Michele Torpedine

Last updated

Michele Torpedine (Minervino Murge, 1952) is an Italian record producer, television personality, drummer and music manager. He has been the producer of many renowned Italian artists such as Andrea Bocelli, Zucchero, and Il Volo, among many others.

Biography

Also known internationally as Michael Torpedine, [1] [2] he began his career as a drummer for Orietta Berti, Iva Zanicchi and Gino Paoli.

In the eighties, through an entertainment agency based in Bologna, he looked after the image of artists Lucio Dalla, Loredana Bertè and Francesco De Gregori and planned the stages of Gianna Nannini's America tour. As a record producer, he brought success and, in some cases, revived the fortunes [3] of numerous Italian artists such as Zucchero Fornaciari, Luca Carboni, Gino Paoli, Pino Daniele, Lucio Dalla, Fabrizio De André, Biagio Antonacci, Ornella Vanoni, Andrea Bocelli, Giorgia, Vittorio Grigolo and Il Volo. [4] [5] He is also occasionally involved in forming duets between Italian and international artists; the latter include Barbra Streisand, Joe Cocker, Miles Davis, Eric Clapton, Paul Young and Ray Charles. His idea of bringing the duet of Italian artists Gino Paoli and Ornella Vanoni to theatres on the Insieme tour has received much public acclaim.

He is the executive producer of several of Zucchero's albums, including Rispetto, Blue's, Oro incenso e birra and Miserere; the first three alone have sold 3,200,000 copies in Italy. In 1989 he joined Zucchero in a supergroup, formed in Cortina d'Ampezzo and called Adelmo e i suoi Sorapis, which included Dodi Battaglia, Maurizio Vandelli, Fio Zanotti and Umberto Maggi. In 1990 he organised an extraordinary musical event inside the Kremlin, broadcast by RAI in several countries around the world, which saw Zucchero as the first artist ever to perform in the main seat of the Russian government. A VHS video and a double album entitled Live at the Kremlin were made of the concert in Moscow. Since 1994 he has been Zucchero's representative for Italy and privileged consultant for the rest of the world, working alongside the American record producer Miles Copeland III for the rest of the world; he therefore follows him behind the scenes of the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. With Zucchero the relationship will end in the following years. [6]

Torpedine also produced Andrea Bocelli's albums, who sold more than 2,500,000 copies of records in Europe in 1996 with the Romanza collection alone, which reached the top of all the charts. During the years of managing the image of the Tuscan artist, aimed at ensuring him a high-profile career, he was responsible for the organisation of numerous national and international events, including the Michael Jackson & Friends benefit concert held in Munich in 1999.

He produced albums for Gerardina Trovato and Luca Carboni and was the artistic director of the first two editions of Pavarotti & Friends.

In 2007 he accused Zucchero, when the association with the artist had been over for some time, of plagiarism; in particular, he contested the fact that he credited himself with songs and music written or composed by others. [7]

On 16 July 2010, he presided over the jury at the final of the Castrocaro Music Festival hosted by Fabrizio Frizzi. [8]

In January 2012 he is hired as a consultant by the company that takes care of the affairs for Eros Ramazzotti. [9]

At the 2015 Sanremo Festival, he consolidates also in Italy, through the victory of the singing competition, the success of the young boys that form the trio called Il Volo [10] and that, together with Tony Renis, he made famous in the world and in particular in the United States of America. [11]

Related Research Articles

Zucchero Fornaciari Italian singer and songwriter

Adelmo Fornaciari, more commonly known by his stage name Zucchero Fornaciari or simply Zucchero, is an Italian singer-songwriter and musician. His stage name is the Italian word for "sugar", as his elementary teacher used to call him. His music is largely inspired by gospel, soul, blues and rock music, and alternates between Italian ballads and more rhythmic R&B-boogie-like pieces. He is credited as the "father of Italian blues", introducing blues to the big stage in Italy. He is one of the few European blues artists who still enjoys great international success.

Eros Ramazzotti Italian musician and singer-songwriter

Eros Walter Luciano Ramazzotti is an Italian musician, singer and songwriter. Ramazzotti is popular in Italy and most European countries, and throughout the Spanish-speaking world, as he has released most of his albums in both Italian and Spanish.

Giorgia (singer) Italian recording artist; singer

Giorgia Todrani, best known as Giorgia is an Italian singer, songwriter, musician, record producer and radio host.

Ornella Vanoni Italian singer and actress

Ornella Vanoni is an Italian singer and actress. She is one of the longest-standing Italian artists, having started performing in 1956. She has released about 112 works between LP, EPs and greatest hits albums, and is considered one of the greatest interpreters of Italian pop music. During her long career she has sold over 65 million records.

Gino Paoli Italian singer-songwriter (born 1934)

Gino Paoli is an Italian singer-songwriter. He is a seminal figure who has written a number of songs widely regarded as classics in Italian popular music, including: "Il cielo in una stanza", "Che cosa c'è", "Senza fine", "Quattro amici al bar" and "Sapore di sale".

<i>Oro Incenso & Birra</i> 1989 studio album by Zucchero

Oro Incenso & Birra is the fifth studio album released by the Italian singer-songwriter Zucchero Fornaciari on 13 June 1989. As with his previous album Blue's, the album is credited to "Zucchero Sugar Fornaciari". Its title represents a pun on "oro incenso e mirra", the Italian for "gold, frankincense and myrrh", with mirra being replaced by birra, meaning beer.

Festivalbar

The Festivalbar was an Italian singing competition that took place in the most important Italian squares during summer, such as the Piazza del Duomo, Catania or Piazza Bra, Verona. The first edition took place in 1964 and was broadcast by RAI. The competition was held throughout the summer and the final round always took place at the Arena in Verona after 3-4 events in various cities of Italy.

