Riccardo Del Turco (born 7 September 1939) is an Italian singer-songwriter and record producer, best known for the song " Luglio".

Life and career

Born in

Fiesole Fiesole () is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region of Tuscany, on a scenic height above Florence, 5 km (3 miles) northeast of that city. It has structures dating to Etruscan and Roman times. ...

, at young age Del Turco started studying composition and singing, and in 1957 he entered the Riccardo Rauchi Orchestra. Noted by producer during a concert in

Cortina d'Ampezzo Cortina d'Ampezzo (; , ; historical ) sometimes abbreviated to simply Cortina, is a town and ''comune'' in the heart of the southern (Dolomites, Dolomitic) Alps in the province of Belluno, in the Veneto region of Northern Italy. Situated on the ...

, in 1962 he was put under contract by

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

. After some poorly received singles that Del Turco co-wrote with established composers such as

Gino Paoli Gino Paoli (; born 23 September 1934) 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 (song), Il cielo in una st ...

Sergio Endrigo Sergio Endrigo (; 15 June 1933 – 7 September 2005) was an Italian singer-songwriter. Born in Pola, Istria in Italy (now Pula, Croatia), he has been often compared—for style and nature—to authors of the so-called "Genoa school" like Gino ...

and Gianni Meccia, he got his first hits in 1966 with "Figlio unico", a cover of

Adoniran Barbosa Adoniran Barbosa, artistic name of João Rubinato (6 August 1910 – 23 November 1982), was a noted Brazilian São Paulo style samba singer and composer. Biography Early years João Rubinato was the seventh child of Francesco (Fernando) Rubina ...

's "

Trem das Onze "Trem das Onze" ( English: "The 11 o’clock Train") is a samba composition by Brazilian singer-songwriter Adoniran Barbosa. Released in 1964 and made famous that same year by the samba group Demônios da Garoa, it is one of the best known Bra ...

", and in 1967 with "

Uno tranquillo "Uno tranquillo" ("Quiet One") is a song by Italian singer Riccardo Del Turco, released as a single in 1967. The song is notable for being covered in English as "Suddenly You Love Me" by the Tremeloes and in French as "Siffler sur la colline" by ...

". In 1968, he got his major hit with " Luglio", which topped the Italian Hit Parade Singles Chart for two weeks in July 1968, selling over 500,000 copies. "Luglio"'s tune was marketed across Europe and was covered by

The Tremeloes The Tremeloes (formerly Brian Poole and The Tremeloes) are an English beat group founded in 1958 in Dagenham, England. They initially found success in the British Invasion era with lead singer Brian Poole, scoring a UK chart-topper in 1963 with ...

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Joe Dassin Joseph Ira Dassin (; November 5, 1938 – August 20, 1980) was an American–French singer-songwriter. In his career spanning sixteen years (1964–1980), he enjoyed numerous successes in France and the French-speaking world, as well as singing ...

, and . In 1969, he took part in the

Sanremo Music Festival The Sanremo Music Festival ( ), officially the Italian Song Festival (), is the most popular Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria, organized and broadcast by (RAI). It is the longest-running ...

with "Cosa hai messo nel caffè", but the song and the following singles failed to repeat the success of "Luglio", and led to Del Turco's decision of semi-retiring in 1973, to devote himself to managing a bar in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

. Del Turco made a comeback in the early 1980s, participating in two editions of the Sanremo Music Festival, in 1982 with "Non voglio ali" and in 1984 with "Serena alienazione", and then co-founding the group Superquattro, together with

Jimmy Fontana Enrico Sbriccoli (13 November 1934 – 11 September 2013), known professionally as Jimmy Fontana, was an Italian actor, composer and singer-songwriter. Two of his most famous songs are " Che sarà", performed also by José Feliciano with Ricch ...

Nico Fidenco Nico Fidenco (artistic name Domenico Colarossi; 24 January 1933 – 18 November 2022) was an Italian singer and film soundtrack composer who gained considerable popularity in 1960 with the release of the song "What a Sky" (Italian: "''Su nel cie ...

and Gianni Meccia. Also active as a songwriter for other artists, Del Turco wrote songs for

Andrea Bocelli Andrea Bocelli (; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor. He rose to fame in 1994 after winning the newcomers' section of the 44th Sanremo Music Festival performing " Il mare calmo della sera". Since 1994, Bocelli has recorded 15 solo st ...

, Mina,

Ornella Vanoni Ornella Vanoni (; born 22 September 1934) is an Italian singer. 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 ...

Patty Pravo Nicoletta Strambelli (born 9 April 1948), known professionally as Patty Pravo, is an Italian singer. She debuted in 1966 and remained most successful commercially for the rest of the 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Having suffered a decline in p ...

, and

Riccardo Fogli Riccardo Fogli (born 21 October 1947) is an Italian singer-songwriter. Biography Early career Riccardo Fogli was born on 21 October 1947 in Pontedera. He was fond of music since his childhood and taught himself to play the electric bass guita ...

, among others.

Discography

33 rpm

* ''Riccardo Del Turco'', 1969 * ''Tanto io non vinco mai'', 1973

45 rpm

* ''Le cose che non ci diciamo/La nostra casa'', 1962 * ''M'hanno detto che/Dimmi se vuoi'', 1964 * ''Parla di te/Non chiudere la porta'', 1964 * ''Figlio unico/Quanto amore'', 1966 * ''

/Allora hai vinto tu'', 1967 * ''L'importante è la rosa/Se è scritto nel cielo'', 16 October 1967 * '' Luglio/Il temporale'', 1968 * ''Cosa hai messo nel caffè/Commedia'', 2 January 1969 * ''Il compleanno/Geloso'', 23 aprile 1969 * ''Due biglietti perchè/Se non hai pensato'', 1970 * ''Babilonia/Non ti voglio amare'', 1970 * ''La cicala/Nel giardino dietro casa'', 1971 * ''Uno, nessuno/La domenica ti penso di più'', 1972 * ''Tanto io non vinco mai/L'appartamento'', 1973 * ''Tanto io non vinco mai/La musica sta arrivando'', 1973 * ''The Summer Of Mary Ann/Ramona'', 1976 * ''Winter Flower/Sette e ventinove'', 1979 * ''Non voglio ali/Noi due'', 1982 * ''Serena alienazione/Spazio profondo'', 1984

Filmography

* '' Io non protesto, io amo'', 1967 * ''Il professor Matusa e i suoi hippies'', 1968

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Del Turco, Riccardo 20th-century Italian male singers Italian pop singers Italian rock singers Italian male singer-songwriters 20th-century Italian singer-songwriters 1939 births Living people Singers from Florence