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Little Tony (singer)

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Little Tony
Little Tony (1967)
Little Tony (1967)
Background information
Birth nameAntonio Ciacci
Born(1941-02-07)7 February 1941
OriginTivoli, Italy
Died27 May 2013(2013-05-27) (aged 72)
GenresPop, rock and roll,
Occupation(s)Singer, actor
Years active1957–2013
Websitehttp://www.littletony.it

Little Tony (born Antonio Ciacci;[1] 7 February 1941 – 27 May 2013) was an Italian-born Sammarinese pop singer and actor, who achieved success in Britain in the late 1950s and early 1960s, as the lead singer of Little Tony & His Brothers, before returning to Italy where he continued a successful career as a singer and film actor.

Life and career

Little Tony was born in Tivoli, Italy, but was a citizen of San Marino, where his parents were born, and never applied for Italian citizenship. He formed a rock and roll group with his two brothers, Alberto and Enrico, in 1957, naming himself Little Tony in emulation of Little Richard. The following year, the group were signed by Durium Records, who released a series of covers of American rock and roll songs by them in Italy.

In 1959, the Italian singer Marino Marini, when in London, recommended the group to TV pop show producer Jack Good. Good visited Italy to meet the group, was impressed, and signed them up to appear in his British TV show Boy Meets Girls.[1] They made their first appearance on the programme in September 1959, and released their first single in the UK, "I Can't Help It" - the 11th single of their career in Italy - on the Decca label soon afterwards. For their third British single, Good recorded the group in London for the first time, and the resulting single, "Too Good", written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, reached # 19 on the UK singles chart in January 1960, their only chart success in Britain.[1] The group continued to appear regularly on TV shows in Britain until 1962.[2]

The group first revisited Italy in 1961 to appear at the Sanremo Festival (in which they performed the song "24.000 baci" in couple with Adriano Celentano and ranked second)[3] returning more permanently the following year.[1] Little Tony then worked as a solo singer, having his first #1 in Italy with "Il ragazzo col ciuffo" in 1962. He began working as a movie actor, appearing in over 20 movies in Italy, and becoming a star in the musicarelli film genre.[4][5] He also continued to record regularly through the 1960s, one of his biggest hits being "Cuore matto", no. 1 for nine consecutive weeks in 1967.[6] It sold in excess of a million copies and was awarded a gold disc in May 1967.[1] Another song of great success was "Riderà", which sold over a million copies in 1966.[3][5] He formed his own record label, Little Records, in 1969. In 1975 he recorded the album Tony canta Elvis, which pays tribute to his master, Elvis Presley.[7][8] He continued to record and perform successfully in Italy, despite suffering a heart attack in 2006.[5]

Little Tony died of lung cancer on May 27, 2013, at the age of 72.[9][10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 225. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
  2. ^ Little Tony at Black Cat Rockabilly
  3. ^ a b Eddy Anselmi. Festival di Sanremo: almanacco illustrato della canzone italiana. Panini Comics, 2009. ISBN 88-63-46229-1.
  4. ^ Francesco Troncarelli (28 May 2013). "Little Tony, il rocchettaro dal cuore matto". Globalist. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  5. ^ a b c Alessandro Alicandri (27 May 2013). "È morto Little Tony. La musica, il ciuffo, il sorriso". Panorama. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  6. ^ "Addio all'Elvis italiano E' morto Little Tony, mister "Cuore matto"". Libero. 28 May 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  7. ^ Mario Luzzatto Fegiz (27 May 2013). "Morto Little Tony: era il nostro Elvis". Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  8. ^ Dizionario Completo Della: Canzone Italiana. Giunti Editore. ISBN 88-09-75625-8.
  9. ^ "Addio a Little Tony, il cuore matto della nostra musica", La Repubblica, 27 May 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  10. ^ Little Tony

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