<i>Miserere</i> (album) 1992 studio album by Zucchero

Miserere is the sixth studio album by Italian blues rock singer-songwriter Zucchero Fornaciari released in 1992 by Polydor Records.

<i>Seriously Single</i> 2007 studio album by JustCarmen dueting with various pre-recorded artists

Seriously Single is a 2007 album by Italian singer JustCarmen that puts a relatively unknown singer into the studio with recordings of big stars from the past. It was produced by Giovanni Di Stefano.

Il mare calmo della sera (song) 1994 single by Andrea Bocelli

"Il mare calmo della sera" is a song written by Zucchero Fornaciari, Giampiero Felisatti and Gloria Nuti, for Andrea Bocelli. Bocelli won the Sanremo Festival in 1994, singing the song, which was later released as his debut single. It is among Bocelli's most popular and well-known songs.

Il Volo Italian operatic pop trio

Il Volo is an Italian operatic pop trio, consisting of baritone Gianluca Ginoble, and tenors Piero Barone and Ignazio Boschetto. They describe their music as "popera". Having won the Sanremo Music Festival 2015, they represented Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 in Vienna, Austria. They reached third place, but managed to secure a solid first-place victory in the televoting.

This article is the discography of Italian popera trio Il Volo and includes all the studio albums, live albums, EPs, and singles, as well as the peak chart positions for Italy, Argentina, Austria, Belgium (Wallonia), France, Germany, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland and United States. Furthermore, there are certifications from FIMI, CAPIF, IFPI Austria, SNEP, AMPROFON, RMNZ and the RIAA.

This is the chart of Italian music artists listed by estimated sales according to the most important Italian newspapers, national television channels and music magazines. As the compilation of official data of sale of records in Italy it began to have departed only since 1995, thanks to the Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana, some corporate body of musical survey, as for instance Hit Parade Italy have tried to put order to the preceding respects furnished by Musica e dischi, TV Sorrisi e Canzoni, Ciao 2001, and Doxa. From 1990 to 1995 any corporate body has furnished official data or estime of sale of the singers.

Il cielo in una stanza (song) 1960 single by Mina

"Il cielo in una stanza" is a song written by Gino Paoli and originally recorded by Italian singer Mina for the album of the same name. The song was released as a single in June 1960 by Italdisc. It became a commercial success in Italy, topping the charts for eleven consecutive weeks and later returning to number one for three additional weeks. It is also Mina's best-selling single in Italy, with estimated sales of 400.000 copies.

Luigi (Gino) De Crescenzo, best known as Pacifico, is an Italian singer-songwriter, composer and musician.

Insieme a te non ci sto più 1968 single by Caterina Caselli

"Insieme a te non ci sto più" is an Italian pop song written by Paolo Conte, Michele Virano and Vito Pallavicini and performed by Caterina Caselli. Years later Conte revealed that he and Pallavicini auditioned many singers before giving the song to Caselli, as she was the only one who could deliver a strong enough performance.

Mimmo Cavallo Italian singer-songwriter

Cosimo Cavallo, best known as Mimmo Cavallo, is an Italian singer-songwriter and composer.

Lisa Hunt American singer

Lisa Hunt is an American Byron Bay-based soul singer. Hunt rose to fame in Italy as an associated act and backup singer of Zucchero Fornaciari, touring with him from the late 1980s until the 2000s. She has been particularly praised for her collaboration on Zucchero's fifth album Oro Incenso & Birra, and for her subsequent performance in Zucchero's first live album Live at the Kremlin, particularly for her solo in the song "Madre dolcissima". Hunt recorded several songs with Fornaciari, including "Something Strong", from the soundtrack album Snack Bar Budapest. She has released a total four albums, the first, A Little Piece of Magic, with Polydor.

References

  1. ↑ Zucchero, Paul Young – Senza Una Donna (Without A Woman) (1991, Vinyl) , retrieved 2021-10-08
  2. ↑ "No – no (non gli dire no) – Zucchero Sugar Fornaciari | Sito Ufficiale" (in Italian). Retrieved 2021-10-08.
  3. ↑ "A Catania in cerca di talenti: parla Michele Torpedine, il Re Mida della musica italiana (VIDEO)". Corriere Etneo (in Italian). 2019-05-13. Retrieved 2021-10-08.
  4. ↑ Nazionale, Quotidiano (2014-10-07). "Torpedine, il cercatore di cantanti. "E così alla fine ho preso Il Volo"". Quotidiano Nazionale (in Italian). Retrieved 2021-10-08.
  5. ↑ "Michele Torpedine: a world tour and a fiction about Il Volo in 2015! | All About Il Volo" . Retrieved 2021-10-08.
  6. ↑ "Zucchero: "Dopo questo monumento farò il mio disco più bello"". lastampa.it (in Italian). 2017-11-18. Retrieved 2021-10-08.
  7. ↑ "Tgcom - "Zucchero? Prese pezzi di altri"". 2015-02-20. Archived from the original on 2015-02-20. Retrieved 2021-10-08.
  8. ↑ "Castrocaro, vince Nicola Traversa". Excite. Retrieved 2021-10-08.
  9. ↑ "Eros Ramazzotti, arriva Michele Torpedine (e una smentita) | News | Rockol". 2015-02-20. Archived from the original on 2015-02-20. Retrieved 2021-10-08.
  10. ↑ "Il Volo conquista anche l'Italia «Ci ha scelto il popolo»". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 2015-02-15. Retrieved 2021-10-08.
  11. ↑ "Il Volo - Un progetto di Michele Torpedine e Tony Renis". EarOne. Retrieved 2021-10-08.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.