Adriano Celentano

Adriano Celentano is an Italian singer, composer, actor and director. He was born on January 6, 1938 in the north of Milan in the working-class neighborhoods, more specifically on Via Gluck, in a family of poor Apulian peasants. They came from the south in search of work and fortune. The family was friendly and very musical. Adriano was perhaps the least interested in music - it seemed much more interesting to him, a teenager, the profession of watchmaker, which he had mastered while working in his uncle's workshop. Without finishing school, Adriano, from the age of 12, began working as an apprentice in a watchmaker's workshop, and probably would have chosen the profession of clockmaker, if not for the success that befell him in the amateur production of vaudeville, where Adriano won the audience a hilarious parody of a young at the time singer Louis Prima, to which he looked similar. He began to be invited to amateur competitions, and in 1950 he sang his first two "hits". This is the time of rock 'n' roll and Celentano, like many others began to imitate the masters of this trend, such as Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis. He sings songs from their repertoire, playing along on his guitar.

In 1954, Celentano himself already composes and sings his songs, and in 1955 his friend Michele del Prete (Miki del Prete) brings him his poems. From this moment they constantly work together.

In 1957, the first all-Italian rock'n'roll competition took place in Milan's Ghiaccio Sports Palace on May 18. For several evenings, artists sang the songs of their "idols" in Italian and English. Only some of them dared to present their own compositions to the jury and the audience. Adriano Celentano was among them. By the unanimous opinion of all present his song "I'll tell you ciao" (Chao ti diro) became a true gem of the contest. Moreover, it should be noted Chelentano's natural gracefulness, which is very important for a rock'n'roll singer. It's not for nothing that Adriano was nicknamed "Molleggiato" - "all on springs". At this contest he becomes the winner. In 1958 he wins at the light music festival in the port city of Ancona with "Your kiss is like a rock" (Il tuo bacio e' come un rock). In 1959 he performs the song "Rebel", which became famous and gave its name to his accompanying ensemble. From that moment on, Celentano is recognized as the "rock'n'roll man" of Italy. After that, Adriano signs a contract with the German recording company "Jolly".

On December 19, 1961, after another success at the San Remo Festival (second prize for "24.000 Kisses"), he organizes his own record company - "Clan Celentano", gathering around himself musicians - friends of his youth. Today this firm includes a publishing house, a concert agency, a video and audio recording studio. More than 150 people work there, and the singer's brother Alessandro is in charge. The "clan" united friends, like-minded people of the singer. Later, many singers, such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones (in order not to depend on the producers and the requirements of fashion), went on to create their own companies, and at the very beginning of the 60's such an act was brave and unusual. After winning the famous "Canzonissimo" contest in 1962, where Celentano presented his song "You are far away from me" ("Stai lontana da me"), he goes on tour to France (successful performances in the famous Parisian music hall "Olympia") and to Spain, where he gets his first opportunity to appear on television with a series of his own shows.

In 1963, Celentano starred in Uno strano tipo with his future wife, the famous actress Claudia Mori (real name Claudia Moroni). In 1964 Adriano Celentano and Claudia Mori were married on July 14th in the Church of San Francesco in Grosseto.

Many critics consider the year 1966 a turning point in Celentano's art. In that year he arrives in Sanremo with an autobiographical song about the destiny of an ordinary Milanese guy - Il ragazzo della via Gluck. The great sincerity of the song was a great asset; the critics and the public were delighted. The song was translated into twenty-two languages and topped the Italian charts for more than four months, the first acute socio-political song and the first song by Celentano to go around the world. It was later included in school textbooks as a call for respect for nature. After that, political and anti-war themes appeared more and more often in his songs, but no matter how acute and topical Chelentano's song was, it was never despairing: the cheerfulness and optimism never left the musician. Such songs as Chi non lavora non fa l'amore (Who Doesn't Work, Doesn't Love), La ballata di Pinocchio (from the album I mali del secolo, entirely devoted to the problems of the modern world, modern Italy) were very successful. At the end of the 60s, the song "Twenty-four thousand kisses" is recognized as one of the best Italian songs of the decade.

