RGE singles

RGE (Radio Gravações Elétricas) pressed and distributed Italian records since its early days. In 1957, it realesed Teddy Reno's 'Piccolissima serenata' and has ever since stuck mainly with CGC (Compagnia Generale di Dischi).

RGE actual numbering system is CS-70.000 but I simplified to 000

036  -  Hot pastrami / Dartell stomp - The Dartells
045  -  Wipe out / Surfer Joe - The Surfaris (Dot)
055  -  Sugar shack / My heart is free - Jimmy Gilmer & the Fireballs (Dot)
070  -  Non ho l'età / Sei un bravo ragazzo  -  Gigliola Cinquetti  (CGD) 1964
108  -  Ciao, pussycat! / Adamo ed Eva (Once upon a time)  -  Luigi con Orch. Renato Angiolini

134  -  Ho bisogno di vederti / Grazie, amore  -  Gigliola Cinquetti (CGD) 1965
132  -  Lascia stà / Sono andato via  -  Ruperto Da Vinci
182  -  Un uomo che vale / Sempre  -  Gino Paoli (CGD)
185  -  Dio, come ti amo (San Remo '66) / Vuoi  -  Gigliola Cinquetti  (GCD)  -  1966
189  -  Nessuno mi può giudicare /(San Remo '66) Se lo dici tu  -  Caterina Caselli (CGD)

191  -  La carta vincente (San Remo '66) / La vita è un valzer - Gino Paoli (CGD)
225  -  L'uomo d'oro / Perdono - Caterina Caselli (CGD)
227  -  Wild thing / With a girl like you - The Troggs (Page One)
229  -  Se la vita è così / Con l'aiuto del tuo amore - Tony Del Monaco (CGD)

251  -  Il cammino di ogni speranza (San Remo '67) / Le biciclette bianche - Caterina Caselli - 1967
256  -  Un uomo, una donna / La musica è finita (Nisa-Califano-Bindi) - Ornella Vanoni (Ariston)
271  -  Sono bugiarda (I'm a believer) / Incubo no. 4  -  Caterina Caselli (CGD)
296  -  Bend me, shape me / Mindrocker - The American Breed  (Dot) 1968
299  -  Casa bianca / Serafino - Ornella Vanoni (Ariston)

308  -  Canção (Canzone) / Um homem chora só por amor (Un uomo piange solo per amore) - Walter Ney
317  -  Mony mony / One two three and I fell - Tommy James & the Shondells (Roulette) 1968
323  -  Quando sei triste prendi una tromba e suona / Finisce qui - Ornella Vanoni (Ariston) 1968
350  -  Just a dream ago (adapt. Puccini's 'Un bel di') / The measure of a man - Rita Moss (Dot)  1969

372  -  Crystal blue persuasion / I'm alive - Tommy James & the Shondells (Roulette) 1969
385  -  Ball of fire / Makin' good time - Tommy James & the Shondells (Roulette) 1969
353  -  Crisom and clover / I'm taken - Tommy James & the Shondells (Roulette) 1969
361  -  Sweet cherry wine / Breakaway - Tommy James & the Shondelss (Roulette) 1969

423  -  Lady D'Arbanville / I will survive - London 1970

Gigliola Cinquetti (070) won San Remo Festival with 'Non ho l'età' (Per amarti) which translates as 'I'm not old enough to love you'... and it was a world-wide hit. Brazil was not different from the rest.

Luigi (?) sings 'Ciao, pussycat!' (108) from 'What's new, pussycat?' backed with 'Adamo ed Eva' another Tom Jones' tune 'Once upon a time'

by the manly good looks of Luigi's it looked like he wanted to be the Italian version of Tom Jones.

'Ho bisogno di vederti' (134) was Gigliola 's entry at San Remo 1965. It was a non-event.

Ruperto Da Vinci (132) was pseudonym for Radio Bandeirantes DJ Helio Ribeiro, an Italophile who translated two Brazilian hits into Italian and recorded them himself.

