Andrea Lo Vecchio (7 October 1942 – 17 February 2021) was an Italian composer, lyricist, record producer, singer-songwriter and entrepreneur.

Life and career

Born in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, Lo Vecchio started his career in 1962, performing as a singer-songwriter and a guitarist in local music halls and clubs. In 1963 he won a contest for new artists and subsequently got a contract with

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

.Enzo Giannelli; Lalla Cantore. "Lo Vecchio, Andrea". Gino Castaldo (ed.). ''Dizionario della canzone italiana''. Curcio Editore, 1990. In 1964 Lo Vecchio made his professional debut as a songwriter with the song "Era troppo bello", which was performed by Wilma Goich and won the . The same year he founded a

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

in his hometown, "Le Clochard", where performed notable artists such as Bruno Lauzi, Gufi and Cochi e Renato. In 1966 he sold the cabaret and founded the nightclub "Student's Club"; the same year he started a long and fruitful collaboration as a songwriter with Roberto Vecchioni. In 1967 he participated in the

RAI (), commercially styled as since 2000 and known until 1954 as (RAI), is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terrestrial and subscription television channels a ...

musical show ''

Settevoci ''Settevoci'' was an Italian musical variety show broadcast by Rai 1 (at the time called "Programma Nazionale") from 1966 to 1970, hosted by Pippo Baudo and aired on Sunday afternoon.Aldo Grasso, Massimo Scaglioni, ''Enciclopedia della Televisione ...

'', where he launched his song "Ho scelto Bach", with whom he also participated in the

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 ...

. In 1968 he debuted as a producer for the album ''Casatschok'' by Dori Ghezzi and for the self-titled album by Roberto Vecchioni. In 1969 he composed the music for " If I Only Had Time", which was performed by

John Rowles Sir John Edward Rowles (born 26 March 1947) is a New Zealand singer. He was most popular in the late 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s, and he is best known in New Zealand for his song " If I Only Had Time" and from 1970, "Cheryl Moana Marie", whic ...

and became an international success. The same year he founded a school of water skiing and a nightclub in

Sanremo Sanremo, also spelled San Remo in English and formerly in Italian, is a (municipality) on the Mediterranean coast of Liguria, in northwestern Italy. Founded in Roman times, it has a population of 55,000, and is known as a tourist destination ...

. In the following years Lo Vecchio became a usual collaborator of Mina. Other collaborations include

Adriano Celentano Adriano Celentano (; born 6 January 1938) is an Italian singer-songwriter, actor, showman, and filmmaker. He is dubbed ''Il Molleggiato'' ('the springy one') because of his energetic dancing. Celentano's many albums frequently enjoyed both com ...

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, Bruno Lauzi, Loredana Bertè,

Mireille Mathieu Mireille Mathieu (; born July 22, 1946) is a French singer. She has recorded over 1,200 songs in eleven languages, with more than 122 million records sold worldwide. Biography and career Early years Mireille Mathieu was born on July 22, 1946, ...

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, Umberto Bindi,

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, Fausto Leali,

Dik Dik Dik Dik is an Italian beat/ pop-rock band, named after the antelope Dik-dik, formed in the 1960s and still active. They were most popular in the late 1960s, when they released a string of hit singles with the contribution of renowned lyric-write ...

, Manuel De Peppe, I Nuovi Angeli. He also wrote several songs for children, notably "Tarzan lo fà", which was performed by

Nino Manfredi Saturnino "Nino" Manfredi (22 March 1921 – 4 June 2004) was an Italian actor, voice actor, director, screenwriter, playwright, comedian, singer, author, radio personality and television presenter. He was one of the most prominent Italian ac ...

, as well as musical scores for films, TV-series and commercials. In 1976 Lo Vecchio founded, together with Detto Mariano and Enzo Scirè, the label "Love Records", which published works of Mario Del Monaco,

Bobby Solo Roberto Satti (born 18 March 1945), known professionally as Bobby Solo, is an Italian singer-songwriter and musician. Singing career In 1964, Solo participated in the Sanremo Music Festival with the song " Una lacrima sul viso" ("A Tear on your ...

and

Léo Ferré Léo Ferré (; 24 August 1916 – 14 July 1993) was a Monégasque poet and composer, and a dynamic and controversial live performer. He released some forty albums over this period, composing the music and the majority of the lyrics. He released ...

, among others. In the 1980s he curated the collection "Profili Musicali", published by

Ricordi Ricordi may refer to: People * Giovanni Ricordi (1785–1853), Italian violinist and publishing company founder *Giulio Ricordi (1840–1912), Italian publisher and musician Music *Casa Ricordi, an Italian music publishing company established i ...

. Lo Vecchio died of complications from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

on 17 February 2021, aged 78, during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Italy The COVID-19 pandemic in Italy was part of the COVID-19 pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The virus was first confirmed to have spread to Italy on 31 January 2 ...

.Si è spento Andrea Lo Vecchio, compositore di "Luci a San Siro"
''Teatro E Musica''. Retrieved on 18 February 2021.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lo Vecchio, Andrea 1942 births 2021 deaths Musicians from Milan Italian male songwriters Italian children's musicians Italian lyricists Italian male film score composers Italian record producers Children's songwriters Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Lazio