Il ragazzo della via Gluck
Encyclopedia
"Il ragazzo della via Gluck" is a famous Italian
song by artist Adriano Celentano
. The lyrics meaning "The boy from Gluck Street" were by Luciano Beretta and Miki Del Prete and music by Celentano himself. It was released in 1966 as a double-A side single by Celentano alongside "Chi era lui". The lyrics for the latter were by Mogol and Miki Del Prete and music by Paolo Conte. "Il ragazzo della via Gluck/Chi era lui" single was arranged by Detto Mariano.
The song was launched at the Sanremo Festival in 1966 with little success and was eliminated from competition after the first night. But it gained great favour with fans making it the best-known and most representative song of Celentano, with many autobiographical references; via Gluck was the street where he lived as a boy singer with the family, and eight years (...passano gli anni, ma 8 son lunghi.... meaning the years go by ... 8 long years....) is a reference to the top of Celentano's recording career from 1958 to 1966.
in a mix of pop/jazz and rock.
Giorgio Gaber also released a take on the song named "La risposta al ragazzo della Via Gluck".
sang an English version titled "Tar and Cement". The song was recorded in 1966 and was released in the United Kingdom. It was a one hit wonder for the artist. The song "Tar and Cement" was also recorded by Caroline Munro
.
"Tar and Cement" made it to #1 in Australia
and to #38 in the U.S.
It was also #6 on "Keener 13", the renowned Detroit radio station
WKNR
for the week ending Monday June 27, 1966.
"Tar and Cement" was reproduced on a 2004 CD
, Girls Go Zonk: US Dream Babes reaching #30 in 2005 in Top 150 of Queensland
, Australia
http://www.abc.net.au/centralqld/stories/s1475125.htm.
"Tar and Cement" was also a big hit for Joe Dolan
in Ireland.
when covered by Eddy Marnay
with French lyrics as "La maison où j'ai grandi". Marnay translated the lyrics from Italian to French.
"La maison où j'ai grandi" was also performed more famously by Françoise Hardy
and it appears on her album La maison où j'ai grandi
. The album was released without title and is identified chiefly by the song it carries, its major success. Hardy had admired Celentano's autobiographical song "Il ragazzo della via Gluck" having seen him perform it at San Remo in January 1966.
Looking back at the song in 2004, she said she felt an emotion of sadness at the time she heard the song for her mother (an accountant's assistant), who had raised Françoise and her younger sister alone. The lyrics in French were reflection of her life she admitted: "Quand je me tourne vers mes souvenirs/ je revois la maison ou j'ai grandi./ Il me revient des tas de choses..."
, when the singer Anna-Lena Löfgren
sang it with Swedish language
lyrics as "Lyckliga gatan". It was released in 1967 and was certified gold in Sweden and platinum and diamond in Norway. It used the melody of the Italian song, but with completely different lyrics. According to Dagens Nyheter
, "under her lifetime she was able to perform the song thousands of times from various scenes.
version of the song, as "Immer am Sonntag" becoming very successful in Germany, releasing tens of other German language songs.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
song by artist Adriano Celentano
Adriano Celentano
Adriano Celentano is an Italian singer, songwriter, comedian, actor, film director and TV host.-Biography:Celentano was born in Milan at 14 Via Gluck, about which he later wrote the famous song "Il ragazzo della via Gluck"...
. The lyrics meaning "The boy from Gluck Street" were by Luciano Beretta and Miki Del Prete and music by Celentano himself. It was released in 1966 as a double-A side single by Celentano alongside "Chi era lui". The lyrics for the latter were by Mogol and Miki Del Prete and music by Paolo Conte. "Il ragazzo della via Gluck/Chi era lui" single was arranged by Detto Mariano.
History
The song originally appeared in March 1966 in Celentano's album La festa and in the follow-up Celentano album Il ragazzo della via Gluck released in November 1966.The song was launched at the Sanremo Festival in 1966 with little success and was eliminated from competition after the first night. But it gained great favour with fans making it the best-known and most representative song of Celentano, with many autobiographical references; via Gluck was the street where he lived as a boy singer with the family, and eight years (...passano gli anni, ma 8 son lunghi.... meaning the years go by ... 8 long years....) is a reference to the top of Celentano's recording career from 1958 to 1966.
Adriano Celentano version "Quel Casinha"
In 2004 the singer rerecorded it with new lyrics as "Quel Casinha" in his album C'è sempre un motivo (meaning There's always a reason in English). The new text was sung in Creole with Cesária ÉvoraCesária Évora
Cesária Évora is a Cape Verdean popular singer. Nicknamed the "barefoot diva" for performing without shoes, Évora is perhaps the best internationally known practitioner of "morna."-Early life:...
in a mix of pop/jazz and rock.
