Peppino di Capri
40 anni di canzoni

THE REVIEW

Here we are dealing with one of the most active Italian singers, Giuseppe Faiella, known as Peppino Di Capri because he was born in Capri in 1939, during the fascist period.

Since he was a kid, he started to be exposed to Anglo-American music thanks to the U.S. troops for whom he sang, also to earn a little extra money. But who would have thought that young boy from Capri would become a star? His successes, encapsulated in this double CD released by Splash in 1998, are countless: from the sweet "Malatia" to the dreamy "Voce 'e notte", from the Caruso-like "Luna Caprese" to the Sinatra-like "Roberta", even reaching funky sounds with "Speedy Gonzales" and rock'n roll with "Twist Again", not forgetting the boogie of "St. Tropez twist" and the Elvis-like "Don't play that song". His band, the Rockers, was a sort of bridge between the classic Neapolitan song and the new youthful trends of the Boot, indeed it was him who introduced us to twist as we had never heard it before!!!

However, with the advent of the '60s and the beat generation, our Peppino lost his fame, and within a few years decided to change course: shift towards Italian pop music, namely Sanremo, the one that many of us despise... but he does it well, so much so that he wins at Sanremo with "Un grande amore e nulla più", and finds his greatest success, that crystalline, sparkling "Champagne", never out of fashion. The rest is achieved through his concerts, his crooner tendencies, his piano bar style, and meanwhile he wins Sanremo again with (let's hope) "Non lo faccio più". It's 1976, and until '87 nothing more is heard of him. He re-emerges with the great hit "Il sognatore" in '87, a tune that recently often plays on the radio. Finally, in 1996, with his long-time friend Fred Bongusto, he tours Italy with the aim of making another live album... but that's not what interests us, because we got to know the real Peppino in the '50s, and this double CD of 40 years of songs released in 1998 is a great opportunity to introduce young people to the music that accompanied Italy's post-war vicissitudes.

The CD is rare, you have to search well at markets and hyperstores, inside those bins, and you'll find it, just like Gianni Decano did, between the Casadei and Merola, between Morandi and Nirvana. . happy hunting!!!