In 1970, at the next festival in Sanremo A. Celentano, along with C. Mori win the grand prize with the song "Who does not work, he does not love. As the years go by, his songs become more serious. "The supreme duty of an artist is to protest against injustice," says Celentano.

In more than forty years of his career, Celentano has released more than 30 albums with a combined circulation of 70 million.

In addition to musical activity, Celentano is also engaged in film. In the 70's he often acted in films and directs himself. He starred in four dozen films, and he began in 1959 with the occasional role of rock singers. Of the famous films is Federico Fellini's "Sweet Life" ("La Dolce vita", 1960). In these films, he plays himself - a fashionable singer, a rising star of youth song. And of course in his films he sings. Over time, the roles become mainstream, and the films have nothing to do with music. "The image he creates is akin to the characters of folk comedy - he is simple and sly, naive and wise at the same time," said about Adriano famous director Pietro Germi (Pietro Germi), the creator of "Serafino" ("Serafino", 1968). "In his work on the screen he continues to develop the character of the hero of his songs, and the main one is in their folklore. He works so confidently on the set, trying so hard to get into all aspects of filmmaking, that I think he will soon become a director himself." And so it happened. In the 70′s and early 80′s, he was constantly filming and starring in films. At one time such films were popular:

"Super robbery in Milan" - "Super rapina a Milano", (1964)
"Yuppi du, (1975)
"Bluff storia di truffe e di imbroglioni, (1977)
"Il bisbetico domato (1980)
"Bingo-Bongo, (1982)
"Joan Lui (1985).

At the time, for example, "The Taming of the Shrew" grossed an astronomical 19 billion lire at the box office, coming second in total box office receipts and first among Italian films. "Bingo Bongo" grossed 15 billion lire and "Grand Hotel Excelsior" (1982) 16 billion lire, leaving behind many worthy works of national cinema.

In the late '80s, Celentano's popularity began to wane. To somehow regain his former glory, he started his own show on one of the leading Italian TV channels. In 1987, Adriano went on the air with the evening program "Fantastico". The start was successful, so Celentano hosted celebrities from Italy and neighboring countries every Saturday for a long time. The show was closed only because Celentano was interested in a new project - since 1999, together with the actress Francesca Neri, he began to conduct a musical show (Francamente me ne infischio).

In the same year of 1987 having overcome the fear of flights A.Celentano together with K.Mori still flies to the Soviet Union, in particular to Moscow, where he gives two concerts in the "Olympiysky" square. It was his first concerts after a break of eight years. Here he also presents his film "Joan Lui: One Monday I Will Come to This Land" - "Joan Lui".

In 1999, Celentano lives 100 kilometers from Milan, secluded in his villa with his wife Claudia Mori, repairing watches. "I have two trades," says Celentano. - One I mastered as a child, I am a watchmaker. I wish I had brought my tools, or I would have repaired someone's clock... My second occupation - the artist. That became the main thing. I use this craft to express what I believe in..." He has three children: Rosita, Giacomo and Rosalinda. On November 10, 2000 Adriano presented his CD "Esco di rado e parlo ancora meno" and in 2001 he appears again on TV with a new show "125 milioni di cazzate" (a very mild translation), which, I must say, turned out not durable and scandalous. In December 2001 for the fortieth anniversary of Adriano Celentano's creative activity and the formation of the "Klan" the album "Il Cuore, La Voce" is released with the old songs, slightly reworked. By the end of 2004, on November 12, the Klan released a new album, C'e' Sempre Un Motivo.

These are all rough facts, but here's what really happened (told by Celentano's wife):

