Background
Tenor Claudio Villa was born Claudio Pica in the Trastevere quarter of Rome in 1926.
Tenor Claudio Villa was born Claudio Pica in the Trastevere quarter of Rome in 1926.
He recorded over 3000 songs, sold 45 million records, and appeared in 25 musicals during his career. Many songs made famous by Villa, like ""A Tazza "East Cafe"," were recorded for the Fonit-Cetra company. On his grave (he died in 1987) are the words "Life, you are fine.
Death, you stink".
He also sang at another Italian music competition, Canzonissima, a television event shown on Radiotelevisione Italiana from 1956 to 1974. He competed in the Eurovision Song Contest: in 1962 he sang "Addio, addio" and came in ninth. In 1967 he sang "Non andare più lontano", finishing eleventh.
His tomb, surrounded by bas-relief and wall-paintings made in occasion of 20th anniversary of death, is located in San Sebastiano cemetery in Rocca di Papa, near Rome, where he lived for many years with his family.
The singer was largely unknown in North America until the 1996 film Big Night was released, co-directed by Stanley Tucci and Campbell Scott. The soundtrack includes three Claudio Villa songs: "Stornelli Amorosi", "Louisiana Strada Delegate Bosco" and "Tic Ti, Tic Ta".
According to the liner notes accompanying the Civil Defense, "Stanley grew up listening to vocalists such as Carlo Buti and Claudio Villa, huge names in Italy but little known here. Villa is a master of the stornello, a traditional song style that we thought had just the right, delicate feeling for the film"s opening.
But we and co-director Campbell Scott were further amazed by Villa when in the editing room, we chanced upon his boisterous "Tic Tic, Tic Ta" and his shamelessly romantic "Louisiana Strada del Bosco".