Rocco Granata (1938) is a Belgian-Italian singer and an occasional actor. In 1959, he had an international smash hit with the song 'Marina'. He toured the world and even performed at Carnegie Hall in New York. A feature film entitled Marina was released in 1960, which set the stage for a string of German hits and Schlagerfilms.
Dutch postcard by Takken, Utrecht, no. AX 4545. Publicity card for the monthly Juke Box.
Dutch postcard by Int. Filmpers (I.F.P.), no. WPS 22. Publicity card for the magazine Song Parade.
Dutch postcard, no. 1061.
Dutch postcard.
Dutch postcard by Uitg. Takken, Utrecht, no. AX 4687. Photo: Hafbo. Publicity still for the Schlagerfilm Marina (Paul Martin, 1960), which was distributed in Holland as Teenagers Schlager Parade. The girl between Rex Gildo and Rocco Granata is the female lead of the film, Italian actress Giorgia Moll.
Rocco Granata was born in Figline Vegliaturo in the South of Italy in 1938. When he was ten years old his family left sunny Calabria for the cold Belgian mining district. At the age of fifteen, his father allowed him to skip school and he started working as a mechanic in a Vespa shop. During the weekends, Rocco toured Belgium with his band The International Quintet.
First, he only played accordion, but soon he also became the singer of the band. He started singing sentimental Italian ballads. One of these songs was especially loved by the dancing crowd: 'Manuela'. In 1959 he released 'Manuela' as a single, but instead the B-side, 'Marina', became an international smash hit.
'Marina' hit #1 in Belgium as well as charts across Europe and America. Over 40 years, the single would sell a recorded one hundred million copies worldwide. It has been covered many times by artists such as Dalida, Dean Martin, Celia Cruz and Louis Armstrong.
After the success of 'Marina', Rocco toured around the world, including dates at Carnegie Hall and the San Remo Festival. Granata sang and acted in a dozen German and Belgian films. His debut Marina (Paul Martin, 1960) set the stage for a string of German hit records such as 'Buona Notte Bambino' in 1963.
More Schlagerfilms followed, including Gauner-Serenade/Rogue Serenade (Thomas Engel, 1960), Hochzeit am Neusiedler See/Wedding at Lake Neusiedler (Rolf Olsen, 1963), and Ein Ferienbett mit 100 PS/A Holiday Sleeper with 100 HP (Wolfgang Becker, 1965) starring Vivi Bach.
Dutch postcard by Gebr. Spanjersberg N.V., Rotterdam, no. 4862. Photo: Arthur Grimm / Ufa.
Dutch postcard by Gebr. Spanjersberg, Rotterdam (Dutch licence holder of Ufa/Film-Foto, Berlin), no. 4876, ca. 1961. Photo: Erwin Scheider / Ufa.
West German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag, Minden/Westf., no. 1209. Photo: Electrola/ Bethke / Frankfurt.
West German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag, Minden/Westf., no. 1254.
In the mid-sixties, Rocco Granata became a successful record producer. He owned the music publishing company Granata Music Editions and his own record company Cardinal Records. He started producing for Belgian artists such as Marva, Louis Neefs and Miel Cools.
Occasionally he acted in Belgian films like Jonny en Jessy/Johnny and Jessy (Wies Andersen, 1972) and Zware jongens/Tough Guys (Robbe de Hert, 1984). His song 'Buona Notte Bambino' featured prominently on the soundtrack of the German arthouse film Händler der vier Jahreszeiten/The Merchant of the Four Seasons (1971), directed by the legendary Rainer Werner Fassbinder.
In 1989, Granata commissioned a dance remix of 'Marina', which again topped the Belgian charts as well as those of Italy and Germany. He has appeared regularly on Belgian television and served as a jury member for the 2002 Flemish preliminaries for The Eurovision Song Contest. In 2008 he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Belgian music industry.
He made CDs like 'Paisellu Miu' (2007), and 'Ricominciamo' (2010) with autobiographical songs full of longing and nostalgia, love and passion. Throughout his career, Rocco Granata has released some 65 albums. Although he has sold many copies of his other songs (altogether he made it 9 times to the top 10 of the Belgian hitparades), the enormity of the success of 'Marina' basically has reduced Rocco to a one-hit wonder.
In 2011, Rocco Granata presented a new album, 'Rocco con Buscemi', with DJ Dirk Swartenbroekx, aka Buscemi. The single 'O Sarracino' was a small hit and can be heard on the soundtrack of the Dutch comedy Valentino (Remy van Heugten, 2013). A motion picture about his life, Marina, was released in 2013. In the film directed by Stijn Coninx, Rocco Granata is played by Matteo Simoni (Rocco as a teenager) and by Cristiaan Campagna (the young Rocco). Rocco Granata has been married to Rosita since 1968. They have two children.
Vintage postcard.
German postcard by Terra-Color, no. F 188.
Belgian collectors card, no. 10, and a cut-out piece of a Dutch postcard.
Dutch postcard.
Clip of 'O Sarracino'. Source: Mostiko2 (YouTube).
Sources: Rocco Granata, The Belgian Pop & Rock Archives, Wikipedia and IMDb.
