Mia Martini

Mia Martini, the stage name of Domenica Rita Adriana Bertè, known as Mimì, was one of the finest voices in Italian pop music, blessed with a powerful vocal range and an interpretive ability that could fuse pain and passion, intensity and refinement.

Born on 20 September 1947 in Bagnara Calabra, the second child of Giuseppe Radames, a high school literature teacher, and Salvina Dato, a primary school teacher, Domenica Bertè, the future Mia Martini, spent her first fourteen years between Porto Recanati and Ancona, already singing in early childhood. She studied piano and classical dance, chose Paul Anka, performer of “You Are My Destiny”, as her first artistic role model, and earned her first applause at town-square festivals and amateur talent contests for new voices.

In practice, though, nothing significant came of it. Hence the idea of heading to Milan with her mother in search of a record deal. After many rejections, it was record producer Carlo Alberto Rossi — head of a label that also included belters Joe Sentieri and Jenny Luna — who believed in the young girl's potential. Her first record, released under the name Mimì Bertè, came out in '63: a 7-inch single featuring two covers, “I miei baci non puoi scordare” (“You Can Never Stop Me Loving You” by Ian Samwell) and “Lontani dal resto del mondo” (“I Want To Stay Here”, a hit for the duo Andy Williams and Edy Gorme), followed by a second single with “Insieme” (television with mum and dad).

Young audiences discovered her with her third single, “Il magone”, released in '64, which achieved solid sales, enough to convince the era's leading youth music monthly Tuttamusica to feature her in “La greffa”, a clan of up-and-coming talents: Mimì sported pigtails and pinafore dresses, looking every bit the yé-yé girl. That same year she recorded “Ed ora che abbiamo litigato”, a surf song in keeping with the fashion of the moment, which she performed on the hugely popular TV show Teatro 10, hosted by Lelio Luttazzi. This was also the last record she cut for Carlo Alberto Rossi's label.

Her first moment of magic, however, was destined to fade quickly. It would in fact be two years before she returned to the record market. On 30 June '66, the young singer recorded two new tracks for Durium, “Non sarà tardi” and “Quattro settimane”, making up a single intended for the summer season. Public interest was scant. For five years, from an artistic standpoint, she vanished completely.

Mimì had by then moved to Rome, to the area where in '67 the legendary Titan — the Piper's great rival — would open; she studied languages, attended an art-focused high school, and threw herself body and soul into jam sessions, revisiting the repertoire of great stars such as Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Julie Driscoll and Aretha Franklin with Toto Torquati's band. Big black shawls, heavy makeup, a serious, committed air — Mimì also went through an unpleasant brush with the law.

It was Patty Pravo's talent scout, Alberigo Crocetta, who noticed her exceptional vocal gifts at the Piper 2000 in Viareggio. Thus Mia Martini was born. “I chose the first name myself, thinking of Farrow, an idol of mine at the time,” she would later recount. “The surname was picked from a trio of famous Italian products that could also appeal to the international market: spaghetti, pizza and Martini. We settled on the last one.”

Thus was born Mia Martini, a non-conformist figure somewhere between freak and hippie, with a bowler hat, an alarm clock worn around her neck, and a ring through her nose.

Her first record was a hugely impactful single: two songs that sparked debate and brought her both positive and negative attention in equal measure. The first was the irreverent, hard-hitting “Padre davvero”; the other was “Amore… amore… un corno!”, written by a very young Claudio Baglioni, with whom she took part that year in the Cantagiro alongside his band La macchina.

While “Padre davvero” earned Mia victory at the first Festival della Musica d'Avanguardia e Nuove Tendenze in Viareggio at the start of summer '71, the song was on the other hand banned from radio airplay, due to its irreverent lyrics attacking the respectability of the traditional family, telling the story of a girl in generational conflict with her father. In fact, it was a line about the mother that caused the greatest uproar: “Di me era piena” (“She was full of me”), sings Mia, referring to a state of pregnancy.

Her first album for RCA, “Oltre la collina”, produced by Baglioni and Coggio, contains gems such as “Ossessioni”, “Lacrime di marzo”, “Prigioniero” (whose lyrics she wrote herself, recalling her time in prison) and “Amore amore un corno”: a genuine concept album that caught the attention of critics and stands as one of the finest records ever made by a female singer. The album, however, proved too musically advanced to earn her the recognition she was seeking at the time.

