Carmen Villani
| Carmen Villani | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Background information | |
| Born | 21 May 1944 |
| Origin | Ravarino, Province of Modena, Italy |
| Genres | Pop, swing, beat, rhythm and blues |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Years active | 1959–2004 |
| Labels | Bluebell, Fonit Cetra, |
Carmen Villani (born 21 May 1944) is a former Italian pop singer and actress. She had a recognisable voice and an outstanding musical sense. Villani was a versatile performer, featuring elements of gospel and blues. She is considered among the finest examples of the early beat music in Italy. She also collaborated with some of the top film scorers in Italy. Villani's fame was limited to her homeland, where she charted records and gave several performances broadcast nationwide by RAI. After her failure to chart hits in the early 1970s, she became an actress in commedia sexy all'italiana films.
Carmen Villani was born in Ravarino, Province of Modena. She won the nationwide singing talent contest of Castrocaro Music Festival in August 1959 with the swing song "Quando una ragazza (a New Orleans)" (When a Girl (in New Orleans)). Consequently, she signed a recording contract with the record label. The two tracks Villani recorded with the label were noticed by Fred Buscaglione who hired her as the female lead singer for his orchestra called the . Buscaglione taught Villani to sing in the American swing style which she kept to throughout her career. The Asternovas stapled for a month at the Royal Club in Naples. The collaboration ended with the death of Buscaglione in a car accident on 3 February 1960. Villani's solo career continued with Bluebell issuing two more singles in 1961. She made her acting debut as The Singer in the film by Valentino Orsini, Paolo and Vittorio Taviani. As the film received the Italian Film Critics Award at the Venice Film Festival, the Bluebell used the opportunity for launching a nationwide campaign for Villani's singles off the soundtrack. This led to Villani's first Italian chart hit "Brucia" (Burning). Subsequently, she was hired by the RAI and collaborated with Lelio Luttazzi in the TV shows Strettamente musicale and Strettamente musicale and Il Paroliere questo sconosciuto. The single "La mia strada" (My Street) became No. 14 on the Italian weekly chart in the same year. Villani took part of the Cantagiro Festival of 1963, performing "Io sono così", a cover of "The Love of a Boy" by Burt Bacharach. The performance prompted an offer from Bacharach to record the Italian version "Anyone Who Had a Heart" which was turned down by the Bluebell leaving Petula Clark to enjoy the No. 21 biggest selling hit of 1964 in Italy.
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