...It all started in January 1963, when Claudia got on the set of the movie Strange Type. If anyone knew what it cost her! In went all means: bribery, petty blackmail and personal charm. The latter, incidentally, the eighteen-year-old beauty nature has awarded generously. The list of admirers Claudia Mori was listed almost the entire male population of the working-class neighborhood of Milan, where she was born and raised: the director of a nighttime variety show, where she danced for six months, a respectable city judge, whom she wanted to make a complaint against his father for being constantly in a bad mood and drunk, one handsome soccer player - with him she has been twisting for a few months ... But the intrusive suitors at the time of little interest young debutante - Claudia dreamed of becoming a famous actress and did everything possible and impossible for this. Thus, she tried for all female roles in the movie "The Strange Type", literally pursued the director Fulci and almost became the cause of his breakup with his wife. In the end, the director could not stand - the role he did not give her, but took a stubborn girl to his assistant. Though he has enough problems without this crazy girl... Take the leading man, for instance. Well, where, say, to find a young charming guy who can sing and dance, while coping with the two roles at the same time: a popular actor and a crook who wants to take his place! An old pal, Piero Visarelli, helped me out. He had just finished filming "The jukebox boys," with roles played by young non-professional actors. "Look," said Visarelli, "there's a guy who did a little part for me. He plays the guitar reasonably well, and he sings quite decently, although, between you and me, his ear for music is not so good..." "What's his name?" inquired Fulci. - "Adriano Celentano. I think you should see him."

At his first meeting with the director, the candidate for the role showed up in a stale shirt, wide open on his chest, a small black cap pulled down over his eyes, and with a guitar under his arm. While Fulci stared in amazement at the cheeky young man, loud cries and merry laughter came from the corridor. "You didn't come alone?" asked Fulci. "Of course," answered Celentano swaggeringly, "my gang is waiting for me, well, it's... guys with whom we sort of sing together..." At the director's request to tell something about himself, Celentano did not respond for a while. Then, pulling off his cap, he said loudly: "I'm a God fan..." "What?" didn't understand Fulci. - "I'm the one who came to this earth to defend his interests..." The stunned Fulci was silent for several minutes: yes, he had never met such a strange type before... But wait, hasn't he been looking for a "strange type" for months now?

...On her first day at work, Claudia was forty minutes late. As luck would have it, the bus was late, and of course, she didn't have enough money for a cab... In the center of the pavilion on a chair was sitting motionless young man with huge gloomy eyes. He made it clear with his blank expression that he did not really care about what was going on. People were rushing past him, moving tables and chairs, setting up lights and wiping down lamps, but he remained completely unconcerned. "I adore him," some girl whispered passionately in Claudia's ear. "And who is that?" asked Claudia. - "That's Celentano, he plays rock 'n' roll, and he's so sexy. Haven't you heard his song "I'll tell you ciao"..." The girl disappeared into the crowd, and Claudia, with a perplexed shrug, went to look for the director. She honestly could not understand why the main roles in the movies went to such unsympathetic types, and pretty girls like her had to suffer in obscurity... No, there's no way she's going near that guy who looks like a monkey. And does anyone else find him sexy?!

Exactly one hour later, the hapless assistant accidentally stepped on the electric cord, there was a short circuit, the glass plafond of the lighting fixture exploded, and the shards scratched the main character's forehead and right cheek. A frightened Claudia rushed to apologize, wiping blood off with her handkerchief - in a word, the meeting took place under very dramatic circumstances. Which, however, did not prevent the young people to quickly find common ground and discuss everything present, then drink coffee and even kissed a few times in a dark dressing room ... A few days later Claudia received an invitation to a concert by Celentano and his crew, modestly named "The Celentano Clan.

In the smoky nightclub it was crowded with tipsy young people, so at first Claudia regretted that she agreed to come. But when, after singing the last touching song about love and heartbreak, to the cheers and screams of the crowd Celentano jumped off the stage and walked up to her, Claudia was already radiant with happiness: no one in his life had ever declared his love to her in such an original way ... They left the club together, hugging, and all the young girls looked after them with poorly concealed envy. Claudia knew that each of them would give anything to be in her place. Yes, it was very nice to be friends with a famous man, she thought, and clung to Adriano...

... The first public performance of Adriano Celentano, son of Giuditta and Leotino Celentano, was held in the clock workshop of his uncle. At this historic concert were present: his uncle in an apron and an old pince-nez on his nose, his senior assistant Massimo, slightly tipsy and therefore very happy with everything, and neighbor Signor Masetti, whose clock. in fact, and were dismantled at the moment skillful hands of his uncle. Adriano sang a few fashionable songs and parodied the performance of the then famous artist Louis Prima, whom, by the way, he looked strikingly like. The audience, in anticipation of the end of the day and the upcoming weekend, was terribly pleased and applauded heartily. Signor Masetti recommended the quick-witted boy to his friends, the organizers of the local harvest festival, and they recommended him to friends of friends who played in the amateur youth theater.