Having left RCA, Mia signed a new record deal, joining Ricordi and new collaborators such as Lauzi, Baldan Bembo and the La Bionda brothers: with “Piccolo uomo” came an immediate breakthrough at the 1972 Festivalbar, where she swept the competition, and in September she unveiled “Donna sola” at the Venice International Film Festival, a track dripping with blues that, at the time, only she seemed able to carry off with such intensity of delivery. Both songs quickly climbed the sales charts. Her second album, “Nel mondo una cosa”, followed, featuring standout tracks such as “Io straniera” (the Italian version of Elton John's “Border Song”), the exquisite Vinicius De Moraes gem “Valsinha”, and the aching “Amanti”, which within a few months climbed to the top of the charts and earned the record critics' award.

With “Minuetto”, written by Califano and Baldan Bembo, she won the 1973 Festivalbar, outshining her “rival” Marcella and reaching the top of the hit parade. It was her moment. With a new look — gypsy-style clothes, long hair styled in a tousled wave, and a whole arsenal of rings — in September she collected the “Gondola d'oro” in Venice for the sales of “Donna sola”, and released her third album, “Il giorno dopo”, in which, alongside two tracks that showcase her vocal range and expressiveness, “Guerriero” and “Bolero”, she also sings “Picnic” (a cover of Elton John's “Your Song”) and Manuel Serrat's “Signora”.

Maurizio Piccoli, Maurizio Fabrizio and Baldan Bembo were among her valued collaborators on the following album too, “È proprio come vivere”, from 1974, which yielded the fine single “Inno” and included other noteworthy tracks, among them the Aznavour-esque “Domani”.

In '75 she received the European Critics' Prize in Palma de Mallorca for the song “Nevicate”, won the Sorrisi e canzoni “Vota la voce” poll as best female singer of the year, and recorded “Sensi e controsensi” and “Un altro giorno con me”, her swan song for Ricordi, from whom she parted ways due to by-then irreconcilable differences.

In '76 she thus returned to the label that had relaunched her five years earlier, Rca, through a young, recently founded imprint, Come il Vento. "Che vuoi che sia… se t'ho aspettato tanto", both album and single, sealed this new artistic partnership. This marked the start of a fruitful relationship with Aznavour, which would lead her in '77 to the memorable concert at the Olympia: she appeared sophisticated, fully embodying the role of an Edith Piaf made in Italy.

The following year, the singer represented Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest, performing "Libera", a song that established her on the European market as well as in Canada and Japan. In Japan, she was invited to the prestigious Yamaha World Popular Song Festival in Tokyo as the sole Italian representative and took the win performing "Ritratto di donna", featured on the album "Per amarti", which already bears the touch of Ivano Fossati, alongside a cover of "Somebody To Love" by Queen.

In '78 came the turning point with "Danza". Her meeting with Ivano Fossati gave rise to a partnership destined to last for several years. The Genoese musician gave Mia, among other things, a splendid "Vola" and an album of real substance. Mimì traded the sequins of the Olympia for a sleek look — glasses, long wavy hair, yellow boots — a nod to the "child-like rock" of her artistic and romantic partner. Particularly striking on the interpretive level is the dramatic "La costruzione di un amore".

After three years of impasse, Mia returned to the fray with short hair, masculine-cut jackets, and an album written by singer-songwriter "Mimì" and recorded with the small label DDD. Worthy of note are "E ancora canto", "Sono tornata" and the splendid "Del mio amore".

In '82 she took on the Sanremo stage, she who ten years earlier had sworn she only felt at home at events like Gondola d'oro and Festivalbar. She gave it a shot with "E non finisce mica il cielo", and it was the journalists' jury who honored her, creating the "critics' award" for her, moved by her vibrant performance.

That same year saw the release of "Quante volte ho contato le stelle", an album skillfully produced by Shel Shapiro, featuring the autobiographical "Stelle" and the intense "Bambolina", both written by Martini herself.

The following year she had fun delivering her first live album, "Miei compagni di viaggio" (1983), in which she revisits, among others, the repertoire of great songwriters such as Fabrizio De André, Leonard Cohen, Luigi Tenco, Francesco De Gregori, John Lennon, Randy Newman (one of the songwriters she loved most) and Jimi Hendrix.

