Mimmo di Francia
 
   
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Mimmo di Francia

Vedi le canzoni nei film... Song like film soundtrack

 

The Neapolitan songwriter Mimmo di Francia draws great inspiration from his home city and has always sought to follow the great Neapolitan musical tradition, writing songs in both the Italian and Neapolitan languages. His music has travelled far beyond the city of Naples however and has established a following in Italy and abroad which has lasted over four decades, testimony to its enduring appeal.
His career began in 1969 competing in the Festival di Napoli song contest with TU... sung by Peppino di Capri and which was placed fourth. The following year he put forward ME CHIAMME AMMORE – for which he wrote both the lyrics and the music. The song was performed jointly by di Capri and Gianni Nazzaro and was the winning entry of the 18th and final edition of the Festival di Napoli.

In this way began di Francia's long and fruitful artistic collaboration with di Capri. In the years following his success at the Festival di Napoli, di Francia wrote MAGARI (Canzonissima '72), SCUSA... (1973) and CHAMPAGNE (Canzonissima '73), for his close associate and friend. This last song has enjoyed great success on both the Italian and international music scenes, and over the years has been recorded by many different artists in several languages. Most recently the tenor Andrea Bocelli selected "CHAMPAGNE" to feature on his CD "Passione".

1977 was a special year for di Francia: di Capri covered his INCREDIBILE VOGLIA DI TE (previously recorded by Francesco Calabrese) and then a few months after recorded AUGURI...: both records did well and earned critical acclaim. The most important success of that year however was BALLIAMO, performed by Fred Bongusto, which went on to become a piano-bar classic, and enjoyed immense popularity in Spain and Latin America. Di Francia himself took the song to Brazil, performing it in the telenovela "Vereda Tropical" and was rewarded for this bold step with the sale of more than 600.000 records.

In 1979 he wrote and performed AMMORE SCUMBINATO that was subsequently recorded by a string of other artists: Fred Bongusto (1985), Roberto Murolo together with Renzo Arbore (1990) and then di Capri in 1997. "AMMORE SCUMBINATO" was also included in the "Cameriere, Champagne!" album recorded by di Francia in the 1990's for his growing Brazilian audience.

In 1986 the composer enjoyed great success at the Sanremo Festival with CANTARE(performed by Fred Bongusto) which throughout that summer was to be in heard in clubs and piano-bars up and down Italy. Other artists recorded the song too, among them Fausto Papetti and the Finnish singer Katri Helena.
Songs written by di Francia subsequently featured at the Sanremo Festivals of 1989, 1992 and 1993.

In 1997 di Francia wrote the song MAMBO for di Capri, with lyrics in Spanish provided by his daughter Valentina.

In the same period he also composed songs for Roberto Murolo such as 'MBRIACAME which contributed significantly to the success of the singer's CD "Ho Sognato di Cantare" (2002).

In 2009 di Francia, celebrated his 40-years-career with a musical event at the Teatro Empire in Naples. His special guest was, of course, Peppino di Capri.

In 2010, di Francia released his second CD: ROTTA SU NAPOLI, in which he performed songs in the Neapolitan language.

In 2013 the release in 75 countries of the CD "Passione" by Andrea Bocelli featuring songs in 6 languages with arrangements by David Foster. Mimmo di Francia's song "Champagne" is one of the many international classics included on the album.