Pippo Starnazza | |
---|---|
Birth name | Luigi Redaelli |
Born |
Milan, Italy |
16 April 1909
Died | 16 July 1975 Milan |
(aged 66)
Genres | Jazz |
Occupation(s) | Musician, singer |
Instruments | Drums, vocals |
Years active | 1920s–1970s |
Pippo Starnazza (16 April 1909 – 16 July 1975) was an Italian jazz singer, composer, musician, entertainer and actor.
Born Luigi Redaelli in Milan, he started his career in the 1920s, playing the drums in the De Carli Orchestra at the Orfeo music-hall in Milan. After having been part of several other orchestras and jazz bands, in the early 1930s Redaelli started his solo career as a singer-entertainer, specializing in creating humorous covers in the Milanese dialect of popular American songs. In 1939, he adopted his stage name and formed the "Quintetto del Delirio" (Delirium Quintet), with whom he got several successes with cover songs where the English lyrics were replaced by an onomatopoeic, gibberish language. Since the 1960s Starnazza also appeared in numerous films, in supporting and character roles. He died of cardiac arrest at 66 years old.