That could be Italian identity, as long as French song is a good historical, sociological and cultural source. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has made the defense of this national identity an axis of her electoral campaign and, if we are interested in her own identity in the eyes of the other – that is to say, for example Italian identity in the eyes of the French – we very quickly escape gravity to plunge into comedy.
In this case, this counterfeit Italian accent is Fredo Minablo, in 1957. In fact, he is not Italian, his name is Freddy Balta, he is Parisian and an accordionist and, by a combination of circumstances of which I spares you the story, he embodies this somewhat grotesque character who talks about chianti, but on a text by Boris Vian.
And if we close our eyes for ten seconds wondering which are the two famous images of Italians in our collective memory, there is bound to be the one who tells us: “It’s me, it’s the Italian”.
In the second episode of These songs that make the news airing this weekend, you hear excerpts from:
Fredo MinabloEverything works Italiano1957
Serge Reggiani, Italian1971
Toto Cutugno, The Italiano1983
Nicole Croisille, A woman with you1976
Claude Barzotti, The Rital1983
Daddy Rital, I am Italian2010
Frederic Francois, I love you Italian1985
Davide Esposito, An Italian in Paris2007
John Corti, The Ritale2007
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Our series of summer 2022 chronicles, behind our voicescan still be listened to by scrolling down this page.
And you can also find on this link the podcast Behind our voices, with the writing and composition secrets of eight major artists of the French scene, Laurent Voulzy, Julien Clerc, Bénabar, Dominique A, Carla Bruni, Emily Loizeau, Juliette and Gaëtan Roussel.