Covers
In the same year of release, Giorgio Gaber recorded a cover version, that was published as an attachment to the Italian music magazine Pop. The first was 45 rpm in March 1966 containing "Il ragazzo della via Gluck/Dio come ti amo", and the second in June 1966 containing "Il ragazzo della via Gluck/Una casa in cima al mondo".Giorgio Gaber also released a take on the song named "La risposta al ragazzo della Via Gluck".
"Tar and Cement"
In 1966, the American singer Verdelle SmithVerdelle Smith (singer)
Verdelle Smith is a female pop singer from America who was a one-hit wonder with the song "Tar and Cement" in 1966. She currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.-Recording:...
sang an English version titled "Tar and Cement". The song was recorded in 1966 and was released in the United Kingdom. It was a one hit wonder for the artist. The song "Tar and Cement" was also recorded by Caroline Munro
Caroline Munro
Caroline Munro is an English actress and model known for her many appearances in horror, science fiction and action films of the 1970s and 1980s.-Early career:...
.
"Tar and Cement" made it to #1 in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and to #38 in the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
It was also #6 on "Keener 13", the renowned Detroit radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
WKNR
WDTW (AM)
WDTW is a Detroit-area radio station, operating at 1310 kHz with 5,000 watts. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications and airs mostly syndicated progressive talk radio programs....
for the week ending Monday June 27, 1966.
"Tar and Cement" was reproduced on a 2004 CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
, Girls Go Zonk: US Dream Babes reaching #30 in 2005 in Top 150 of Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
http://www.abc.net.au/centralqld/stories/s1475125.htm.
"Tar and Cement" was also a big hit for Joe Dolan
Joe Dolan
Joseph "Joe" Francis Robert Dolan was an Irish entertainer, recorder and singer of easy listening songs...
in Ireland.
"La maison où j'ai grandi"
It became a favourite song in FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
when covered by Eddy Marnay
Eddy Marnay
Eddy Marnay was a French songwriter. In his career, he wrote more than 100 songs, including works for Édith Piaf and Céline Dion. He also wrote the title song for Charlie Chaplin's 1957 film A King in New York....
with French lyrics as "La maison où j'ai grandi". Marnay translated the lyrics from Italian to French.
"La maison où j'ai grandi" was also performed more famously by Françoise Hardy
Françoise Hardy
Françoise Madeleine Hardy is a French singer, actress and astrologer. Hardy is an iconic figure in fashion, music and style. She is married to the singer and movie actor Jacques Dutronc.-Biography:...
and it appears on her album La maison où j'ai grandi
La maison où j'ai grandi (album)
La maison où j'ai grandi is a studio album of the French popular singer Françoise Hardy. It was released without title, except for the word Françoise on the cover, but has become known by the title of the most successful song on the album, "La maison où j'ai grandi".- Tracklist :Except as noted,...
. The album was released without title and is identified chiefly by the song it carries, its major success. Hardy had admired Celentano's autobiographical song "Il ragazzo della via Gluck" having seen him perform it at San Remo in January 1966.
Looking back at the song in 2004, she said she felt an emotion of sadness at the time she heard the song for her mother (an accountant's assistant), who had raised Françoise and her younger sister alone. The lyrics in French were reflection of her life she admitted: "Quand je me tourne vers mes souvenirs/ je revois la maison ou j'ai grandi./ Il me revient des tas de choses..."
"Lyckliga gatan"
The song enjoyed very similar popularity in SwedenSweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, when the singer Anna-Lena Löfgren
Anna-Lena Löfgren
Anna-Lena Löfgren was a Swedish singer from Stockholm. During the years 1962 and 1995, more than 40 of her songs made it onto Svensktoppen, the record chart of Sveriges Radio. Löfgren became one of the most best known schlager singers in Sweden during the 1960s.She made her first public...
sang it with Swedish language
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
lyrics as "Lyckliga gatan". It was released in 1967 and was certified gold in Sweden and platinum and diamond in Norway. It used the melody of the Italian song, but with completely different lyrics. According to Dagens Nyheter
Dagens Nyheter
is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It has the largest circulation of Swedish morning newspapers, followed by Göteborgs-Posten and Svenska Dagbladet, and is the only morning newspaper that is distributed to subscribers across the whole country. In 2009 DN had a circulation of 316,000, reaching 881...
, "under her lifetime she was able to perform the song thousands of times from various scenes.
"Immer am Sonntag"
Anna-Lena Löfgren built on her success in Sweden and Norway by recorded a German languageGerman language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
version of the song, as "Immer am Sonntag" becoming very successful in Germany, releasing tens of other German language songs.