Alice (Italian singer)
Alice ([ aˈliːtʃɛ ]; born September 26, 1954 in Forlì as Carla Bissi ) is an Italian pop singer . She won the Sanremo Festival in 1981 with the song Per Elisa .
Career
Already at the age of 17, Bissi released her first singles under her maiden name, which however remained unsuccessful - as did her first two albums La mia poca grande età (1975) and Cosa resta un fiore (1978), for which she used the pseudonym Alice Visconti used. Only the collaboration with the Cantautore Franco Battiato brought the breakthrough. The first joint album Capo Nord (1980) - now as Alice - was a small success. The single Il vento caldo dell'estate , which was released from it, became a surprise hit. With Per Elisa she won the Sanremo Festival in 1981 , the single reached number one on the Italian charts and sold half a million times. The success was repeated in many European countries (Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Holland, Belgium, Finland), where she became part of a wave of Italian pop and rock music together with artists such as Gianna Nannini , Loretta Goggi and Ricchi e Poveri . Two albums with rocked pop music, Per Elisa and Azimut, followed . Both albums were produced by Battiato. Her first self-produced album Falsi allarmi (1983) was less successful than its predecessor. She had her greatest success in Germany with Una notte speciale , which was ranked eighth among the best-selling singles of 1982; it was also recorded in a German version by Tony Holiday .
In 1984 she had two hit singles with duets. On the one hand, too close to the fire with the German singer Stefan Waggershausen , who became number one in the charts in Switzerland and Austria. On the other hand I treni di Tozeur , a renewed collaboration with Battiato, with whom she took fifth place in the 1984 Eurovision Song Contest . This was followed in 1985 by the album Gioielli rubati ("Stolen Jewels") with cover versions of Battiato songs. The album was particularly successful in France and Germany and the single from it, Prospettiva Nevski , reached chart positions in Italy and Austria, despite the very independent character of the piece.
From 1986 onwards, Alice increasingly wanted to implement her own ideas, even more introverted, personal and extremely interesting tone sequences. With each album new musical aspects were added. Influences from folk , new age , hip-hop , dance , electro , rock and other styles of music expanded her spectrum continuously. The first result of this "new artistic life" was the 1986 album Park Hotel , on which she a. a. worked with Tony Levin and Phil Manzanera . From this album comes the most beautiful, very melancholy-looking single Nomadi for interested Alice fans , with a 6-week chart placement in Germany, but not in Italy. During this time of musical reorientation, the success ratio tipped: Alice's popularity in Germany now almost exceeded that in Italy, where her following seemed to be waning. In 1987 she was awarded the “ Golden Europe ” of the Saarland Broadcasting Corporation . Her 1987 album Elisir with new, z. In some cases, significantly improved versions of their well-known titles, only reached lower chart positions in Germany.
By the late 1980s, Alice's commercial success waned, but her own quality continued to increase. Albums such as Il sole nella pioggia (1989) or Charade (1995) were largely ignored, although they were clearly influenced by the current music trends and are still released worldwide. Her involvement in the experimental ambient project Devogue also received no noteworthy response. In 2000 Alice took part in the Sanremo Festival again after 19 years , but the hoped-for commercial comeback did not materialize. Her title Il giorno dell'indipendenza landed in one of the lower ranks. In 2003 Viaggio in Italia came out - a kind of musical journey through Italian sensitivities. With songs like Auschwitz , she combines serious topics with harmonious pop sounds. Her excursions into demanding musical areas are also worth mentioning, for example when she gives guest performances with Pasolini texts or sings spiritual songs from her album God Is My DJ in churches . Her two most recent studio albums, Samsara, from 2012 and Weekend from 2014, and her live albums from 2013 and 2016, again enjoyed considerable success in Italy.
Discography
Albums
Studio albums
year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
IT | DE | AT | CH | |||
1981 | Alice / Per Elisa |
IT21 (5 weeks) IT |
DE16 (26 weeks) DE |
- | - | |
Capo North | - | - |
AT17 (2 weeks) AT |
- |
first published in 1980
|
|
1982 | azimuth |
IT15 (8 weeks) IT |
DE48 (5 weeks) DE |
- | - |
EMI
|
1983 | Falsi allarmi |
IT18 (5 weeks) IT |
DE49 (3 weeks) DE |
- | - |
EMI
|
1985 | Gioielli rubati |
IT19 (2 weeks) IT |
DE42 (15 weeks) DE |
AT12 (28 weeks) AT |
CH13 (11 weeks) CH |
EMI
|
1987 | Park Hotel | - |
DE34 (14 weeks) DE |
AT24 (4 weeks) AT |
CH21 (5 weeks) CH |
EMI
|
1988 | Elisir | - |
DE54 (6 weeks) DE |
- | - |
EMI
|
