The Right to Be Italian | ||||
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![]() Cover photo by Lynn Goldsmith | ||||
Studio album by | ||||
Released | February 1981 | |||
Recorded | September–December 1980 | |||
Studio | Record Plant Studios, New York City | |||
Genre | New wave, pop punk | |||
Length | 36:37 | |||
Label | Virgin [1] | |||
Producer | Richard Gottehrer [2] | |||
Holly Beth Vincent chronology | ||||
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Singles from The Right to Be Italian | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Sounds | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Right to Be Italian is the only studio album by the new wave band Holly and the Italians. [5] The album had a troubled recording process that took more than a year to be completed; it was released in February 1981 by Virgin Records. The album was reissued in 2002 in the US by Wounded Bird Records with bonus tracks. [6]
The album peaked at No. 177 on the Billboard 200. [7]
Trouser Press called The Right to Be Italian "a new wave classic of romantic ups and downs, leather-jacket rebellion and kitsch culture, carried mightily on Vincent’s tough-girl attitude, full-throated singing, gale-force Brill Building melodies and chunky rhythm guitar presence." [8] The Rough Guide to Rock deemed the album "a lost masterpiece." [9]
All songs written by Holly Beth Vincent, except where indicated
A 2010 Japanese CD reissue preserves the original track order for the tracks from the original album, but with the same bonus tracks, in the same order, as the 2002 reissue.