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 Catania (, , , Sicilian and ) is the second-largest municipality on Sicily, after Palermo, both by area and by population. Despite being the second city of the island, Catania is the center of the most densely populated Sicilian conurbation, wh ...

, Balsamo was the youngest of five brothers. In 1964 he moved to Milan, where he started working together with the lyricist

Luciano Beretta Luciano Beretta (1 January 1928 – 11 January 1994) was an Italian lyricist, best known for his long collaboration with Adriano Celentano. Life and career Born in Milan, Beretta was the son of a driver and a tailor, and had a degree in accou ...

, composing songs for, among others,

Iva Zanicchi Iva Zanicchi (; born 18 January 1940) is an Italian pop singer and politician. She has a mezzo-soprano voice and is nick-named by the press as the "Eagle from Ligonchio" (). Biography Iva Zanicchi was born in Ligonchio, in the province of ...

and

Orietta Berti Orietta Galimberti (born 1 June 1943), known professionally as Orietta Berti, is an Italian folk-pop singer and television personality. Biography Born in Cavriago, Berti began her career in 1962 and had her first success in 1965 with the s ...

. In 1968 he made his debut as a singer with the song " Il mio cuore riposa", released under the pseudonym Bob Nero. Balsamo obtained his first success in 1972 with the song "Se fossi diversa", which ranked nineteen in the Italian hit parade. The following year he entered the competition at 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 the song "Amore mio". In 1977 he topped the hit parade with the song " L'angelo azzurro", selling over a million of copies In 1979 he had one another major success with the song " Balla", a mixture of

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 ...

and

disco music Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightlife, particularly in African-American, Italian-American, Gay and Latino communities. Its sound features four-on-the-floor ...

. In the eighties Balsamo focused on composing, achieving a significant success with the song "Italia", sung by

Mino Reitano Beniamino "Mino" Reitano (December 7, 1944 – January 27, 2009) was an Italian singer, songwriter and actor. Reitano was born in Fiumara, a small village in Calabria. His father, an employee at the local railway station, was very passiona ...

at the

Discography

Singles

Studio albums

*1974 ''Passato presente e futuro'' *1975 ''Natalì'' *1977 ''Malgrado tutto...l'angelo azzurro'' *1978 ''Crepuscolo d'amore'' *1979 ''Balla'' *1979 ''Auto Music'' *1980 ''Pianeti'' *1982 ''Mai più'' *1990 ''Respirando la notte luna'' *1992 ''Un pugno nella notte'' *2003 ''Vorrei aprire il cielo sabato sera a spina di rosa''

Compilation albums

*1989 ''L'angelo azzurro e altri successi'' *1995 ''Umberto Balsamo - Le sue più belle canzoni''

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Balsamo, Umberto 1942 births Musicians from Catania Italian male singer-songwriters 20th-century Italian singer-songwriters Italian pop singers Living people Composers from Sicily Italian male composers 20th-century Italian composers 20th-century male composers 20th-century Italian male musicians