Did you know that some songs by Emmanuel, Ricardo Montaner and Daniela Romo are versions of Italian songs, that is songs that they made famous in our language and that you surely know by heart.
01- All life / Tutta la vita
As soon as the first chords sound and we already identify the song in question. «Toda la vida» or its original version «Tutta la vita» is a song by the well-remembered Lucio Dalla, of relative success in Italy, but which in Latin America undoubtedly enjoyed great popularity in the voice of another great, Emmanuel. The Spanish version is not a faithful translation of the original, but rather a reinterpretation that, according to many, turned out to be better than the original and with excellent results.
Lucio Dalla – Tutta la vita
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Emmanuel – All life
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtY3knoq3PE
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02- Black eyes / Occhi Neri
Well-known song with which Ricardo Montaner consolidated his musical supremacy in the romantic sphere at the end of the 80s. However, in 1985 the Italian singer Marco Rancati had already presented it at the Sanremo Festival, finishing in a modest fifth place on that occasion.
Marco Racanti – Occhi Neri
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Ricardo Montaner – Black eyes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOk_3Lu8bQM
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03- The smoke girl / Ma tu chi sei
The Italian producer and composer Mauro Malavasi wrote this song for Emmanuel in 1989, the success was resounding throughout the Spanish-speaking world. The story of the elusive smoke girl remained at the top of the Latin rankings for weeks. In Italy, years later, Malavasi himself rewrote the song for his friend and colleague Gianni Morandi, leaving aside the story of the mysterious woman who disturbed Emmanuel to insert a tone of criticism of Italian society at the time.
Gianni Morandi – Ma Tu Chi Sei
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Emmanuel – The smoke girl
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04- So in love / Per noi innnamorati
The label told Italian singer Gianni Togni that he was one song short of completing his LP, and that he had less than 24 hours to deliver it. The result? «Per noi innamorati», which in Latin America became known in the exceptional voice of Ricardo Montaner with the name of «So in love». To this day there are those who believe that the Venezuelan in a part of the song says «amore mio», the truth is that in the original in Italian it is indeed like that.
Gianni Togni – Per noi innamorati
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Ricardo Montaner – So in love
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05- At the gates of heaven / Alle porte del sole
Gigliola Cinquetti is one of the great Italian singers of all time who completely conquered Latin America. Local radio stations have broadcast all of her hits translated and arranged into Spanish by herself, but it is always good to also enjoy her original texts, such as her well-known song, «At the gates of heaven.»
Gigliola Cinquetti – Alle porte del sole
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Gigliola Cinquetti – At the Gates of Heaven
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06- I do not ask for the moon / Non voglio mica la luna
It was undoubtedly a success in Italy, but what happened after it crossed the pond will go down in history. Not only did Fiordaliso’s song reach the hands of the great Mexican music industry, specifically those of Daniela Romo, who by then was its undisputed star, the entire text of it was changed until a totally new and captivating product was delivered. In fact, Romo’s version immediately became a total success, to the point that Fiordaliso was also encouraged to do her own version in Spanish, a bit to try her luck in these parts. The result? The same song with different voices and lyrics circulating throughout Latin America at the same time. Although to tell the truth, the «competition» was short-lived, since Daniela Romo’s version ended up displacing her Italian clone.
Fiordaliso – Non voglio mica la luna
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=so34owtJSXY
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Daniela Romo – I Don’t Ask You For The Moon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_oaDAL41-o
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07- A cat in the dark / Un gatto nel blu
At the end of the 1960s, Roberto Carlos unsuccessfully presented himself with one of these Italian songs in Spanish, the work of the Italian composer Toto Savio at the Sanremo Festival. When it seemed that the story of the cat would end up in a trunk, he decided to present it in Spanish in these parts: total success throughout America. Today it is impossible not to think of Roberto Carlos singing this song with his characteristic voice.
Roberto Carlos – A cat in the blue
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Roberto Carlos – A cat in the dark
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08- The forbidden garden / Il giardino proibito
If you like salsa, I understand that you were shocked to learn that the representative phrase of the 90s, «life is like that, I didn’t invent it», was sung for the first time in Italian back in 1975, when Alex Bueno I hadn’t the slightest idea what life was like. Both versions are simply masterful.
Sandro Giacobbe – Il giardino proibito
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Alex Bueno – The Forbidden Garden
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Taken from Il Messaggero IP