Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi admires the media at the Victoria Palace, the Romanian Government head office, in Bucharest May 30, 2011. Daniel Mihailescu/AFP/Getty Images
Silvio Berlusconi, the billionaire Italian business owner and also previous head of state that passed away Monday (June 12) in Milan at age 86, will certainly be kept in mind as one of Italy’s most debatable leaders. But prior to his profession in national politics, document tags he developed in the 1980s and also 1990s assisted introduce the jobs of prominent Italian musicians like Cristina D’Avena, Sabrina Salerno, Ambra Angiolini and also Francesco Salvi.
In the 1950s, Berlusconi executed as a young crooner on cruise liner, where he satisfied his buddy and also life time specialist companion Fedele Confalonieri, that would certainly later on end up being chairman of Mediaset, Berlusconi’s media titan.
Music played a huge duty in the beginnings of his media realm. In the 1980s and also 1990s, Berlusconi was a significant exec in the Italian songs market. In 1981, after starting Fininvest, the holding business that had Mediaset, he introduced his very first document business, Five Record (relabelled RTI Music in 1991).
Inspired by American songwriters, French chansonniers and also the melancholic, existentialistic design of vocalists and also songwriters from Genoa, the tag at first advertised the signature tune of the television collection and also programs relayed by Mediaset, from animes to range programs, from test reveals to telenovelas. Then it increased and also launched cds by Italian musicians such as Gino Paoli, Orietta Berti, Patty Pravo and also Bruno Lauzi.
Within such a vast imaginative range, Berlusconi’s business introduced the jobs of musicians that swiftly came to be exceptionally prominent (and also transgenerational) in Italy: D’Avena, Angiolini, Salvi, Sabrina Salerno (her track “Boys” came to be a hit in Europe), Lorella Cuccarini, Giorgio Faletti and also singer/comedian Fiorello.
Five Record had a solid link with dancing songs. Take Change, an Italo-nightclub job created by Italian artist and also arranger Mauro Malavasi, saw their cd The Glow of Love (1980) reach No. 29 on the Billboard 200 — a very first for an Italian dancing manufacturing.
The tag additionally launched Joe Smooth’s “Promised Land” in Italy and also functions from Double Dee (home songs from Ancona, Italy) and also Novecento.
After leaving workplace in 2011, Belusconi briefly revitalized his songs profession, launching a brand-new cd, True Love, with long time music partner Mariano Apicella. The three-time Italian premier didn’t sing on the cd yet co-wrote all 11 tunes, which were a collection of love tunes and also jazz plans.
Berlusconi’s most significant success in the songs market was D’Avena, the queen of signature tune for animes in Italy. In a job extending 40 years, D’Avena has actually remained pertinent and also marketed greater than 7 million duplicates of songs and also cds, consisting of collections such as Fivelandia and also Cristina D’Avena disadvantage i suoi amici in television. The solitary “Kiss Me Licia” alone marketed over 200,000 duplicates, gotten to No. 7 on the Italian graph and also was accredited Gold.
D’Avena’s most significant hit was “Canzone dei Puffi,” the signature tune of the Italian variation of The Smurfs anime. Released in 1982, it marketed 500,000 duplicates and also became her very first Gold document.
“I always hoped this moment wouldn’t come,” D’Avena informs Billboard Italy regarding Berlusconi’s death. “To me, he was immortal. But watching his last interviews you could tell that he was sick. … I’m feeling a huge loss. … An important piece of our country is gone.”
