Gianni Meccia


Giovanni "Gianni" Meccia was an Italian composer, singer-songwriter, record producer and actor. He was often associated with Jimmy Fontana.

Life and career

Born in Ferrara, in 1950 Meccia moved to Rome to pursue an acting career, eventually only getting some bit roles in some RAI TV series.
An autodidact guitarist specialized in composing black humorous and nonsense songs, he was first noted by lyricist Franco Migliacci and later by Mario Riva, and had his breakout in 1959 with the song "Odio tutte le vecchie signore", which he launched in the Riva's popular music show Il Musichiere. In 1960 he reached the height of his popularity thanks to the hits "Il barattolo" and "Il pullover". In 1961 he took part in the eleventh edition of the Sanremo Music Festival with "Patatina", and had a good success with "Cha-cha dell'impiccato", a duet with his friend and frequent collaborator Jimmy Fontana.
In the following years Meccia gradually focused on composing, writing songs for Mina, Domenico Modugno, Patty Pravo, Rita Pavone, Nilla Pizzi, Cher ; he got his major success as a composer with the song "Il mondo", brought to success by Jimmy Fontana. In 1970 he co-founded with Bruno Zambrini and directed the record label Pull, with whom he launched the career of the glam-pop group I Cugini di Campagna. In the early 1980s the label closed and Meccia reprised his singing career as a member of the group Superquattro, together with Fontana, Nico Fidenco and Riccardo Del Turco.
Meccia died on 9 April 2024, at the age of 92. His death wasn't made public until August of that year.

Filmography

Actor

Moana, Virgin of the Amazon Ragazzi del Juke-Box as GianniNel blu dipinto di blu as PlainclothesmanHowlers in the Dock as Gianni aka SatanaIo bacio... tu baci as The Singer with a grey PulloverEighteen in the Sun Canzoni in... bikini as HimselfDjurado as Ricky - Guitar Player

Composer

Io bacio... tu baci Girl with a Suitcase
  • ''Sentivano uno strano, eccitante, pericoloso puzzo di dollari''

Singer

Io bacio... tu baci