Anyway, five years later, the visibly grown-up boy appeared on stage at Milan's Chiaccio Sports Palace, the first Italian rock'n'roll contest. The contestants in this competition, with equally combed coats, sang almost the entire Elvis Presley repertoire, and only Celentano sang a song of his own composition in a frightened and slightly fake way. He was strangely dressed and slightly twitchy from the excitement, but the young girls liked it for some reason. Some journalist immediately coined him a nickname - Mollejato, which means "all on springs. Under this funny name the audience remembered him at the festival of popular music in Ancona. After Adriano's resounding victory at the famous "Canzonissimo" contest, which was broadcasted on all radio channels, something unimaginable was going on in Milan in his native street Gluck. Everyone was eagerly awaiting the return of the local hero.

Twenty years ago, Celentano's parents fled from poverty and hunger in Puglia to Milan. Their example was followed by numerous relatives on both sides, and over the years the Celentano family grew to enormous proportions. They raised children together, fought, fought, cried, and hugged and sang folk songs afterward. Therefore, the success of one of the members of this large family all the others perceived as their own. As soon as Adriano got out of the cab with his guitar and suitcase, a cheering crowd surrounded him in a tight ring. "It's me, Adriano, your Aunt Sofia! - shouted a burly woman in a kerchief. - You are such a big man now, don't forget my Sergio..." "And my Anna," echoed another signora. - You remember Anna, don't you? She's such a good girl, she can dance and type..." Adriano was hugged, kissed and pinched... He smiled, bowed and promised everyone something. From that day on he was accompanied by a motley crowd of admirers, admirers, relatives, friends and just random passers-by... He was told so often that he was the best, the most beautiful, the most talented and unique, that in the end he truly believed it. After his success in music competitions, recording studios got interested in Celentano, he signed his first and, of course, very unprofitable contracts, toured France and Spain for the first time in his life. He was dizzy with euphoria, he had some money in his pockets now, and besides, in every new city there was always a nice girl who was head over heels in love with the young artist...

Adriano fun life lasted until the early 60′s he plagued the hospital with a diagnosis of "nervous exhaustion. Every morning he looked out the window: the hospital gates crowded with friends and admirers, but every day their number steadily decreased. Finally, the day came when no one came to check on Mr. Celentano's health. But a few weeks later, an elderly doctor, examining Adriano before being discharged, complained: "If you knew what we have here today! - There's never been so much pandemonium, so many phone calls..." "What happened?" the patient asked. "So you don't know anything about anything? A journalist mixed up something and accidentally wrote that you died in the hospital - so everyone ran to see the funeral..." Celentano rushed to the window: indeed, a crowd of fans and reporters with cameras crowded the entire hospital yard, the street and part of the adjoining square. It was at that moment a brilliant idea hit him: the most important thing in this life is not how well you sing or play, but how you know how to advertise themselves ...

Over forty years of his musical career Celentano has sold seventy million records, but most of all he still succeeded in organizing and conducting a grand advertising campaign entitled "Celentano and his family. Adriano quickly realized that in a country with centuries of Catholic customs of his free bachelor life with an endless series of tipsy girlfriends, sooner or later will be an obstacle to popular recognition. And to deny himself the pleasure of being loved and adored son of poor Puglia peasants could not ... Output was quickly found: it is necessary to urgently marry. Claudia Maury was ideally suited to the role of faithful life partner, and then - she was damn seductive ... Claudia, in turn, no less passionately dreamed of becoming rich and famous, and Celentano gave the impression of a man who would be able to clear the road to fame for both of them.
Works in the cinema:

