Umberto Balsamo

Umberto Balsamo (born March 10, 1942 in Catania ) is an Italian cantautore .

Career

Balsamo learned guitar as a teenager and moved to Milan in 1964 , where he met the songwriter Luciano Beretta , with whom he wrote the song La prima lettera d'amore for Orietta Berti . In 1968 he was signed to Ricordi as a songwriter and subsequently wrote a. a. Songs for Milva , Mal , Peppino di Capri , and Domenico Modugno . He also tried his hand at the Ri-Fi label under the pseudonym Bob Nero as an interpreter, but his first single Il mio cuore riposa / Tutte was completely ignored.

Success as a soloist came for Balsamo in 1972 when he took part in the Un disco per l'estate competition , where he competed with Se fossi diversa . The following year he wrote three songs at the Sanremo Festival , all of which made it to the finals: he sang Amore mio himself, Dolce frutto Ricchi e Poveri and Tu, nella mia vita Wess and Dori Ghezzi . After another Un disco per l'estate , Balsamo reached the top three of the charts for the first time in 1974 with Bugiardi noi . In 1975 (again as part of the competition) he published Natalì , which went unnoticed in Italy, but was covered several times abroad , for example by Shirley Bassey . With L'angelo azzurro the musician was able to land a number one hit in 1977 , Balla (1979) was also a success.

After that only a few singles by Balsamo appeared, in 1988 he again had three contributions as an author at the Sanremo Festival: Nun chiagnere (Peppino di Capri), Nascerà Gesù ( Ricchi e Poveri ) and Italia ( Mino Reitano ). His own publications over the next few decades went relatively unnoticed and in 2005 he moved back to his hometown of Catania.

Discography (selection)

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)	Remarks
		IT
1974	Passato presente futuro	IT23 (3 weeks) IT	Polydor
1977	Malgrado tutto ... l'angelo azzurro	IT12 (16 weeks) IT	Polydor
1978	Crepuscolo d'amore	IT14 (8 weeks) IT	Polydor

• Natalì  (Polydor, 1975)
• Balla  (Polydor, 1979)
• Pianeti  (Polydor, 1980)
• Mai più  (Fonit Cetra, 1982)
• Respirando la notte luna (1990)
• Un pugno nella notte (1992)

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)	Remarks
		IT
1972	Se fossi diversa Passato presente futuro	IT24 (1 week) IT	Las Vegas, LVS 1057 B-side: Cosa vuoi mai pensare a poi
1974	Bugiardi noi Passato presente futuro	IT3 (20 weeks) IT	Polydor, 2060 070 B-side: Conclusioni
1977	L'angelo azzurro Malgrado tutto ... l'angelo azzurro	IT1 (23 weeks) IT	Polydor, 2060 141 B-side: Malgrado tutto
1978	Crepuscolo Crepuscolo d'amore	IT20 (4 weeks) IT	Polydor, 2060 170 B-side: Amore
1979	Balla Balla	IT4 (14 weeks) IT	Polydor, 2060 203 B-side: Donna

• Il mio cuore riposa / Tutte  (Ri-Fi, RFN-NP 16292; 1968, as Bob Nero)
• Piangerei / Non sei dolce non sei bella  (Dischi Ricordi, SRL 10585; 1971)
• Amore mio / Quando parlo con te  (Polydor, 2060 048; 1973)
• O prima, adesso o poi / In un negozio di giocattoli  (Polydor, 2060 082; 1974)
• Natalì / Volente o nolente  (Polydor, 2060 094; 1975)
• Se ... / Pace  (Polydor, 2060 112; 1976)
• Il giorno / Celestina  (Polydor, 2060 224; 1980)
• Mai più / Vivi come vuoi  (Fonit Cetra, SP 1776; 1982)
• Io vivrò / L'estate  (WEA, 24 9388-7; 1984)
• Favole / Cavalieri  (L'angelo Azzurro; 1985)

Web links

• Works by Umberto Balsamo in the catalog of the German National Library
• Official website (Italian)
• Umberto Balsamo at Rockol.it (Italian)

supporting documents

1. ↑ ^{a b} M&D chart archive. Musica e dischi , accessed on November 14, 2017 (Italian, paid subscription access).