"Soleado" is a mainly instrumental piece of music composed by Ciro Dammicco under the alias "Zacar", based on his earlier composition "Le rose blu" (1972). The song was recorded in 1974 by Dammico's band, the Daniel Sentacruz Ensemble, and presented at that year's edition of

Festivalbar The Festivalbar was an Italian singing competition that took place in the most important Italian squares during summer, such as the Piazza del Duomo, Catania or Piazza Bra, Verona. The first edition took place in 1964 and was broadcast by RAI. ...

. It became an instant hit, selling over five million copies in Europe.

Cover versions

Following the success of ''Soleado'', many artists went on to cover the song adding lyrics.
In 1974 Spanish actor and singer

Manolo Otero Manuel Otero Aparicio (Madrid; 25 June 1942 - São Paulo, Brazil; 1 June 2011), known as Manolo Otero, was a Spanish singer, actor and director. Musical career Otero recorded a Spanish language version of When a Child is Born in 1973, with the S ...

recited a poem, ''Todo el tiempo del mundo'' (All the Time in the World), with the tune in the background.
The first version with proper lyrics was ''Tränen lügen nicht'' (Tears don't lie) by

Michael Holm Michael Holm (born Lothar Walter; on 29 July 1943) is a German singer, musician, songwriter and record producer. He is primarily known as a singer of Schlager music. Although his first appearance in the hit parade was in 1962 ("Lauter Schöne ...

in 1974, which topped the charts in Germany and became a Top 10 hit in Austria and Switzerland. Holm also recorded an English version of the song ''When a child is born'' which was number 53 on the Billboard chart.
In 1975, Neşe Karaböcek included a cover in Turkish named ''Gözyaşları Yalan Söylemez'' (Tears Don't Lie) on her album ''Deli Gibi Sevdim''.

Mireille Mathieu Mireille Mathieu (; born 22 July 1946) is a French singer. She has recorded over 1200 songs in eleven languages, with more than 122 million records sold worldwide. Biography and career Early years Mireille Mathieu was born on 22 July 1946 in A ...

recorded a version in French, ''On ne vit pas sans se dire adieu'' (We do not live without saying goodbye). The second English lyric version ''There comes the day'' was recorded and released on single by

Vera Lynn Dame Vera Margaret Lynn (; 20 March 191718 June 2020) was an English singer and entertainer whose musical recordings and performances were very popular during World War II. She is honorifically known as the " Forces' Sweetheart", having giv ...

. The Czech singer

Karel Gott ) Sinatra of the East( cs, Sinatra Východu, link=no)Divine Charlie Michael Holm Michael Holm (born Lothar Walter; on 29 July 1943) is a German singer, musician, songwriter and record producer. He is primarily known as a singer of Schlager music. Although his first appearance in the hit parade was in 1962 ("Lauter Schöne ...

's version with English lyrics

When a Child Is Born "When A Child Is Born" is a popular Christmas song. The original melody was "Soleado", a tune from 1974 by Ciro Dammicco (alias Zacar), composer for Italy's Daniel Sentacruz Ensemble, and Dario Baldan Bembo. The tune was based on Damicco's earlie ...

, was also recorded by

Johnny Mathis John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standard music, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum s ...

, and was the Christmas number one hit in the UK in 1976. Also in Britain that same year St Andrew's Chorale released a non-lyriced version under the title Cloud 99 on

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

, which reached number 31 in the UK charts. In addition that year, the Slovak singer Karol Konárik recorded a version called ''Rozchod'' (Farewell) with lyrics by Ľuboš Zeman. In Hungary Cserháti Zsuzsa did a cover of the song in 1978 entitled "Édes kisfiam" (My sweet little son).

Mari Trini Mari may refer to: Places *Mari, Paraíba, Brazil, a city * Mari, Cyprus, a village *Mari, Greece, a village, site of ancient town of Marius * Mari, Iran (disambiguation), places in Iran * Mari, Punjab, a village and a union council in Pakistan ...

recorded a Spanish version, ''Te amaré, te amo y te querré'' (I will love you, I love you and I will) in 1981.
The Polish pop band

Bayer Full Bayer Full is one of the most popular disco polo bands from Poland. It was founded in 1984 by . As of 2013, they have sold 16.5 million records since their inception. Meaning of the name The name of the group is slang expression and could be tra ...

recorded the song as ''Blondyneczka'' (Little Blonde One) in 1992. In 2008 the Italian band

Elio e le Storie Tese Elio e le Storie Tese (; literally "Elio and the Troubled Stories"), often abbreviated EelST, was an Italian comedy rock band from Milan, formed in 1980. Its leader was Stefano Belisari, better known as Elio. They announced their split on 17 Oct ...

performed a version of the song with the lyrics "Buon anno nuovo" ( Happy New Year) during a New Year's Eve concert.
In 1994, German disc jockey

Mark 'Oh Marko Albrecht (born 23 June 1970), known by his stage name Mark 'Oh, is a German disc jockey and electronic music producer. Biography Starting out with a rock band titled "Line Up", Albrecht decided to turn to the ever-growing rave scene under ...

scored a hit in the German charts with a dance rendition of Holm's version.

Percy Faith Percy Faith (April 7, 1908 – February 9, 1976) was a Canadian-American bandleader, orchestrator, composer and conductor, known for his lush arrangements of pop and Christmas standards. He is often credited with popularizing the "easy listenin ...

Santo & Johnny Santo & Johnny were an American rock and roll instrumental duo of Italian descent from Brooklyn, New York, composed of brothers Santo Farina (born October 24, 1937) and Johnny Farina (born April 30, 1941). They are known best for their instrum ...

Paul Mauriat Paul Julien André Mauriat ( or ; 4 March 1925 – 3 November 2006) was a French orchestra leader, conductor of Le Grand Orchestre de Paul Mauriat, who specialized in the easy listening genre. He is best known in the United States for his mill ...

and other artists recorded instrumental versions.

References

Santo & Johnny songs 1974 songs 1974 debut singles Number-one singles in Italy Rock instrumentals Easy listening songs {{1970s-song-stub