Gino Paoli (182) had been in the forefront of the Italian invasion in early 1964 with 'Sapore di sale'. Now, that he had left RCA Italiana for CGD he was not as successful. 

Gigliola does it again in 1965: 'Dio, come ti amo' (185) wins San Remo and this time it is even bigger than 1964; the song becomes a black-and-white film that plays to crowded cinemas all around the country. 'Dio, come ti amo' as an EP release by RGE. It was originally released in 1965 but kept on selling for the rest of the decade due to the film's success among teenagers and romantic people in general. Brazilians fell in love with the movie 'Dio, come ti amo' released in April 1966 in Italy. It was constantly been shown some place in town. São Paulo is a big sprawling city which had dozens of movie theatres. If one wanted to watch 'Dio come ti amo' one would get a newspaper and look up the movie-house list... and one was bound to find it playing somewhere in the outskirts of town. That went on from 1967 to the mid-1970s.

Caterina Caselli (189) was the greatest sensation of San Remo '66. 'Nessuno mi può giudicare' (No one can pass judgement on me) had a little air-play but not enough to become a hit. Brazil's own Jerry Adriani recorded it (in Italian) for CBS which played more than the original.

'La carta vincente' (191) was Gino Paoli's entry to San Remo 1966. RGE released it on the strength of Paoli's name being popular, but it went nowhere. Italian hits were actually getting scarcer by the month. The novelty had worn off and competition from the local product and the Anglo-american power was irresistable. Soon RGE would turn to releasing singles with no sleeves, I mean, only those hideous 'standard' covers. As they say: all cats are grey in the dark. What a bore!

The Troggs (227) a British band with 'Wild thing' their 2 greatest hits.

Walter Ney (308) covers Don Backy's 'Canzone' (Canção) and  Little Tony's 'Un uomo piange solo per amore' from San Remo 1968.

Tommy James & the Shondells (317) with 'Mony mony' their greatest hit in Brazil. 

Extended-plays 

Teddy Reno's 'Piccolissima serenata' as an EP released by RGE in 1957; 'Piccolissima serenata' as an Italian 78 rpm.

Barclay's singles BARCS-1.0000 released through RGE

1001  -  Devi sapere (Il faut savoir) / Dammi i tuoi 16 anni (Donne tes 16 ans) - Charles Aznavour 

1002  -  Amore scusami / Non ti pentire mai - Dalida - 1965 

1003  -  Que c'est triste Venise / Avec - Charles Aznavour
1004  -  Il faut savoir / Et pourtant - Charles Aznavour
1005  -  La danse de Zorba / Tu n'as pas merite - Dalida
1007  -  Isabelle / Le toréador - Charles Aznavour
1008  -  Il silenzio / Le colline sono in fiore - Dalida
1009  -  C'est fini / Les deux guitares - Charles Aznavour

1016  -  Un homme et une femme / Celui que j'aime - Mireille Mathiéu
1018  -  Ciao, amore, ciao (Tenco) / Pensiamoci ogni sera - Dalida - 1967
1015  -  Bang bang / Sola più che mai (Strangers in the night) - Dalida
1020  -  Adieu a la nuit / Pour un coeur sans amour - Mireille Mathiéu
1023  -  Je suis que c'èst l'ètè / Les espagnols - Christophe - 1967
1026  -  La dernière valse (The last waltz) /  Un monde avec toi - Mireille Mathiéu 

1027  -  Canzone d'Aranjuez / L'ultimo valzer - Dalida

1030  -  Caroline / Emmenez-moi - Charles Aznavour - 1968 

1032  -  Dan dan dan / Amare per vivere - Dalida - 1968 

1033  -  J'ai gardé l'accent / La vieille barque - Mireille Mathiéu

Italian music was so popular in Brazil that even French acts like Aznavour would sing in Italian.

'Que c'èst triste Venise' (1003) was Charles Aznavour's greatest hit in Brazil.

