Antonio Morese (9 December 1935 – 5 December 2021), known professionally as Toni Santagata, was an Italian

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

singer, composer, comedian, and actor. He was sometimes credited as Tony Santagata.

Life and career

Born in

Sant'Agata di Puglia Sant'Agata di Puglia ( Pugliese: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Foggia in the Apulia region of southeast Italy. Its territory borders the municipalities of Accadia, Anzano di Puglia, Candela, Deliceto, Lacedonia ( AV), Monteleone ...

Foggia Foggia (, , ; nap, label= Foggiano, Fògge ) is a city and former ''comune'' of Apulia, in Southern Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. In 2013, its population was 153,143. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also known ...

, Santagata debuted as a comedian at the Derby Club in Milan, with the show ''Toni Santagata e il suo cabaret'', later also released as an album. In the following years he embraced

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

, both recording some classics of the Apulian tradition and composing songs. In 1973 Santagata won the folk section of

Canzonissima ''Canzonissima'' was an Italian musical variety show broadcast by Rai 1 from 1958 to 1974, aired on Saturday evening except for the last two editions in which it was aired on Sunday afternoon. The program was referred to as "the synthesis and the ...

with "Lu maritiello"; the song was also his major hit, peaking at the sixth place on the Italian hit parade. Santagata died on 5 December 2021, at the age of 85.Addio a Toni Santagata, il cantante di "Quant'è bello lu primm'ammore"

Discography

;Album * 1968 - ''La vita di Padre Pio '' * 1969 - ''Ciccillo Provolone '' * 1970 - ''Toni Santagata, le sue canzoni, il suo cabaret '' * 1975 - ''Lu maritiello ed altre canzoni '' * 1975 - ''Vino Vino '' * 1976 - ''Festa grande '' * 1977 - ''Lu maritiello ed altri successi '' * 1982 - ''Squadra Grande '' * 1982 - ''Quant'è bello lu primm'ammore '' * 1983 - ''Unicus '' * 1984 - ''Ti mando un fax '' * 1994 - ''Storie italiane'' * 2002 - ''Padre Pio '' * 2006 - ''Idee da cantare '' * 2010 - ''Quant'è bello lu primm'ammore e altri successi ''

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Santagata, Toni 1935 births 2021 deaths People from the Province of Foggia Italian folk singers Italian male singer-songwriters Italian singer-songwriters Italian comedians Italian male film actors Italian male stage actors