Her last recording for DDD is "Spaccami il cuore" by Paolo Conte, released as a 45rpm single and presented in 1985 at the Sanremo Festival, where however the juries rejected it at the preselection stage. For Mimì it was a real collapse: she decided to drastically cut ties with the record industry and withdrew from the scene.

She vanished from the scene for a full 4 years, and it took the magic touch of Lucio Salvini — who had moved to Fonit, her "guardian angel" during her Ricordi years — to convince her to make a grand comeback in 1989 at Sanremo. Lauzi and Fabrizio had been holding the right song for her in a drawer for years, and with "Almeno tu nell'universo", Mimì caused a general shock, landed a new critics' award, and also produced a successful album, "Martinimia", which drew heavily on the repertoire of rising Neapolitan star Enzo Gragnaniello ("Donna" the lead single, along with other standout performances, "Notturno" and "Formalità"). She was named performer of the year at the Premio Tenco.

She was now in her "third life", dressed in Armani and with a repertoire closer to the mainstream festival crowds. New albums, concerts, jazz showcases, and TV appearances restored her role as an absolute leading figure on the Italian pop scene. In 1990 she scored her third "Critics' Award" with "La nevicata del '56", written by Califano-Vistarini-Lopez, and released the album "La mia razza", featuring striking ethnic celebrations ("Danza pagana" above all).

In '92 notable moments included her announced Sanremo win missed by a hair (runner-up behind Luca Barbarossa) with "Gli uomini non cambiano" (penned by the celebrated Florentine duo Bigazzi-Dati), fourth place at the Eurovision Song Contest with "Rapsodia", success alongside Murolo and Gragnaniello on the inspired "Cu 'mme", and the theatrical tour "Per aspera ad astra", in which she retraced the most meaningful moments of her career.

'93 was not a lucky year for Mimì: the Sanremo happening-duet with her sister Loredana on "Stiamo come stiamo" did not achieve the hoped-for results, and "Vieneme" didn't seem to have the winning edge to repeat the success with Murolo and Gragnaniello.

'94 brought the "Festival italiano" with "Viva l'amore" and an album of covers of great Italian songwriters, De André and Fossati above all (then Vasco Rossi, Zucchero, the Bennato brothers, Dalla, De Gregori) titled "La musica che mi gira intorno". "Hotel Supramonte", "Mimì sarà" and the feisty "Dillo alla luna" and "Tutto sbagliato Baby" were the real hits. It is her last masterpiece.

On TV, on "Papaveri e papere", she duetted with rising star Giorgia and thrilled the audience. In the final episode, Barbara Cola and Spagna watched in awe at her breathtaking rendition of "La voce del silenzio", a signature song of Dionne Warwick and Mina.

A year later, on May 12, '95, her song of love came to an end. Her final journey is... Oltre la collina.

NOTES

Over the years, Mia Martini sang the best of the Italian songwriting repertoire, as well as that of the most important foreign songwriters. Starting with her very first album, "Oltre la collina", the Calabrian singer recorded several songs by a very young Claudio Baglioni: "Lacrime di marzo", "Gesù è mio fratello", "Amore… amore… un corno!". On the same album she covered Cat Stevens ("Nel rosa", originally "Into White"), the Tokens, former backing group for Neil Sedaka ("The Lion Sleeps Tonight"), and Nina Hart ("Taking Off", which became "Ossessioni"). One of the songwriters most featured in her repertoire was undoubtedly Ivano Fossati, who also produced some of her work. Among his songs, we should mention "La costruzione di un amore", "Vola", "Danza", "E non finisce mica il cielo", as well as her covers of "La canzone popolare", "I treni a vapore" and "La musica che gira intorno". Bruno Lauzi was also important to Mia's repertoire — it was in fact a Lauzi song, "Piccolo uomo", that brought Mia to success. Likewise, 17 years later, "Almeno tu nell'universo" helped relaunch the singer's career after years of artistic silence. Also by Lauzi are, among others, "Donna sola", "Neve bianca" and "Per amarti".

Antonello Venditti gave her "Ma quale amore", while the delicate Riccardo Cocciante appears in Mia's output with "Da capo" (also recorded by Mina) and "L'equilibrista". Franco Califano wrote two other major hits for her, "Minuetto" and "La nevicata del '56".