'Il faut savoir' (1004) was first released in Italian; then Aznavour charted in French so RGE decided to give the original a go. 

'La danse de Zorba' (1005) was Dalida's greatest hit in Brazil.

'Isabelle' (1007) Charles Aznavour's follow-up to 'Venise' also went Top 5

Dalida (1008) sings 'Il silenzio' b/w 'Le colline sono in fiore' in Italian

'C'est fini' b/w 'Les deux guitares' (1009)

CHANTECLER-RICORDI singles

Chantecler started out as a Brazilian country music label in 1957. Then it branched out as a medium for boleros, guarânias, sambas and other popular rhythms. Three years later - 1961 - Chantecer had become a powerhouse, competing with multinationals the likes of RCA, Columbia, CBS and EMI. 

Chantecler signed with Ricordi Records, the second biggest Italian label coming just after RCA Italiana - to press and distribute its products. So it was only natural Chantecler came a strong second place in the Italian music scene in Brazil. 

I had always been a fan of RCA's acts - buying most of its compilation albums as soon as they were released. I had a neighbour called Laura who was 16 or 17. She was an orphan and lived with her mother and an older sister in a small house in the back of the place we lived at Vila Madalena. Laura bought Bobby Solo's 'Una lacrima sul viso' and one day she lent it to me. I thought the disc itself had a lower quality than those of RCA. On the other hand Chantecler always had better sleeves han RCA with a clear plastic to protect the picture-sleeve. 

I hardly ever bought singles because I thought it wasn't economic. One would pay half the price of an album and got only 2 songs instead of the 12 tracks of a long play.

Partial list of Italian singles - compactos-simples - release by Chantecler  1963-1969

6008  -  Quando, quando, quando / Vola colomba  -  Emilio Pericoli
6011  -  Una lacrima sul viso / Non ne posso più  -  Bobby Solo   1964 
6041  -  Blue è blu / Marrone  -  Bobby Solo
6056  -  Grazie tante (Glad all over) / C'è una cosa che non sai  -  Giorgio Gaber
6058  -  L' esercito del surf / Mi fai paura  -  Catherine Spaak
6063  -  Siamo pagliacci / Domani ti sposerai  -  Ornella Vanoni

6081  -  Chiedo pietà / Quando saprò che tu mi ami  -  Sergio Ruffo
6082  -  Tu si' na cosa grande / Ammore mio - Ornella Vanoni (Festival di Napoli '64) 
6091  -  Fais attention / Pinne, fucile ed occhiali  -  Pierre Wlady
6099  -  Cristina / In vita mia - Bobby Solo 

6100  -  Mi sono innamorato di te / Una brava ragazza  -  Luigi Tenco
6101  -  Se piangi, se ridi / Sarò un illuso  -  Bobby Solo  1965
6123  -  Se mi vuoi, mi vuoi / La nostra primavera  -  Catherine Spaak

6134  -  My girl / Shame and scandal in the family - Shawn Elliott (Roulette)  
6135  -  Artza alinu / Tzena, tzena, tzena, tzena / Papirossen - The Barry Sisters (Roulette)
6139  -  Io ritorno a casa mia / Perchè sei legata a me? - Paolo Mosca (Cantagiro '65)  

6140  -  Abbi pietà / Sono qui e sono solo - Gianni di Cristina (Cantagiro '65)

6142  -  Abbracciami forte / Non voglio più  -  Ornella Vanoni

6151  -  Evviva la felicità / Un giorno o l'altro tu piangerai  -  Mary Di Pietro
6169  -  Io ti darò di più / Splendore nell'erba  -  Ornella Vanoni   1966
6180  -  Ringo, dove vai? (Ringo, come to fight) / La casa del Signore (Crying in the chapel) - Bobby Solo
6181  -  Apro gli occhi per non vederti / Tu mi hai baciato l'altra sera  -  Ornella Vanoni

