PAOLO PRATO
1. Mina, “Il cielo in una stanza”
From: “Il cielo in una stanza” / “La notte”. Italdisc MH 61, 1960, 45 rpm.
Tony De Vita: arrangement.
Music and lyrics: Gino Paoli.
It was one of the first “canzoni d’autore” to hit the charts both in its author’s recording and in Mina’s one (see Tomatis for Paoli’s version). The single sold more than 7 million copies worldwide. This video is part of a movie titled Io bacio, tu baci (I Kiss, You Kiss, directed by Piero Vivarelli, 1961), where many other young acts perform their brand new hits. Among them, Adriano Celentano sings “24 mila baci” (24 Thousand Kisses).
2. Mina, “Un anno d’amore”
From: “Un anno d’amore” / “E se domani”. RiFi RFN 16071, 1964, 45 rpm.
Augusto Martelli: arrangement.
Music: Nino Ferrer; Lyrics: Mogol and Alberto Testa.
A song by Nino Ferrer, “C’est irréparable,” covered by Mina with lyrics by Mogol and Alberto Testa. The video is a live performance from the Saturday night show Studio Uno (1965). Mina is accompanied by the resident RAI orchestra led by Bruno Canfora.
3. Mina, “Se telefonando”
From: Studio Uno 66. Ri-Fi RFN NP 16152, 1966, 33⅓ rpm.
Ennio Morricone: arrangement.
Music: Ennio Morricone; lyrics: Ghigo Di Chiara and Maurizio Costanzo.
From the Saturday night show Studio Uno (1966). Mina sings in playback. The song reached No. 9 in the Italian charts and was included in the album Studio Uno 66 which included songs Mina performed during the her third and last participation in the tv show. The song was written by two journalists who adopted it as a signature tune for their radio program titled Aria condizionata.
4. Adriano Celentano, “Il ragazzo della via Gluck”
From: “Il ragazzo della via Gluck” / “Chi era lui”. CLAN ACC 24032, 1996, 45 rpm.
Music: Adriano Celentano; lyrics: Luciano Beretta and Miki Del Prete.
Live in Berlin, during the 1994 tour, the last of Celentano’s career to date. This autobiographical song is a manifesto of Celentano’s way of thinking, oriented towards a life in tune with nature. Even today it is regarded as a protest song against the evils of a wild modernization and its effects on city life and landscape. In 2004 he recorded a version in criol language in duet with Cesaria Evora.
5. Adriano Celentano, “Azzurro”
From: “Azzurro” / “Una carezza in un pugno”. CLAN ACC 2408, 1968, 45 rpm.
Music: Paolo Conte and Michele Virano; lyrics: Vito Pallavicini.
Celentano sings in playback on RaiUno, which at the time was the only tv channel available in Italy. Following the variety shows conventions of the time, a ballet accompanies him with the intent to represent the song’s meaning through a choreography.
6. Celentano, “Prinsencólinensináinciúsol”
From: “Prinsencólinensináinciúsol” / “Disc Jockey”. CLN BF 70026, 1972, 45 rpm.
Music and lyrics: Adriano Celentano.
From Milleluci (1974), another successful Saturday night show hosted by Mina and Raffaella Carrà. In the color section Celentano performs the role of a teacher who explains to her pupils the meaning of the word in the title, that is “universal love.”
7. Mina e Celentano, “Acqua e sale”
From: Mina Celentano. Clan Celentano 4970402, 1998, cd.
Music and lyrics: Giovanni Donzelli and Vincenzo Leomporro.
“Acqua e sale” is the first single drawn from an album which is the one and only studio collaboration between Mina and Celentano to date. The album sold over 1,500,000 copies. The song was written by Giovanni Donzelli and Vincenzo Leomporro, a team of singer-songwriters known as Audio 2.