Los TNT () were an Italian-

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

an rock 'n' roll band, popular in the 1960s. The band consisted of two brothers and a sister from

Udine Udine ( , ; fur, Udin; la, Utinum) is a city and ''comune'' in north-eastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Alps (''Alpi Carniche''). Its population was 100,514 in 2012, 176,000 with t ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

: Edelweiss "Tim" Croatto (born 1936), Hermes "Tony" Croatto (1939 - 2005), and Argentina "Nelly" Croatto (born 1941). The

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

and

word play Word play or wordplay (also: play-on-words) is a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement. Examples of word play include puns, pho ...

TNT comes from their nicknames. The family emigrated to La Paz,

in 1946, and in 1953 they moved to

Montevideo Montevideo () is the capital and largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . Montevideo is situated on the southern co ...

, where they started to sing. In 1959 they moved to

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, and they were discovered and hired by

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, ...

record label RCA Victor in 1960. Their first single was "Eso", which sold more than 100,000 copies in

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and became a success also in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

and most

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n countries. Their first album, ''Los Fabulosos TNT'', was published late in 1960. The second album, ''La Gira Triunfal por Latinoamérica de los TNT'' was published right after a tour through

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Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...

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and

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, in 1961. In 1962 they moved to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

to work with record label Belter, and in 1964 they were chosen by broadcaster

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to represent the country (as Nelly, Tim & Tony) at the 9th Eurovision Song Contest in

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Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. With the song " Caracola", they placed 12th in a field of 16. Nevertheless, in Spain they were not as successful as in

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and they returned to Argentina. In 1965 they recorded their last single with RCA, which included the songs "Yo No Me Marcho de Aquí" and "Llévame, Llévame". In 1966 the band dissolved as Tim decided to leave to establish his own record label. Nelly and Tony continued to sing together, as Nelly y Tony or Los Vénetos, first established in Argentina and from 1970 in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

. In 1974, Nelly got married and dissolved the duo; meanwhile Tony Croatto continued to work as an entertainer in Puerto Rico until his death in 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:TNT Italian emigrants to Uruguay Italian musicians People from Canelones Department People from the Province of Udine Uruguayan musical groups Uruguayan people of Italian descent Uruguayan people of Croatian descent Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Spain Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1964