Rocco Granata (born 16 August 1938) is an Italian-Belgian singer, songwriter, and

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

ist. Granata was born in

Figline Vegliaturo Figline Vegliaturo is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy. It is the birthplace of singer Rocco Granata Rocco Granata (born 16 August 1938) is an Italian-Belgian singer, songwriter, and acc ...

Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, southern Italy; but his parents immigrated to Belgium when he was aged ten. Rocco's father was a coal miner, but Granata pursued music instead. He played accordion and toured Belgium with his band, 'The International Quintet'. He then released the songs "Manuela" / "

Marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...

" as a single in 1959; the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

became an international hit, reaching #1 in Belgium and in Germany as well as charting across Europe and in the United States. It sold over one million copies in Germany alone, and was awarded a gold disc. It has been

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of ...

many times by artists such as Willy Alberti, Marino Marini, Ilham al-Madfai, Dalida and

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

. After the success of "Marina", Granata toured the world, including dates at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

. A feature film entitled ''Marina'' was released in 1960, which set the stage for a string of German hits. He also appeared in Italy at the Sanremo Festival in 1961. Granata later became a successful record producer. He owned the record labels Cardinal Records and Granata Records, and has produced

Marva Marva (Hebrew: מרווה) is a two-month Israel Defense Forces basic training program for young Jews from the Diaspora which offers an opportunity to experience the IDF and Israeli life. The program is based at Sde Boker. History Marva, origina ...

Louis Neefs Louis Neefs (born Ludwig Adèle Maria Jozef Neefs, 8 August 1937, Gierle – 25 December 1980, Lier) was a Belgian singer and presenter, known for his participation in the Eurovision Song Contests of 1967 and 1969. Early career Neefs was trai ...

Miel Cools Miel may refer to: * Miel (Swisttal), a small village in Germany * Miel Bredouw (b. 1989), American comedian and musician * Alice Miel (1906–1998), an American educator and author * Jan Miel (1599–1663), a Flemish painter from the 17th cen ...

, and De Elegasten. In 1989, Granata commissioned a

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

of "Marina", which again topped the Belgian charts as well as those of Italy, France and Germany. He has appeared regularly on Belgian television, and served as a jury member for the 2002 Flemish preliminaries for the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

. In March 2000 he was awarded the ZAMU Lifetime Achievement Award by the Belgian music industry. Granata has released some 65 singles over the course of his career. In 2013 his early life was captured in another movie named ''

''.

Singles

" (1959) BEL #1, NL #1, US:

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

#31, /

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

: #12, GER #1The positions for the German Singles Charts are taken from Günter Ehnert: ''Hit Bilanz. Deutsche Chart Singles 1956–1980''. Hamburg: Taurus Press 1990, S. 88 *"Oh oh Rossi" (1959) BEL #20, GER #14 *"La Bella" (1960) BEL #4, GER #18 *"Julia"/"Rocco Cha Cha" (1960) BEL #14 *"Germanina" (1960) BEL #16 *"Carolina dai" (1961) BEL #11 *"Irena" (1961) GER #15 *"Sunday Box EP" (1961) BEL #17 *"Buona notte bambino" (1963) BEL #4, GER #5 *"Du schwarzer Zigeuner" (1964) BEL #5 *"Dreh' dich noch einmal um" (1964) BEL #10 *"Molte grazie" (1964) BEL #12 *"Noordzeestrand" (1964) BEL #9 *"Melancholie" (1965) BEL #18 *"Hello buona sera" (1967) BEL #3 *"Sarah" (1970) BEL #4 *"Jessica" (1971) BEL #5 *"Zomersproetjes" (1972) BEL #4 *"Dansen op de daken" (1973) BEL #4 *"Marina 120 BPM" (1989) BEL #1

References

External links

Rocco Granata official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Granata, Rocco 1938 births Living people People from the Province of Cosenza Belgian songwriters Belgian accordionists Belgian people of Calabrian descent Italian emigrants to Belgium Laurie Records artists Dutch-language singers of Belgium Italian-language singers 20th-century accordionists 20th-century Belgian male singers