1989 | Il sole nella pioggia |
IT15 (6 weeks) IT |
- | - | - |
EMI
|
1995 | Charade |
IT33 (1 week) IT |
- | - | - | |
1998 | Exit |
IT25 (2 weeks) IT |
- | - | - |
WEA
|
2000 | Personal juke box |
IT37 (2 weeks) IT |
- | - | - |
WEA
|
2003 | Viaggio in Italia |
IT28 (4 weeks) IT |
- | - | - |
Well / noble
|
2012 | Samsara |
IT10 (6 weeks) IT |
- | - | - |
Arecibo
|
2014 | Weekend |
IT19 (4 weeks) IT |
- | - | - |
Arecibo
|
gray hatching : no chart data available for this year
More studio albums
- La mia poca grande età (as Alice Visconti; 1975)
- Cosa resta… un fiore (as Alice Visconti; 1978)
- Mélodie Passagère (1988)
- Mezzogiorno sulle Alpi (1992)
- God Is My DJ (1999)
Live albums
year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
IT | DE | AT | CH | |||
2009 | Lungo la strada Live |
IT34 (6 weeks) IT |
- | - | - |
EMI
|
2013 | Del suo veloce volo - Live / Arena di Verona |
IT7 (15 weeks) IT |
- | - | - | |
2016 | Live in Roma |
IT8 (13 weeks) IT |
- | - | - |
Universal
Battiato and Alice + Ensemble Symphony Orchestra |
Compilations (selection)
year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
IT | DE | AT | CH | |||
2011 | The Platinum Collection |
IT73 (1 week) IT |
- | - | - |
EMI
|
Singles
year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
IT | DE | AT | CH | |||
1980 | Il vento caldo dell'estate Capo Nord |
IT8 (12 weeks) IT |
- | - | - |
B-side: Sera
|
1981 |
Per Elisa Alice / Per Elisa |
IT1 (14 weeks) IT |
DE17 (19 weeks) DE |
AT4 (14 weeks) AT |
CH5 (7 weeks) CH |
B-side: Bael
|
1982 | Una notte speciale Alice / Per Elisa |
- |
DE7 (28 weeks) DE |
- | - |
B-side: Senza cornice
|
Messaggio azimuth |
IT6 (19 weeks) IT |
DE24 (17 weeks) DE |
- | - |
B-side: La mano
|
|
1983 | A cosa pensano azimuth |
- |
DE74 (1 week) DE |
- |
CH11 (3 weeks) CH |
B-side: Principessa
|
Chan-son égocentrique azimuth |
IT23 (2 weeks) IT |
- | - | - |
B-side: azimuth
|
|
Il profumo del silenzio Falsi allarmi |
IT16 (7 weeks) IT |
- | - | - |
B-side: Solo un'idea
|
|
1984 | Too close to the fire | - |
DE13 (18 weeks) DE |
AT1 (14 weeks) AT |
CH1 (12 weeks) CH |
|
I treni di Tozeur |
IT3 (17 weeks) IT |
- | - |
CH18 (6 weeks) CH |
with Franco Battiato
B-side: Le biciclette di Forlì |
|
1985 | Summer on a Solitary Beach Gioielli rubati |
- |
DE61 (2 weeks) DE |
- | - |
B-side: Mal d'Africa
|
Prospettiva Nevski Gioielli rubati |
IT20 (3 weeks) IT |
- |
AT15 (16 weeks) AT |
- |
B-side: Mal d'Africa or Luna Indiana
|
|
1987 | Nomadi Park Hotel |
- |
DE61 (6 weeks) DE |
- | - |
B-side: Segni nel cielo
|
2000 | Il giorno dell'indipendenza Personal Juke Box |
IT28 (1 week) IT |
- | - | - |
More singles
- Il mio cuore se ne va / Un giorno nuovo (as Carla Bissi; 1972)
- La festa mia / Fai tutto tu (as Carla Bissi; 1972)
- Il giorno dopo / Vivere un po 'morire un po' (as Carla Bissi; 1973)
- Io voglio vivere / Semper tu semper di più (as Alice Visconti; 1975)
- Piccola anima / Mondo a matita (as Alice Visconti; 1976)
- Un'isola / Alberi (as Alice Visconti; 1977)
- E respiro / Un fiore (as Alice Visconti; 1978)
- Carthago / Una sera di November (1983)
- Conoscersi / Volo di notte (1986)
- The Fool on the Hill / Il vento caldo dell'estate (1987)
- Visioni / Il sole nella pioggia (1989)
- In viaggio sul tuo viso (1992)
- Non ero mai sola (1995)
- Dammi la mano amore (1995)
- Open Your Eyes (with Skye by Morcheeba ; 1998)
- I am a taxi (1998)
- Come un sigillo (2004)
- Nata ieri (2012)
- Orientamento (2012)
- Tante belle cose (feat. Paolo Fresu ; 2014)
Web links
- Official website
- Alice at Rockol.it
- Alice at Discogs (English)
- Blog with regular information about concerts
supporting documents
- ↑ Golden Europe. In: Chronicle of the ARD . Retrieved November 20, 2017 .
-
↑ a b c Chart sources (albums):
- M&D chart archive. Musica e dischi , accessed on November 18, 2017 (Italian, paid subscription access).
- Guido Racca & Chartitalia: Top 100 FIMI album . Lulu , 2013, p. 67 .
- Alice albums. In: Italiancharts.com. Hung Medien, accessed November 18, 2017 (IT).
- Alice. In: Official German charts. GfK Entertainment, accessed on November 18, 2017 (DE).
- Alice albums. In: Austriancharts.at. Hung Medien, accessed November 18, 2017 (AT).
- Alice albums. In: Hitparade.ch. Hung Medien, accessed on November 18, 2017 (CH).
-
↑ Chart sources (singles):
- M&D chart archive. Musica e dischi, accessed on November 18, 2017 (Italian, paid subscription access).
- Alice. In: Official German charts. GfK Entertainment, accessed on November 18, 2017 (DE).
- Songs from Alice. In: Austriancharts.at. Hung Medien, accessed November 18, 2017 (AT).
- Songs from Alice. In: Hitparade.ch. Hung Medien, accessed on November 18, 2017 (CH).
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Alice |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Bissi, Carla (real name); Visconti, Alice (pseudonym) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Italian pop singer |
DATE OF BIRTH | September 26, 1954 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Forlì , Italy |