Mango Giussepe
Mango Giussepe
Mango Giussepe
He was known for his style which fuses pop, rock, folk, world music and for his
extensive vocal range. He is best known for the song "Oro", from his 1986 breakout
album release Odissea. Other hits include "Lei verr�", "Mediterraneo", "Bella
d'estate", "Amore per te", "Come Monnalisa", "Nella mia citt�" and "La rondine".
Mango has been defined by Italian music author Mario Luzzatto Fegiz as an
"authentic innovator of Italian pop music"[1] and Allmusic considers him an
"Italian rock fusion innovator".[2]
He wrote songs for Italian artists such as Patty Pravo, Loredana Bert�, Andrea
Bocelli, Mietta. Part of his repertoire was performed by Italian and foreign
musicians including Mina, Mia Martini, Leo Sayer, H�l�ne S�gara and Eleftheria
Arvanitaki.
Contents
1 Biography
1.1 Beginning and early career
1.2 Breakthrough and success
1.3 Death
2 Personal life
3 Songwriting
4 Cover
5 Discography
5.1 Studio albums
5.2 Live albums
5.3 Compilations
5.4 Albums recorded in Spanish
6 References
7 External links
Biography
Beginning and early career
Mango was born in Lagonegro, province of Potenza. He grew up listening mainly to
soul and hard rock music, his favourite musicians included Aretha Franklin, Led
Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Peter Gabriel. He began his musical activity as a teen,
playing in a cover band with his older brother Michele. Mango was not into Italian
music at the time, stating he only performed some Lucio Battisti's songs.[3] He
started to study sociology at the University of Salerno but he left after deciding
to move to Rome trying to enter the music business.
In 1976 Mango recorded his first album, La mia ragazza � un gran caldo.[4] Two
songs from the album, "Per te che mi apri l'universo" and "Tu pioggia io mattino",
attracted the attention of Patty Pravo, who put them on her album Tanto (1976),
though, the title of the second song was changed in "Per amarti d'amore". Mia
Martini also liked Mango's music and covered the song "Se mi sfiori" on the album
Che vuoi che sia... se t'ho aspettato tanto (1976).
He released other records like Arlecchino (1979) and � pericoloso sporgersi (1982).
His first three works did not receive attention by the media, pushing Mango to
abandon the music career but the meeting with lyricist Mogol changed his mind.
Other notable records are Sirtaki (1990), from which famous singles such as the
title-track, "Nella mia citt�" and "Come Monna Lisa" were extracted, and Come
l'acqua (1992), known for the song "Mediterraneo". The album featured the
involvement of musicians like drummer Manu Katch� and bassist Pino Palladino.[6]
Around this time, Mango also recorded three albums in Spanish: Ahora (1987), Hierro
y Fuego (1988) and a Spanish version of Sirtaki (1991). On 30 April 1988 the single
"Flor de Verano", Spanish version of "Bella d'estate" from Ahora, peaked at number
#1 on the Spain's Los 40 Principales.[7] Mango participated at the 1995 Sanremo
Music Festival with the song "Dove vai", accompanied by world musician Ayub Ogada.
Death
On evening 7 December 2014, Mango suffered a heart attack during a concert in
Policoro, province of Matera. While performing the song "Oro", he raised an arm and
said "excuse me" to the crowd before collapsing. He died before arriving at the
hospital in the early hours of the following day.[10] He was 60.
On 9 December, his older brother Giovanni felt sick during the wake and died at the
hospital, aged 75. He is believed to have also died from a heart attack.[11]
Personal life
A very reserved person who rarely appeared in mass media, Mango was married to
Laura Valente, known for her tenure as vocalist with the pop band Matia Bazar. From
their marriage two children were born: Filippo and Angelina.[12]
Songwriting
Mango wrote songs that were performed by other artists: