"Balla" ('Dance!') is a 1979 Italian song composed and performed by

Umberto Balsamo Rosario Umberto Balsamo, best known as Umberto Balsamo (born 10 March 1942) is an Italian singer-songwriter and composer, best known for the songs " L'angelo azzurro" and " Balla". Background Born in Catania, Balsamo was the youngest of five b ...

Overview

Balsamo composed the song, a mixture of pop and

tarantella Tarantella () is a group of various Southern Italy, southern Italian Italian folk dance, folk dances originating in the regions of Calabria, Campania, Sicilia, and Apulia. It is characterized by a fast Beat (music), upbeat tempo, usually in Ti ...

, in London, where was recording his album. Its lyrics mainly consist of images from his childhood days. Balsamo had to fight with

Phonogram Phonogram may refer to: * A sound recording – see Geneva Phonograms Convention * ''Phonogram'' (comics), a comic book by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie * Phonogram (linguistics), a grapheme which represents a phoneme or a combination of phon ...

to release the song as a single, even to the point that Phonogram threatened to have his contract terminated, as the label considered tarantella a poorly marketable genre with no selling potential and was pressing for Balsamo to have a song in the style of his previous hit " L'angelo azzurro". The song has been described as "a real classic ..where the rhythmic elements capture he listener in their regular and hypnotic procession repeated even in the lyrics of the refrain".

Track listing

Charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1979 singles Italian songs 1979 songs Phonogram Records singles