This post was last updated on 7 July 2024.
Dutch postcard by Takken, Utrecht, no. AX 4545. Publicity card for the monthly Juke Box.
Dutch postcard by Int. Filmpers (I.F.P.), no. WPS 22. Publicity card for the magazine Song Parade.
Dutch postcard, no. 1061.
Dutch postcard.
Dutch postcard by Uitg. Takken, Utrecht, no. AX 4687. Photo: Hafbo. Publicity still for the Schlagerfilm Marina (Paul Martin, 1960), which was distributed in Holland as Teenagers Schlager Parade. The girl between Rex Gildo and Rocco Granata is the female lead of the film, Italian actress Giorgia Moll.
Manuela and Marina
Rocco Granata was born in Figline Vegliaturo in the South of Italy in 1938. When he was ten years old his family left sunny Calabria for the cold Belgian mining district. At the age of fifteen, his father allowed him to skip school and he started working as a mechanic in a Vespa shop. During the weekends, Rocco toured Belgium with his band The International Quintet.
First, he only played accordion, but soon he also became the singer of the band. He started singing sentimental Italian ballads. One of these songs was especially loved by the dancing crowd: 'Manuela'. In 1959 he released 'Manuela' as a single, but instead the B-side, 'Marina', became an international smash hit.
'Marina' hit #1 in Belgium as well as charts across Europe and America. Over 40 years, the single would sell a recorded one hundred million copies worldwide. It has been covered many times by artists such as Dalida, Dean Martin, Celia Cruz and Louis Armstrong.
After the success of 'Marina', Rocco toured around the world, including dates at Carnegie Hall and the San Remo Festival. Granata sang and acted in a dozen German and Belgian films. His debut Marina (Paul Martin, 1960) set the stage for a string of German hit records such as 'Buona Notte Bambino' in 1963.
More Schlagerfilms followed, including Gauner-Serenade/Rogue Serenade (Thomas Engel, 1960), Hochzeit am Neusiedler See/Wedding at Lake Neusiedler (Rolf Olsen, 1963), and Ein Ferienbett mit 100 PS/A Holiday Sleeper with 100 HP (Wolfgang Becker, 1965) starring Vivi Bach.
Dutch postcard by Gebr. Spanjersberg N.V., Rotterdam, no. 4862. Photo: Arthur Grimm / Ufa.
Dutch postcard by Gebr. Spanjersberg, Rotterdam (Dutch licence holder of Ufa/Film-Foto, Berlin), no. 4876, ca. 1961. Photo: Erwin Scheider / Ufa.
West German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag, Minden/Westf., no. 1209. Photo: Electrola/ Bethke / Frankfurt.
West German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag, Minden/Westf., no. 1254.
Arthouse
In the mid-sixties, Rocco Granata became a successful record producer. He owned the music publishing company Granata Music Editions and his own record company Cardinal Records. He started producing for Belgian artists such as Marva, Louis Neefs and Miel Cools.
Occasionally he acted in Belgian films like Jonny en Jessy/Johnny and Jessy (Wies Andersen, 1972) and Zware jongens/Tough Guys (Robbe de Hert, 1984). His song 'Buona Notte Bambino' featured prominently on the soundtrack of the German arthouse film Händler der vier Jahreszeiten/The Merchant of the Four Seasons (1971), directed by the legendary Rainer Werner Fassbinder.
In 1989, Granata commissioned a dance remix of 'Marina', which again topped the Belgian charts as well as those of Italy and Germany. He has appeared regularly on Belgian television and served as a jury member for the 2002 Flemish preliminaries for The Eurovision Song Contest. In 2008 he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Belgian music industry.
He made CDs like 'Paisellu Miu' (2007), and 'Ricominciamo' (2010) with autobiographical songs full of longing and nostalgia, love and passion. Throughout his career, Rocco Granata has released some 65 albums. Although he has sold many copies of his other songs (altogether he made it 9 times to the top 10 of the Belgian hitparades), the enormity of the success of 'Marina' basically has reduced Rocco to a one-hit wonder.
In 2011, Rocco Granata presented a new album, 'Rocco con Buscemi', with DJ Dirk Swartenbroekx, aka Buscemi. The single 'O Sarracino' was a small hit and can be heard on the soundtrack of the Dutch comedy Valentino (Remy van Heugten, 2013). A motion picture about his life, Marina, was released in 2013. In the film directed by Stijn Coninx, Rocco Granata is played by Matteo Simoni (Rocco as a teenager) and by Cristiaan Campagna (the young Rocco). Rocco Granata has been married to Rosita since 1968. They have two children.
Vintage postcard.
German postcard by Terra-Color, no. F 188.
Belgian collectors card, no. 10, and a cut-out piece of a Dutch postcard.
Dutch postcard.
Clip of 'O Sarracino'. Source: Mostiko2 (YouTube).
Sources: Rocco Granata, The Belgian Pop & Rock Archives, Wikipedia and IMDb.
This post was last updated on 7 July 2024.
1 comment:
Oh, neat! This is really interesting. Marina is one of my all-time favourite songs. =D
-Andi x
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