The repertoire of Luigi Tenco was also revisited by the singer, who recorded her own versions of "Un giorno dopo un altro" and "Vedrai vedrai". From Fabrizio De André we find "Il pescatore", "Hotel Supramonte" and "Fiume Sand Creek", while from Francesco De Gregori come "Alice" and "Mimì sarà".

Among the other songwriters interpreted by Mia was also a young Umberto Tozzi (not yet known to the wider public) with "Io ti ringrazio", recorded in '75, Mango ("Se mi sfiori"), Gianni Bella ("Nuova gente"), while the former Premiata Forneria Marconi member Mauro Pagani (together with Gian Gilberto Monti) wrote "La mia razza". Amedeo Minghi, meanwhile, gave Mia "Ma sono solo giorni". Several years later, the singer revisited another Minghi song, "La musica", which became "Io e la musica". The Conte brothers (Giorgio and Paolo) composed for her, respectively, "Agapimu" and the refined "Spaccami il cuore".

Other important songwriters were also revisited, among them: Lucio Battisti ("Pensieri e parole" and "Nel sole, nel vento, nel sorriso e nel pianto", in a jazz version with Maurizio Giammarco), Pino Daniele ("Gente distratta"), Zucchero ("Diamante"), Lucio Dalla ("Stella di mare"), Edoardo Bennato ("Tutto sbagliato, baby") and Vasco Rossi ("Dillo alla luna"). In her final body of work, Enzo Gragnaniello became one of the singer's favorite songwriters, responsible for major songs such as "Donna", "Statte vicino a me" and "Cu 'mmè". Enrico Ruggeri, who for the occasion collaborated with Dodi Battaglia of Pooh, wrote "Domani più su" for the album "La mia razza".

Biagio Antonacci is represented by "Il fiume dei profumi", included on the album "Lacrime".

Other songwriters who contributed compositions to the artist at various points in her career included Maurizio Piccoli, Mimmo Cavallo, Dario Daldan Bembo, Maurizio Fabrizio, and lyricists such as Luigi Albertelli and Giancarlo Bigazzi. The roster of foreign songwriters is also substantial, including: John Lennon with "Mother" (translated into Italian by Martini herself under the title "Madre"), the Beatles with "Come Together", Vinicius De Moraes and Chico Buarque De Hollanda ("Valsinha"), Freddie Mercury ("Somebody To Love"), Elton John ("Border Song" and "Your Song", which became, respectively, "Io straniera" and "Picnic"), and then also Randy Newman, Manuel Serrat, Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Kate Bush, Leon Russell and Cole Porter.

Mia Martini herself was often the writer or translator of her own songs, in addition to making "Mimì", an entire album in her capacity as a singer-songwriter. Few perhaps know that Mia Martini also contributed to albums by fellow artists, often without being credited on the record. As early as 1970, while recording the album "Oltre la collina", RCA asked her, together with her sister Loredana, to provide backing vocals on Chico Buarque De Hollanda's album "Per un pugno di samba". She repeated the experience four years later on "Samba do Brasil", with songs by Vinicius De Moraes, Jorge Ben, Toquinho and others.

As a backing vocalist, Mia also sang on many albums by Loredana Bertè ("T.I.R." and "Traslocando" among them), on Ornella Vanoni's "Uomo mio, bambino mio", as well as, it seems, on Eros Ramazzotti's "Terra promessa".

As a solo voice, we should note her appearance on Sergio Endrigo's "Canzoni venete" (1976), Ivano Fossati's "La casa del serpente" (1977), Mimmo Cavallo's "Siamo meridionali" and "Stancami stancami musica" (in 1980 and 1982 respectively), Enzo Gragnaniello's "Fujente" and "Veleno, mare e amore" (the former in 1990, the latter two years later), and Claudio Baglioni's "Oltre" (1990), on which she duetted on "Stelle di stelle". Together with other fellow artists, she also took part in the charity project "Per te Armenia". With Roberto Murolo, besides the well-known "Cu 'mmè", she can be heard on "'O marinariello" (1992), "Vieneme" and "Te voglio bene assaje" (1993). Exclusively for the soundtrack of the film "Porca società", she recorded the song "Tu no", written by Pippo Caruso to lyrics by Sergio Bardotti. Her final vocal appearance was on an anthology dedicated to the 1994 television show "Viva Napoli". On that occasion she performed a captivating, highly personal version of the Neapolitan classic "Luna rossa".

(Source: Chez Mimì, official Mia Martini website)