"Grande grande grande" is a 1972 Italian song, written by Alberto Testa and Tony Renis. It was a No. 1 hit for Mina in Italy and for

Shirley Bassey Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey (; born 8 January 1937) is a Welsh singer. Best known for her career longevity, powerful voice and recording the theme songs to three James Bond films, Bassey is widely regarded as one of the most popular vocalists ...

released as "Never Never Never" in the U.K., U.S. and Australia. The 1973 Shirley Bassey single achieved sales of over 50,000 copies in Australia, being eligible for the award of a Gold Disc.

Mina version

"Grande grande grande" was a No. 1 hit on the Italian Singles Chart for Mina in 1972, from her No. 1 self-titled album. The single was released in early 1972 and entered the Top 10 the week of 26 February. After a steady climb to No. 2 (behind " Imagine" by John Lennon) the week of 11 March, the song seemed to have run out of steam after falling 2 places to No. 4 to new hits by Delirium, Nicola Di Bari and Nada ("Imagine" had dropped to No. 5). By 1 April the song had once again climbed to its peak No. 2 position where it remained the whole month of April before finally reaching No. 1 on 29 April . "Grande grande grande", arranged by Pino Presti, ruled the charts the first three weeks of May until "I giardini di marzo" by her collaborator Lucio Battisti, and her own hit " Parole parole" knocked it out of the top spot down to No. 3 the week of 27 May. "Grande grande grande" remained in the top 10 until the week of 8 July, often trading places with "Parole parole". By the year's end, only "Il Padrino" by Santo and Johnny had enjoyed a longer life on the charts and Mina had to settle for the runner up position for 1972's biggest hit on the Italian singles chart. Mina also recorded the song in English and Spanish.

Personnel

*Mina : vocals * Pino Presti: arrangement, orchestra conductor, bass *

Dario Baldan Bembo Dario Baldan Bembo (born 15 May 1948) is an Italian composer, singer-songwriter, music arranger and musician, best known for the songs "Aria" and " Amico è". Background Born in Milan, Baldan Bembo started his music career as a keyboardist for, ...

: organ *Andrea Sacchi: electric and acoustic guitar *Massimo Verardi: electric guitar *

Bruno De Filippi Bruno may refer to: People and fictional characters *Bruno (name), including lists of people and fictional characters with either the given name or surname * Bruno, Duke of Saxony (died 880) * Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne, ...

: harmonica *

Gianni Cazzola Gianni is an Italian name (occasionally a surname), a short form of the Italian Giovanni and a cognate of John meaning God is gracious. Gianni is the most common diminutive of Giovanni in Italian. People with this given name * Gianni Agnelli (ind ...

: drums *Mario Lamberti: congas * Gianni Bedori:

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

Al Korvin AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media * Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera * Al (''Fullmetal ...

Oscar Valdambrini Oscar Valdambrini (May 11, 1924, Turin, Italy - December 26, 1997, Rome) was an Italian jazz trumpeter, and flugelhornist.First violinist, first violins

Charts

Cover versions

had a No. 8 hit in the UK with "Never Never Never", an English version with lyrics by Norman Newell. It was also No. 1 in Australia, No. 1 in South Africa, No. 3 in Singapore, and her only single to make three US charts: No. 48 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, No. 8 on the

Adult Contemporary Chart The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on airplay data submitted to ''Billboard'' by stat ...

, and No. 67 on the R&B Chart. It is also a concert staple. * Orietta Berti * Mary Byrne for album ...with Love. * Lydia Canaan ("Never Never Never") * Vikki Carr *

Chiara Civello Chiara Civello (born 15 June 1975) is an Italian singer, songwriter, pianist, and guitarist. Career When Civello was seventeen, she sang in a band with Mario Raja, then Roberto Gatto. On a scholarship, she moved to Boston in 1994 to attend the Be ...

covered this song for his album ''

Canzoni Literally "song" in Italian, a ''canzone'' (, plural: ''canzoni''; cognate with English ''to chant'') is an Italian or Provençal song or ballad. It is also used to describe a type of lyric which resembles a madrigal. Sometimes a composition ...

'' as "Never Never Never" (2014) * Celine Dion with

Luciano Pavarotti Luciano Pavarotti (, , ; 12 October 19356 September 2007) was an Italian operatic tenor who during the late part of his career crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most acclaimed tenors of all time. He made numerou ...

1997 (Released as "

I Hate You Then I Love You "I Hate You Then I Love You" is a song sung as a duet between Celine Dion and Luciano Pavarotti. It was first released as a track on Celine Dion's 1997 album ''Let's Talk About Love''. It was later released in Italy as a promotional single on 7 Se ...

") * Sergio Franchi covered this song in English ("Never Never Never") on his 1976 DynaHouse Album ''20 Magnificent Songs.'' Sergio Franchi * John Holt ("Never Never Never") * Julio Iglesias with Nana Mouskouri. Iglesias also sang covers in languages such as Spanish, English, Italian, Portuguese and French. * Mireille Mathieu Folle, follement heureuse * David McAlmont covered this song for his album '' Set One: You Go To My Head'' * Erlend Øye *

Pimpinela Joaquín and Lucía Galán, better known as Pimpinela ( Spanish for ''pimpernel'') are an Argentine duo famous for singing romantic musical pieces and known for their original singing style. They have sold over 12 million records in Argentina an ...

Zizi Possi Maria Izildinha "Zizi" Possi (, born March 28, 1956) is a Brazilian singer from São Paulo, the daughter of Italian immigrants. She sings in Portuguese, English, and Italian languages. In 2007, he sang at the opening of the Military World Games, ...

for the album "Passione". * Conny Vandenbos as "Waarom waarom waarom" on her album ''Een vrouw van deze tijd'' (1974) * Dana Winner & Frank Galan * Marina Dale Australia produced by Duane d Zigliotto. * Giuliano Palma & The Bluebeaters covered this song for the album ''The Album'' (2000) * Betty Padgett covered this song for her album ''Betty Padgett'' (1976)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grande Grande Grande Italian songs 1972 singles Shirley Bassey songs Songs with music by Tony Renis Songs with lyrics by Alberto Testa (lyricist) Mina (Italian singer) songs 1972 songs Number-one singles in Australia Number-one singles in Italy Number-one singles in South Africa PDU singles