Riccardo Del Turco
Riccardo Del Turco is an Italian singer-songwriter and record producer, best known for the song "Luglio".
Life and career
Born in Fiesole, at young age Del Turco started studying composition and singing, and in 1957 he entered the Riccardo Rauchi Orchestra. Noted by producer during a concert in Cortina d'Ampezzo, in 1962 he was put under contract by RCA.After some poorly received singles that Del Turco co-wrote with established composers such as Gino Paoli, Sergio Endrigo and Gianni Meccia, he got his first hits in 1966 with "Figlio unico", a cover of Adoniran Barbosa's "Trem das Onze", and in 1967 with "Uno tranquillo". In 1968, he got his major hit with "Luglio", which topped the Italian Hit Parade Singles Chart for two weeks in July 1968, selling over 500,000 copies. "Luglio"'s tune was marketed across Europe and was covered by The Tremeloes, Herman's Hermits, Joe Dassin, and. In 1969, he took part in the Sanremo Music Festival with "Cosa hai messo nel caffè", but the song and the following singles failed to repeat the success of "Luglio", and led to Del Turco's decision of semi-retiring in 1973, to devote himself to managing a bar in Florence.
Del Turco made a comeback in the early 1980s, participating in two editions of the Sanremo Music Festival, in 1982 with "Non voglio ali" and in 1984 with "Serena alienazione", and then co-founding the group Superquattro, together with Jimmy Fontana, Nico Fidenco and Gianni Meccia.
Also active as a songwriter for other artists, Del Turco wrote songs for Andrea Bocelli, Mina, Ornella Vanoni, Patty Pravo, and Riccardo Fogli, among others.