Domenico Modugno
Domenico Modugno

This time I'm taking a leap that might be too far. That Domenico Modugno deserved a reviewer of much greater caliber is almost a given, but it was YOU DEBASERIANS who wanted it, leaving his page void of reviews... It would have been a cause for tears...

Without too many frills and beating around the bush, Domenico Modugno was the pillar of Italian song in the 50s and beyond. He was the one who, through various experiments and transformations, shaped Italian song which until then was far from today's standards, channeling it into the tracks more familiar to us today. In simple terms, if today I can review Giardino dei Semplici and Franco Simone, the credit is also his (and that of the kind editorial team of Debaser). Not just songs: our Domenico, of Apulian origins, moved well through cinema and television, proving to be a character to say the least complete, not to mention his career as a director and even his political stint. His passion began when he was very young. He fell in love with Italian cinema and started tinkering with the guitar given to him by his father. A difficult start, which first saw him engaged in precarious jobs and then enlisting in the military. His figure materialized in the 50s, becoming the famed icon we know today, the robust man with the mustache and the commanding voice, the womanizer from Polignano a Mare, in short, the key figure of Italian song. His first love was cinema, and he participated in important films at the beginning of the decade, such as 'Filumena Marturano' in 1951 and 'I pompieri di Viggiù' in 1949. But it was only by singing the song 'Ninna nanna' in the film 'Carica Erotica' that the doors to music and radio opened for him. His early recordings are characterized by folk-style songs, mostly sung in the Sicilian dialect, to the point of perhaps betraying his home region, according to some. Sparse accompaniments, generally songs accompanied only by an acoustic guitar, Domenico's early compositions allowed him to carve out a niche to not only release his first records but also participate in the first editions of Sanremo.

1956 was his first participation in the Festival, with the song 'Musetto', which placed sixth. But it was not important, since from that year onward all the great successes of the singer-songwriter (who we remember being the first singer-songwriter to ever participate in the Sanremo Festival, bringing something completely his own) began to emerge. About two years later, Italian music changed suddenly. With the second participation in Sanremo alongside Johnny Dorelli, 'Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu', commonly known as 'Volare', was born. Now, it is not my intention to seem exaggerated, but it is undoubtedly the quintessential Italian song. Known now worldwide, sung by young and old, it was strikingly original. It seems that the lyrics came to the singer while looking at the sky out the window with his wife. Highlighting the lyrics seems almost like a jest, as they are too well-known. Reworked by artists of every era and nationality, it (obviously) was the winner of Sanremo 1958. The festival that Domenico won again the following year with 'Piove', a beautiful farewell song to a beloved, less known than the previous winning song but still one of the 'guide' songs of the light music scene. To make it all more magical, almost 'epic', the beautiful and imposing voice, which I would define as unique, of Domenico (Ciao ciao bambina/ un bacio ancora/ e poi per sempre ti perderò). In this instance, Domenico reached such popularity as to hold international tours, even reaching the United States. In the meantime, he did not forget his love for cinema, often mixed with music, singing in numerous films. Worth mentioning are 'Lazzarella' from 1957 and his role as Gaetano in the film 'Io Mammeta e Tu', the Casanova who falls in love with his best friend's mother in the guise of a Turk. For that film, he sang the famous 'Io Mammeta e Tu' in Neapolitan dialect.

Even without participating in Sanremo, 'Vecchio in frac' received much attention, which I love to define as the progenitor of the Italian singer-songwriter school, a classic ballad-style story with just voice and acoustic guitar. The story is about a seemingly mysterious man with a tailcoat, the outfit, and a top hat. It's a character painted almost like a ghost, the story culminates with the suicide of the latter (Galleggiando dolcemente /e lasciandosi cullare/ se ne scende lentamente/ sotto i ponti e verso il mare). 'Adieau, adieau, adieau' cries the man as he lets go to suicide, a suicide contested by censorship which had issues with the ending part of the song. Modugno himself recounted that the story refers to Prince Raimondo Lanza di Trabia, who committed suicide by throwing himself from a window.

The greatness of Domenico Modugno stems from his being an all-round character. Not only a great musician and actor but also a decent poet. He collaborated with Salvatore Quasimodo and was friends with Eugenio Montale. Not only that; Modugno also boasted participation in political events, including some concerning Chile and then-dictator Pinochet. A well-rounded character, a true pillar of Italian song and beyond, rightly defined as the father of what was to come later. Without him, the song form would perhaps not be what we know today; his contribution was essential. Now, for obvious reasons, it's impossible to dwell on the discography/filmography of the character highlighting all the songs/films that would deserve it, but at least taking a look at the most fundamental ones was necessary. His discography, at times boundless, boasts no less than 7 eponymous albums, although it must be said that at a quick glance more than albums they seem like real collections of 'trending' songs. The same songs could reappear on several albums. Perhaps the most complete under this point of view is the eponymous of 1958, the year in which the international fame of the young Apulian began, containing, besides the great classics, songs like 'Lu Minaturi' or 'Lazzarella'. They were initially predominantly in dialect, generally Sicilian, which owed something to the Naturalistic tradition of Giovanni Verga, because they were very much based on the daily and the omnipresence of the writer, who never expressed judgments. Thus follows a stunning series of records that abruptly ends only in 1984, the year Modugno was struck by a stroke that compromised his artistic life forever. His participation as a guest star at Sanremo 1976 was moving, a time when, by then already slightly older, he came on stage with a guitar, singing his classic songs, with an almost fatherly air towards the young people who were juggling between one song and another. With that air as if to say 'guys, if you are here, some credit is also mine'. It was a time when Domenico had already given everything and more, although never forgotten by the Italian public. He died in 1994, leaving an unfillable void in Italian song. To remember him young and strong as before, a beautiful statue in his Polignano a Mare, depicting the singer-songwriter with open arms as a sign of gratitude towards the audience.