The turn of the century saw an even mix of old and new as established Italian music acts sat side by side with upcoming talent in the charts. John Bensalhia lends an ear to the Italian music of the Noughties...
[Read Part 1 - the 1950s here; Part 2 - the 1960s here; Part 3 - the 1970s here; Part 4 - the 1980s here; Part 5 - the 1990s here.]
And so the new millennium dawned. The fireworks exploded in the air. The wine flowed freely. The anticipation drew in as to what this new age would hold.
Musically though, the first decade of the 21st century revisited its past like never before. For one thing, many of the big acts to have graced the Italian charts in the past were back with a vengeance. In fact, some of the acts returning to top the Italian singles and album charts had history right back to the 1960s. Singer Mina, for example, enjoyed a chart renaissance in the mid-Noughties with chart-topping LPs, Bula Bula (2005) and Todavia (2007). The band Pooh were back for a chart-topping spell in 2004 with their Ascolta album. Adriano Celentano was back for more too, enjoying a great start to the new millennium chart-wise with two number one LPs – Esco di rado e parlo ancora meno held court in both 2000 and 2001. In 2002, he returned to the top of the album charts with Per sempre.
Many of the familiar faces from the 1980s and 1990s continued to do spectacularly well, with acts like Zucchero, Vasco Rossi and Eros Ramazzotti scoring the bullseye on both the singles and album charts. Zucchero reached pole position in 2001 with his song Baila, although the album charts welcomed him with open arms, thanks to high sellers such as Shake, Zu And Co, and a compilation rounding up his greatest hits to date in 2007, All The Best. Rossi saw his musical career go from strength to strength in the Noughties with albums such as Stupido hotel, Buoni o cattivi and Tracks. An extended play of Rossi's saw an extended stay in the Italian singles charts in 2007, with a destination of the Number One spot.
Meanwhile, Eros Ramazzotti also enjoyed immense success in the Noughties, scoring the top spot on both album and singles charts. The likes of 9 and Calma Apparente were big sellers for Eros, while he made Number One with songs such as La nostra vita and I Belong To You (which was a duet with Anastacia). Jovanotti, too, returned to pole position with well-received singles and albums. 2002 and 2008 proved to be vintage years for Jovanotti, with the former including the single Salvami and the album Lorenzo 2002 – while the latter included the A te single and the Safari album. Gianna Nannini was another act from the past to ring in the success in the new millennium with both Grazie (2006) and a hits package GiannaBest (2008) reaching the top of the album charts.
The new millennium also echoed the past in that singing competitions could provide the right talent with a shot at hitting the charts. The ever-popular Sanremo Festival continued to be a source of burgeoning new talent, although there were even more contests arriving on the scene. Thanks to the global trend for promoting talent shows such as Pop Idol or The X Factor, Italy also screened its own versions of these. And with that in mind, it was inevitable that these types of shows were in tune with the Italian charts. Lollipop, for example, won the Popstars show in the early days of the 2000s. The girl group comprised Dominique Fidanza, Marcella Ovani, Marta Falcone, Roberta Ruiu and Veronica Rubino. In 2001, their debut single Down Down Down made an instant impression and raced to the top of the singles charts, selling more than 100,000 in only a month. Further singles from their debut album Popstars also did well, with Don't Leave Me Now and When The Rain scoring more chart hits.
Their performance at the Sanremo Festival of 2002 received mixed feedback, although it didn't harm the performance of their accompanying song, Batte Forte, which sold more than 50,000 copies. Regrettably, Lollipop found that the pop world could sometimes be a fickle place to be, since their second album Together didn't sell as well as hoped. Following this, they split up – but over a decade later, there was a silver lining in the tale, as they reformed for a new tour and a new single called Ciao (Reload).
The first Italian version of The X Factor included singer Giusy Ferreri. Although she narrowly missed out on the prize, she found greater consolation with a string of hits in the charts. Her first single Non ti scordar mai di me remained at the top of the charts for over 10 weeks, while Novembre, Stai Fermo lì and La Scala were also prime movers in the charts in 2008. The Gaetana album housed all of the singles and was a monster hit in Italy (selling 500,000). Total worldwide sales have been at around 600,000 for this album. Ferreri's next album saw a slight change of pace, with a selection of cover versions of a diverse spread of acts such as Nick Drake, Luigi Tenco and Billie Holliday. The winners of 2008's X Factor, Aram Quartet, didn't fare quite as well in the charts, with only Chi (Who) making a significant impression on the Italian charts. The 2009 winner Marco Mengoni enjoyed a greater bout of instant success with both his Dove Si Vola single and EP selling very well.
The Noughties carried on the major trend of the singer in the Italian charts. One such singer to enjoy even bigger success in the 2000s was Elisa. Elisa had already made a name for herself in the late 90s. Having recorded her debut album, the quadruple platinum Pipes And Flowers, she came up with the Asile's World album in 2000 (Asile being Elisa backwards), featuring work with the likes of Howie B and Leo Z. She also collaborated with Zucchero on her first song in Italian, Luce – the renowned legend wrote the lyrics with Elisa. By 2001, Then Comes The Sun, a winning combination of pop and rock, had established Elisa as a major player in the charts. Her talent had been recognised by the likes of Pavarotti (who invited her to perform with him on stage) and acclaimed producer Glen Ballard, who helmed Elisa's Pearl Days. Having masterminded Alanis Morrisette's Jagged Little Pill, Pearl Days unsurprisingly had a harder edge than earlier works. Her 2005 single Una poesia anche per te was taken from the album and was one of the huge hits of that year. Other successful singles of the decade included Swan and a duet with Tina Turner, Teach Me Again. The end of the decade proved that Elisa was still as popular as ever as Heart pulsed its way to the top of the album charts (her first studio LP to reach the top). It was also a critical success, attracting favourable comments from the press.
