Rocco Granata (born 16 August 1938) is an Italian-Belgian singer, songwriter, and
accordionist.
Granata was born in
Figline Vegliaturo,
Calabria, southern Italy; but his parents immigrated to Belgium when he was aged ten. Rocco's father was a coal miner, but Granata pursued music instead. He played accordion and toured Belgium with his band, 'The International Quintet'. He then released the songs "Manuela" / "
Marina" as a single in 1959; the
B-side became an international
hit
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Hit or HIT may also refer to:
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* Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super''
* Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...
, reaching #1 in Belgium and in Germany as well as charting across Europe and in the United States. It sold over one million copies in Germany alone, and was awarded a
gold disc
Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
.
It has been
covered
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many times by artists such as
Willy Alberti
Willy Alberti (born Carel Verbrugge; 14 October 1926 – 18 February 1985) was a Dutch singer, who sang in Dutch and Italian. He was also an actor and a radio and TV personality.
Alberti was born in Amsterdam as the third of eight children to Ja ...
,
Marino Marini,
Ilham al-Madfai
Ilham al-Madfai ( ar, إلهام المدفعي) (born 1942) is an Iraqi guitarist, singer and composer. al-Madfai's synthesis of Western guitar stylings with traditional Iraqi music has made him a popular performer in his native country and th ...
,
Dalida
Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti (; 17 January 1933 – 3 May 1987), professionally known as Dalida, was an Italian-French singer and actress born in Egypt. She sang in eleven languages and sold millions of records internationally. Her best known son ...
and
Louis Armstrong.
After the success of "Marina", Granata toured the world, including dates at
Carnegie Hall. A feature film entitled ''Marina'' was released in 1960, which set the stage for a string of German hits. He also appeared in Italy at the
Sanremo Festival
The Sanremo Music Festival, officially the Italian Song Festival () and commonly known as just (), is the most popular Italian culture, Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria. It is the longes ...
in 1961.
Granata later became a successful
record producer
A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...
. He owned the
record label
A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...
s
Cardinal Records and
Granata Records, and has produced
Marva,
Louis Neefs,
Miel Cools, and
De Elegasten.
In 1989, Granata commissioned a
dance remix of "Marina", which again topped the Belgian charts as well as those of Italy, France and Germany. He has appeared regularly on Belgian television, and served as a jury member for the 2002 Flemish preliminaries for the
Eurovision Song Contest. In March 2000 he was awarded the ZAMU Lifetime Achievement Award by the Belgian music industry.
Granata has released some 65 singles over the course of his career.
In 2013 his early life was captured in another movie named ''
Marina''.
Singles
*"
Marina" (1959) BEL #1, NL #1, US:
Billboard #31, /
Cash Box: #12, GER #1
[The positions for the German Singles Charts are taken from Günter Ehnert: ''Hit Bilanz. Deutsche Chart Singles 1956–1980''. Hamburg: Taurus Press 1990, S. 88]
*"Oh oh Rossi" (1959) BEL #20, GER #14
*"La Bella" (1960) BEL #4, GER #18
*"Julia"/"Rocco Cha Cha" (1960) BEL #14
*"Germanina" (1960) BEL #16
*"Carolina dai" (1961) BEL #11
*"Irena" (1961) GER #15
*"Sunday Box EP" (1961) BEL #17
*"Buona notte bambino" (1963) BEL #4, GER #5
*"Du schwarzer Zigeuner" (1964) BEL #5
*"Dreh' dich noch einmal um" (1964) BEL #10
*"Molte grazie" (1964) BEL #12
*"Noordzeestrand" (1964) BEL #9
*"Melancholie" (1965) BEL #18
*"Hello buona sera" (1967) BEL #3
*"Sarah" (1970) BEL #4
*"Jessica" (1971) BEL #5
*"Zomersproetjes" (1972) BEL #4
*"Dansen op de daken" (1973) BEL #4
*"Marina 120 BPM" (1989) BEL #1
References
External links
Rocco Granata official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Granata, Rocco
1938 births
Living people
People from the Province of Cosenza
Belgian songwriters
Belgian accordionists
Belgian people of Calabrian descent
Italian emigrants to Belgium
Laurie Records artists
Dutch-language singers of Belgium
Italian-language singers
20th-century accordionists
20th-century Belgian male singers