1. The Dancing Priest - 0 (Comedy)
2 The jukebox screams of love - 1959
Guys and the jukebox - 1959
#4 "Sweet Life" - 1960
I Kiss... You Kiss - 1961 (Comedy)
The Monk of Monza - 1963
7 A Strange Man - 1963 (Comedy)
Super Robbery in Milan - 1965 (Action Comedy)
9 Serafino - 1968
Love Story and a Dagger - 1970 (comedy) 10.
White, Red and... - 1972
12. Five Days in Milan - 1973 (Comedy)
The Emigrant - 1973
14. Rugantino - 1973 (Comedy)
15. Under Some Sign - 1975
16. Yuppie-Doo - 1975
17. Here We Are - 1976 (Comedy)
18. Bluff - 1976 (Crime comedy)
19. The Noble Venetian - 1976
20. The Other Half of Heaven - 1977
21. Geppo Madness - 1978
22. Uncle Adolf the Fuhrer - 1978
23 Velvet Hands - 1979 (Comedy)
24. Here's a Hand - 1979
25. Saturday, Sunday and Friday - 1979
26. The Mistress of the Inn - 1980
27. Taming of the Shrew - 1980 (Comedy)
28 "Ace" - 1981 (Comedy)
#29 "Crazy in Love" - 1981 (Comedy)
30. Grand Hotel Excelsior - 1982 (Comedy)
31 Bingo Bongo - 1982 (Comedy)
32. Special Features: A Handsome Man - 1983
33. Sing Sing - 1983
34. He's Worse Than Me - 1983 (Comedy)
35. Joan Lui - 1985
36. Grumpy - 1986
37. Jackpot - 1992.

Directed by:

1. Super Robbery in Milan - 1965 (Action Comedy)
2. Yuppie-Doo - 1975
3. Joan Lui - 1985

Adriano Celentano's discography:
1965 Non Mi Dir (Clan Celentano)
1965 La Festa
1966 II Ragazzo Della Via Gluck (Clan Celentano)
1966 Mondo In Mi 7a
1968 Una Carezza In Un Pugno (Azzurro)
1969 Adriano Rock (Clan Celentano)
1969 Le Robe Che Ha Detto Adriano (Clan Celentano)
196? Gli Anni Sessanta
1970 Il Forestiero
1971 Er Piu
1972 I Mali del Secolo (Clan Celentano)
1973 Nostal Rock (Alex)
1974 Yuppi Du [Colonna Sonora Originale] (Clan Celentano)
1976 Svalutation (Alex)
1977 Me, Live! (Alex)
1977 Tecadisk (Import)
1977 Disco Dance (Import)
1978 Geppo II Folle (Clan Celentano)
1979 Soli (BMG)
1980 Un Po Artista un Pt No (Clan Celentano)
1981 Deus (Clan Celentano)
1982 Uh...Uh... (Clan Celentano)
1983 Atmosfera (Clan Celentano)
1984 I Miei Americani (Clan Celentano)
1984 I Miei Americani Tre Puntini, Vol. 2 (Clan Celentano)
1985 Joan Lui (Clan Celentano)
1987 La Pubblica Ottenstita (Clan Celentano)
1990 I Successi Di (Replay Music)
1991 II Re Degli Ignoranti (Clan Celentano)
1992 Superbest
1994 Ti Avro (Alex)
1994 Quel Punto (Clan Celentano)
1996 Arrivano Gli Uomini (BMG)
1997 Alla Corte del Remix (Clan Celentano)
1997 Azzurro/Una Carezza in un Pugno (Clan Celentano)
1997 Le Origini Di Adriano Celentano, Vols. 1 & 2 (Clan Celentano)
1998 Mina + Celentano
1999 Buona Sera Signorina (Import)
1999 Io Non So Parlar d'Amore (Import)
2000 New 2000 (Import)
2000 Italian Collection 2000 (Minion)
2001 Esco Di Rado - E Parlo Ancora Meno (Clan Celentano)
2001 Il Concerto Di Adriano Celentano (Wea)
Ciao Ragazzi (Replay)
Rock Matto (Replay Music)
2001 Il Cuore, La Voce (Clan Celentano)
2004 C'e' Sempre Un Motivo(Clan Celentano)

Source : http://x3m-slider.org.ua/blog/content/adriano-chelentano-adriano-celentano-biografiya