Paolo Occhipinti (born 23 August 1939), best known as John Foster, is an Italian former singer and journalist.
Life and career
Born in
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
, Occhipinti had already a professional career as a musical critic and a journalist when he started singing in an amateur band.
[Ernesto Bassignano. "Foster, John". Gino Castaldo (ed.). ''Dizionario della canzone italiana''. Curcio Editore, 1990.] Put under contract by the label Phonocolor in the late 1950s, he adopted the stage name John Foster. He initially specialized in cover versions of American songs, in particularly from the repertoire of
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...
.
[
Foster got his first hit in 1963, with the song "Eri un'abitudine" ( Can't Get Used to Losing You), which ranked #5 on the Italian hit parade.]Amore scusami
"Amore scusami" is a 1964 song composed by Gino Mescoli and Vito Pallavicini. The song premiered at the Un disco per l'estate music festival with a performance of John Foster, and then got an immediate commercial success, peaking at third pla ...
", his entry to the 1964 Un disco per l'estate
Un disco per l'estate (translation "A Record for the Summer") was an Italian Summer festival held from 1964 to 2003. It was organized and sponsored by the Italian record industry association, AFI, and by RAI, except for the editions between 1995 ...
competition; the single peaked third on the Italian charts and was subsequently covered by dozens of artists, including Rita Pavone
Rita Pavone (; born August 23, 1945) is an Italian-Swiss ballad and rock singer and actress, who enjoyed success through the 1960s.
Singing career
She was born in Turin, Italy. In 1962 she participated in, and won, the first Festival degli Scon ...
, Dalida, Robert Goulet
Robert Gérard Goulet (November 26, 1933 October 30, 2007) was an American and Canadian singer and actor of French-Canadian ancestry. Goulet was born and raised in Lawrence, Massachusetts until age 13, and then spent his formative years in Cana ...
and Jerry Vale
Jerry Vale (born Gennaro Louis Vitaliano; July 8, 1930 – May 18, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter and actor. During the 1950s and 1960s, he reached the top of the pop charts with his interpretations of romantic ballads, including a cover ...
(with the title "My Love, Forgive Me").[
In 1965 and in 1966 Foster entered the main competition at the ]Sanremo Music Festival
The Sanremo Music Festival, officially the Italian Song Festival () and commonly known as just (), is the most popular Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria. It is the longest-running annual ...
with the songs "Cominciamo ad amarci" and "Se questo ballo non finisse mai". In the late 1960s, he left the music industry and resumed his work as a journalist. Between 1976 and 2005 he was the editor of the weekly magazine '' Oggi''.[
]
Discography
;Album
* 1963: ''I successi di John Foster'' (Style, STLP 8052)
* 1964: ''Nel mondo dei giovani'' (Style, STLP 8054)
* 1965: ''Cominciamo ad amarci'' (Style, STLP 8055)
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, John
1939 births
Living people
Singers from Milan
Italian pop singers
20th-century Italian male singers
Journalists from Milan
Italian male journalists
Italian magazine editors