Gaetano "Totò" Savio (18 November 1937 – 25 July 2004) was an Italian composer, lyricist, producer, guitarist and occasional singer.

Early life

Born in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

, Savio started playing the guitar at six years old, and at 13 he won a radio contest for guitarists. In 1955 he became a member of the musical group of Marino Marini, with whom he toured in Europe and Africa. He formed his own band in 1961, and the two of them toured throughout Italy and appeared on a number of radio and television shows.

Career

In the second half of the 1960s Savio started composing songs, getting his first hit in 1967, Little Tony's "

Cuore matto "Cuore matto" () is a song composed by Armando Ambrosino and Totò Savio, and performed by Little Tony. The song premiered at the seventeenth Sanremo Music Festival, in which Little Tony presented the song in couple with Mario Zelinotti. The ...

". In 1973 he co-founded the comedy group Squallor, serving as composer and also occasionally performing as a singer. Other hits written by Savio include Renato dei Profeti's " Lady Barbara",

Massimo Ranieri Giovanni Calone (born 3 May 1951), known professionally as Massimo Ranieri, is an Italian singer, actor, television presenter and theatre director. Biography Early life Ranieri was born in Borgo Santa Lucia, Naples, the fifth of eight children ...

's " Vent'anni" and "Erba di casa mia" (winning songs of the 1970 and 1972 editions of

Canzonissima (; ) was an Italian musical variety show broadcast by Rai 1 from 1958 to 1975, aired on Saturday evenings except for the last two editions, which were aired on Sunday afternoon. The program has been referred to as "the synthesis and paradigm of ...

Loretta Goggi Loretta Goggi (; born 29 September 1950) is an Italian singer, actress, and television presenter. Goggi's records have sometimes entered the Italian pop charts. She was the first runner-up at the 1981 Sanremo Festival with the song " Maledetta ...

's " Maledetta primavera",

Michele Zarrillo Michele Zarrillo (born 13 June 1957) is an Italian singer-songwriter. He is mainly known for hits such as "Una rosa blu" (A blue rose), " Cinque giorni" (Five days), L'elefante e la farfalla (The elephant and the butterfly) and "La notte dei pen ...

's "Una rosa blu",

I Camaleonti I Camaleonti ("The Chameleons") are an Italian pop group from Milan, mostly successful between the late 1960s and the early 1970s. Background I Camaleonti were formed in 1963 in Milan. The original line-up included Livio Macchia (guitar), A ...

's "Perché ti amo" (winning song of the 1973 ''

Un disco per l'estate Un disco per l'estate (translation "A Record for the Summer") was an Italian Summer festival held from 1964 to 2003. It was organized and sponsored by the Italian record industry association, AFI, and by RAI, except for the editions between 1995 ...

''), Il Giardino dei Semplici's "Miele", and

Roberto Carlos Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha (born 10 April 1973), often known as Roberto Carlos and sometimes ''RC3'', is a Brazilian former professional association football, footballer. He has been described as the "most offensive-minded left-back in the ...

' " Un gatto nel blu".

References

External links

* * * 1937 births 2004 deaths Composers from Naples Italian lyricists Italian male composers Italian male songwriters Italian songwriters Italian record producers 20th-century Italian male singers Italian pop singers {{Italy-singer-stub