6192  -  Questa volta / Un mattino senza sole  -  Bobby Solo
6197  -  Io ho in mente te (You were on my mind) / Resta (Stay)  -  Equipe 84
6198  -  Un giorno se ne va / Chi mi aiuterà?  -  I Ribelli

6204  -  Senza fine / Non dirmi niente  -  Ornella Vanoni
6205  -  Josephine please no lean on the bell / A walking miracle - Shawn Elliott (Roulette) 
6206  -  Hanky panky / Thunderbolt - Tommy James & the Shondells (Roulette) - 1966
6208  -  Questo è il momento / Tutta la gente del mondo (Canfora-Wertmüller) - Ornella Vanoni

6213  -  Pippo non lo sa / Uno, due, tre se marci insieme a me  -  Rita Pavone 

6221  -  Canzone / La luna  (San Remo '68)  -  Milva
6230  -  Gli occhi miei (San Remo '68) / La tua città  -  Wilma Goich
6235  -  Siesta (Sesta) / A presto, ciao... ti amo  -  Bobby Solo
6250  -  Bang bang / Auschwitz  -  Equipe 84
6268  -  Il mondo nelle mani (Neon rainbow) / Il ballo dell' orso  -  Rita Pavone

6312  -  È dall' amore che nasce il uomo / 29 Settembre - Equipe 84 -  1967
6331  -  Dipingi un mondo per me (Colour my world) / Io non so cos'è - Milva 
6332  -  San Francisco / Peek a boo  -  Bobby Solo  

 Chantecler introduced a new numbering system in 1968

012-106 - M'ama non m'ama / Quando una stella cade (Cuando sali de Cuba) - Milva 
021-107 - Parlare con gli animali (Talk to the animals) / Niente di simile  -  Rita Pavone
021-105 - Nel ristorante di Alice / Un anno (No face, no name, no number) (Windwood-Capaldi) - Equipe 84 

021-112 - Come sempre / Nel sole, nel vento, nel sorriso e nel pianto - I Ribelli
021-117 - Nella mia stanza / Il grammofono  -  Rita Pavone
021-119 - Un sorriso / Amore tenero - Milva 
021-120 - Zucchero (San Remo '69) / Nostalgia  -  Rita Pavone   1969

021-126 - Perdona bambina/ Amo lei - Maurizio Vandelli 
021-124 - Tutta mia città / Cominciava così - Equipe 84 

Emilio Pericoli (6008) with 2 songs from a by-gone era. Maybe Chantecler released 'Vola colomba' due to Brazilian act Silvana having taken it to #1 in early 1964 as 'Pombinha branca'.

'Una lacrima sul viso' (6011) was a huge hit in Brazil too. It was barred from #1 only by Rita Pavone's 'Datemi un martello' onslaught.

'Blu è blu' (6041) a cover of Bobby Vinton's 'Blue on blue' was a poor follow-up to 'Una lacrima sul viso'; 'Marrone' (Brown) was Italians playing with colours...

'L'esercito del surf' (6058) with Belgian Catherine Spaak had some air-play. Wanderléa's cover 'Exército do surf' was included in her best selling album for CBS. 

'Siamo pagliacci' (6063) was indeed a remarkable single. It could not be considered a rock song by any standards... it sounds more like an aria out of a classical piece. Nonetheless it was often played by DJs Debora Duarte & Atilio Riccò in their teen-age half-hour at Radio Tupi in São Paulo. 'Domani ti sposi' is such a great ballad too... and a strange one at that... it describes the last night of a couple before he goes up and marries another woman.

(6082) Ornella Vanoni's entry at Festival di Napoli 1964: 'Tu si 'na cosa grande' b/w 'Ammore mio'.

(6091) Pierre Wlady's 'Fais attention' didn't have any air-play. Chantecler's Giane's cover titled 'Preste atenção' went up the charts in 1965 and so did Copacabana's Wanderley Cardoso's version of the same song. 

