera Rita (1965)
  • È Nata una Stella (1966, compilation)
  • Ci Vuole Poco (1967)
  • Little Rita nel West (1968)
  • Rita 70
  • Viaggio a Ritaland (1970)
  • Gli Italiani Vogliono Cantare (1972)
  • Rita ed Io (1976)
  • RP (1980)
  • Gemma e le Altre (1989)
  • Masters (2013)

U.S. discography
  • Rita Pavone - The International Teenage Sensation (1964)
  • Small Wonder (1964)
  • This is Rita Pavone (1965)

RCA singles 1963–1970
  • "La Partita di Pallone / Amore Twist" (1963)
  • "Come Te Non-C'è Nessuno / Clementine Cherie" (1963)
  • "Alla Mia Età / Pel di Carota"
  • "Cuore / Il Ballo del Mattone" (1963)
  • "Non è Facile Avere 18 Anni / Son Finite le Vacanze" (1964)
  • "Che M'Importa del Mondo / Datemi un Martello" (1964) (Italian cover of "If I Had a Hammer")
  • "Scrivi / Ti Vorrei Parlare" (1964)
  • "L'amore Mio / San Francesco" (1964)
  • "Viva la Pappa col Pomodoro / Sei la Mamma" (1965)[5][6]
  • "Lui / La Forza di lasciarti" (1965)
  • "Il Plip / Supercalifragilispiespiralidoso" (1965)
  • "Stasera Con Te / Solo Tu" (1965)
  • "Il Geghegè / Qui Ritornerà" (1965)
  • "Fortissimo / La Sai Troppo Lunga" (1966)
  • "Mamma Dammi la Panna / Col Chicco" (1966)
  • "La Zanzara / Perchè Due non-Fa Tre" (1966)
  • "Dove Non-So / Gira Gira" (1967)
  • "Una Notte Intera / Questo nostro amore" (1967)
  • "Una Notte Intera" Promo Jolly Hotels
  • "I Tre Porcellini / Con un Poco di Zucchero" (1967)
  • "Non Dimenticar le Mie Parole / Da Cosa Nasce Cosa" (1967)
  • "Tu Sei Come / Ma Che Te Ne Fai" (1968)
  • "Zucchero (1969)
  • "Ahi, Ahi Ragazzo (1970)

Filmography
Films
Title Year Role Notes
Rita the American Girl 1965 Rita Benvenuti Feature film debut
Rita the Mosquito 1966 Rita Santangelo
Don't Sting the Mosquito 1967 Rita Santangelo
Rita of the West 1967 Little Rita
The Crazy Kids of the War 1967 Rita
Due sul pianerottolo 1976 Mimma Castigliano

References
  1. Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 164. ISBN 978-0-214-20512-5.
  2. Brioni, Cecilia (2017). "Between Two Stages: Rita Pavone and i Giovani on Studio Uno (1961–1966)". Italian Studies. 72 (4): 414–427. doi:10.1080/00751634.2017.1370895.
  3. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 421. ISBN 978-1-904994-10-7.
  4. Scarpone, Cristian (January 6, 2020). "Sanremo 2020: colpo di scena di Amadeus, due Big in più in gara". eurofestivalnews.com (in Italian). Retrieved February 5, 2020.
  5. Michael McKenna (November 6, 2012). "Rita Pavone – Viva La Pappa Col Pomodoro" – via YouTube.
  6. "Heineken – The Match" – via Vimeo.
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