Another female singer to enjoy a run of continual chart success was Giorgia. The previous decade unleashed her strong, powerful voice on the Italian public and they responded warmly to her distinctive brand of soul, jazz, pop and rock. Her career started at Sanremo when her performance of E poi immediately attracted attention. A second appearance at the Sanremo Festival the following year timely spurred her album Come Thelma e Louise to sell more than 300,000 copies. The next couple of albums, Mangio troppa cioccolata and Girasole saw Giorgia opt for a less ballad-heavy sound and instead choose faster paced poppy, R&B sounds. Her chart appearances had caught the eyes of some of the global rock and pop stars, and in 2000, she appeared with the likes of former Doobie Brother Michael McDonald, and soul legends Lionel Richie and Ray Charles. The following year saw Di sole e d'azzurro just miss out on the top spot on the singles charts, although 2002's Greatest Hits collection was a timely round-up of her chart successes up to that date. New material came the following year with Ladra di Vento and chart hits such as Spirito libero and Gocce di Memoria. Following an unplugged style album, 2007's Stonata was another success for Giorgia – it included a collaboration with Italian music legend, Mina called Poche Parole. And a further collaboration, this time with Gianna Nannini, would see her score another big hit in 2009 with Salvami.
Anna Tatangelo enjoyed a run of success in the 2000s. In 2002, she was the youngest act to win a Sanremo Newcomer award at only 15 years of age. She would return to the festival in future years, which would coincide with the start of a run of hits, both in the singles and album charts. Mai dire mai was one such success, selling 130,000 and achieving Platinum status. Not only did it reach Number 6 in the Italian charts, it also made an impression on the Billboard Hot 100 Albums of Europe. Nel mondo delle donne continued the success, selling 100,000 in the space of a month. It included the singles, Profumo di mamma and Rose Spezzate.
Male singers were also striking chords with the Italian record buying public. Singer songwriter Francesco Renga's albums were to grow in popularity over the decade. 2002's Tracce and 2004's Camere con vista both hit the Top 10, but it was 2007's Ferro e cartone that provided him with his first chart-topping LP. Renga's victory at the 2005 Sanremo Festival also stood him in good stead as the winning song, Angelo raced to the peak of the singles charts in March of that year.
Tiziano Ferro enjoyed success both in Italy and abroad. His opening bid for pop stardom met with applause from his homeland as well as the likes of Spain, Austria and the Netherlands as Perdono topped the charts. Ferro latched onto the success in Spain as he recorded specially recorded Spanish versions of his albums Rosso relativo and 111 centoundici. 2007's album Nessuno è Solo, a more introspective and reflective work, was to prove to be just as successful. It included the Italian Number One single, Stop! Dimentica, and this success was cemented by 2008's Alla mia età proved to be the best selling LP of the following year. Ferro's songwriting skills were also showcased on Giusy Ferreri's chart topper Non ti scordar mai di me.
It wasn't just solo acts spearheading the charts in the 2000s though. Sometimes it took two, as Zero Assoluto proved. Comprising Thomas De Gasperi and Matteo Maffucci, Zero Assoluto achieved pop and rock fame in the middle of this decade. 2005's Semplicemente saw them at Number Two in the Italian singles chart, although the following year, they would crack the case twice with Svegliarsi la mattina and Sei parte di me. The same year they collaborated with Nelly Furtado on the Italian version of her Loose album. Zero Assoluto contributed to the Italian version of All Good Things, and they later performed with Nelly at the 2007 Sanremo festival. Nelly would return the favour by appearing on a version of their song Appena prima di partire.
The bands were also having their say in the charts. Le Vibrazioni's style of pop and rock sat well the record buyers, introducing themselves with 2003's Platinum status single Dedicato a te. The band's eponymous album was popular, not only selling more than 300,000, but containing a host of hummable hits such as In una notte d'estate and Vieni da me. Further albums were also received well by their burgeoning fanbase – 2005's Le Vibrazioni 2, 2006's Officine Meccaniche and 2008's En Vivo. Turin-based Italian rock Subsonica were also to enjoy considerable album success following a barnstorming performance at Sanremo at the turn of the century. Their albums included 2002's Amorematico, 2005's Terrestre and 2007's L'Eclissi. And although they started out as alternative rocksters, Negramaro were to subtly weave more accessible pop and rock elements into their repertoire. Following 2003's self-titled debut album and 2004's 000577 (which included some reworked versions of earlier songs), their Mentre Tutto Scorre proved to be the breakthrough that they wanted. It hit the Top 3 and went 6x Platinum. Subsequent albums proved that they were very much in favour, and with the likes of the Live At San Siro and La Finestra albums performing superbly, they matched this success with a Number One song in 2008 called Meraviglioso.
The first decade of the 21st century saw the Italian charts embrace both old and new in equal measures. Next time, I'll be bringing things up to date with a look at the notable Italian music of the 2010s so far.