'Cristina' (6099) Bobby Solo's 3rd single played quite a bit on the radio. 

 Luigi Tenco's 'Mi sono innamorato di te' (6100) didn't have any air-play either. 

'Se piangi, se ridi' (6101) was the winner at San Remo in 1965. It went straight to #1 in Brazil too.

Belgian actrees-singer Catherine Spaak (6123) sings in Italian again. 

'Shame and scandal in the family' (6134) was banned in the USA but went to #1 in Brazil. Shawn Elliott visited S.Paulo & Rio in 1965.

(6135) The Barry Sisters a US duo sing in Yidish and Hebrew.

Paolo Mosca (6139) with 'Io ritorno a casa' from Cantagiro '65

Gianni di Cristina (6140) sings 'Abbi pietà' from Cantagiro 1965.

'Abbracciami forte' (6142) competed in San Remo '65. It had a little air-play until Copacabana's Wanderley Cardoso recorded as 'Abraça-me forte'. Then it became Wanderley's song. 

Mary Di Pietro (6151) had been with RCA Italiana before moving over to Ricordi. Mary visited São Paulo and Buenos Aires in April 1965 with a troupe made up of Riccardo del Turco, Giancarlo Guardabassi and others. This was Mary's only release in Brazil. Mary Di Pietro died tragically in a car accident returning to Rome in 27 September 1967 after a tour. She had been engaged to virtuoso guitarrist  Enrico Ciacci, rocker Little Tony's young brother.  

'Io ti darò di più' (6169) had some air-play in 1966. Moacyr Franco's cover 'Eu te darei bem mais' played a lot more than Ornella's original.

'Ringo, dove vai?' (6180) introduced Bobby Solo as a spaghetti-western singer. 

Ornella Vanoni (6181) was Chantecler-Ricordi's most prolific act. It seemed like the singles were released just for the sake of releasing them. I've never heard this song; Rio de Janeiro's daily 'Correio da Manhã' - 19 June 1966 - claims Ornella visited Rio but although she had a few invitations to sing she left without performing at any TV station of club. According to a Ricordi official Ms Vanoni would charge US$ 2.200 dollars for a 25-minute perfomance which was considered too expensive by the local managers. 

'Questa volta' (6192) had a fairly amount of air-play in São Paulo radio stations. 

Equipe 84 (6197) was Italian rock at its best... nevertheless they could not compete with the Anglo-american production. Only those who really loved Italian music, like myself, were conscious of such releases. They never reached the radio waves which incidentally were taken over by Brazilian indigenous rock aka Jovem Guarda which was at its peak in 1966. 

'Senza fine' (6204) was first released in Italy in September 1961. Chantecler released it in Brazil 5 years later. 'Senza fine' had been re-issued in Italy due to its being sung by Connie Francis in the sound-track of Robert Aldrich's 'The flight of the Phoenix'. The Brazilian B-side contained Burt Bacharach's 'Don't make me over' ('Non dirmi niente') which was translated into Portuguese as 'Não diga nada' and was a hit by Chantecler's own Joelma. 

this is the original 'Senza fine' 45 rpm released in Italy in September 1961.

(6205) Shawn Elliott kept on trying to repeat his 'Shame & scandal' with no avail. 

Tommy James & the Shondells (6206) with 'Hanky panky'

'Tutta la gente del mondo' (6208) was Studio Uno 1966's overture. But to Brazilians who could not watch Italian TV shows it meant absolutely nothing.

Rita Pavone (6213) left RCA Italiana for Ricordi Records in 1967. It was big news in Italy but ot so much in Brazil because Rita had been absent from the charts since 1965, even if she had a another breath of life in 1967, due to the release of 'Rita o mosquito' (Rita la zanzara) a film that did well in the cinemas. Rita's first single for Chantecler was a re-rash of a 1940s hit... from Mussolini's time. It didn't bode well for her at all. 

Milva's rendition of Don Backy's 'Canzone' (6221) was pretty good, but Brazilians were getting into the Anglo-american groove now...

