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 Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * 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

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. It has been

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many times by artists such as

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, Marino Marini,

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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 #1The 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