Wilma Goich's San Remo entry 'Gli occhi mie' (6230) was also sung by RCA's Dino.

Bobby Solo's Italian cover of John Philips' 'San Francisco' (6332) was no match for Scott MacKenzie's perfect rendition.

'Siesta' (3235) was a minor hit by Bobby Solo in a time Italian music was getting less and less air-play.

(6268) Rita Pavone's 2nd offering at Chantecler was Box Tops' 'Neon rainbow'. Rita's rendition is okay but something original was expected from her... not a cover from a hit from a Memphis band.

Milva (6331) covers Petula Clark's 'Colour my world' (Dipingi un mondo per me).

Milva (21-106) sings 'M'ama non m'ama' in Neapolitan and does a cover of 'Cuando sali de Cuba'.

(21-107) Pavone's third offering at Ricordi was even more disappointing... a hit from 'Dr. Dolittle' a US children's movie. Rita Pavone was doing all the wrong things at the wrong times... She even became a blonde... and talked with animals. 

(21-117) Rita Pavone's 4th single for Ricordi was okay, but no more than okay. At least she stopped being a peroxide blonde.

(21-119) Milva with 'Un sorriso' which she sang at San Remo '69 b/w 'Amore tenero'.

(21-120) Rita Pavone who had never bothered being at San Remo when she was at RCA Italiana, now had to beg everyone's attention at such a lacklustre competion. Especially since Luigi Tenco shot himself in the head in 1967 because his song 'Ciao amore ciao' had been overlooked by San Remo's jury the competition lost any semblance of seriousness. 'Zucchero' was not a bad song but not good enough for someone like Rita who had recorded such classics as 'Cuore', 'Fortissimo', you-name-it. Don McLean once called 3 February 1959, the day the music died. I would say 27 January 1967, the day Luigi Tenco shot himself in the head was the day Italian music died!

some Chantecler-Ricordi extended-plays C-33-000 

585 - Novos sucessos de Emilio Pericoli  
Take me back to Cairo (Tornerò to Cairo) / Mary Rose (Rambling Rose) / Mandulinata blu / Apriesso a nu suono 

592 - Emilio Pericoli no Brasil (com Orquestra Chantecler, reg.: Francisco Moraes
Quando, quando, quando / Serenata da chuva (Gouveia-Amorim) / Vola colomba / Una notte così (Canfora-Verde) / Señora (Pallavicini- 

626 - Hit Parade in Italy - Giorgio Gaber, Gino Paoli, Sergio Endrigo & Bobby Solo 

Cosi felice (Giorgio Gaber)  / Devi sapere (Paoli) / I tuoi vent'anni (Endrigo) / Una lacrima sul viso (B.Solo)

638 - Penso a te - Catherine Spaak  - dalla colona-sonora di 'La calda vita'
Penso a te / Questi vent' anni miei / Non è niente / I giorni azzurri (L'ete deniere)

650 - World without love - The Jet Blacks
Money / World without love / Hippy hippy shake / Pretty girl everywhere

670 - The Jet Blacks no Festival de San Remo 65
Si  vedrà / Amici miei / Se piangi, se ridi / Non a caso il destino ci ha fatto incontrare / Prima o poi 

675 - Só sucessos - Bobby Solo
Una lacrima sul viso / Cristina / Blue è blue / Se piangi, se ridi

677 - La nostra vallata - Bobby Solo
Non chiedermi nulla / Non cercare scuse / La nostra vallata / Troverai

Novos Sucessos de Emilio Pericoli C-33-585

Emilio Pericoli no Brasil C-33-592 

'Hit Parade in Italy' (626)

Catherine Spaak (638) sings from 1964 film 'La calda vita'  

'World without love' (C-33-650) with Brazilian rock instrumental group The Jet Blacks

The Jet Blacks (670) play San Remo 1965.

'Só sucessos' (675)

Catherine Spaak.