Mango (singer)

Mango, stage name of Giuseppe Mango (6 November 1954 – 8 December 2014), was an Italian singer-songwriter and musician.

Mango
Background information
Also known asPino Mango
Born(1954-11-06)6 November 1954
Lagonegro, Italy
Died8 December 2014(2014-12-08) (aged 60)
Policoro, Italy
GenresPop rock, folk, world music
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter
InstrumentsVocals, piano, keyboards, guitar
Years active1976–2014

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 verrà", "Mediterraneo", "Bella d'estate", "Amore per te", "Come Monnalisa", "Nella mia città" 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 Bertè, Andrea Bocelli, Mietta. Part of his repertoire was performed by Italian and foreign musicians including Mina, Mia Martini, Leo Sayer, Hélène Ségara and Eleftheria Arvanitaki.

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 è 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 È 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.

Breakthrough and success

His breakthrough came in 1985 with the album Australia, from which the single "Il viaggio" was performed by Mango at the Sanremo Music Festival of the same year. In 1986 he released Odissea, which was a turning point in his career and contains some of his most famous songs, "Lei verrà" and "Oro". The album saw the collaboration of Brian Auger on the keyboards.[5] 1987's Adesso includes the successful single "Bella d'estate", co-written with Lucio Dalla.

Other notable records are Sirtaki (1990), from which famous singles such as the title-track, "Nella mia città" 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 Katché 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 No. 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.

Mango, Acchiappanuvole Tour in Udine (2009)

Credo (1997) contains the single "Luce" which was performed by Mango along with Zenîma at the 1998 Sanremo Music Festival; an English version of the song called "Light" was included in the 1998 reissue. Peter Gabriel's guitarist David Rhodes and Simple Minds's drummer Mel Gaynor played on the record.[8] The track "Amore per te", from the album Visto così (1999), was used as the Italian theme of the telenovela El Privilegio de Amar.[9] In 2004 he released Ti Porto in Africa, which went double platinum.[2] His last work is La terra degli aquiloni, released in 2011. The album featured a Carlos Gardel cover of the song "Volver".

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" in Italian to the crowd. He then raised his arm again and collapsed. Mango was taken off stage, and the rest of the concert was canceled. He died before arriving at the hospital in the early hours of the following day. 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.[10]

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 (b. 1995) and Angelina (b. 1999). They both collaborated with their father, Filippo as a drummer and Angelina as a singer.[11][12]

Songwriting

Mango wrote songs that were performed by other artists:

Artist Song Year Album
Mietta Per esempio… per amore 2003 Per esempio... per amore
Abbracciati e vivi
Fare l'amore 2000 Tutto o niente
E no (Cosa sei) 1991 Volano le pagine
Soli mai
Oltre te
Mia Martini Se mi sfiori 1976 Che vuoi che sia... se t'ho aspettato tanto
Patty Pravo Per amarti d'amore 1976 Tanto
Per te che mi apri l'universo
Goodbye my love 1986
Sentirti 1978 Miss Italia
Loretta Goggi Io nascerò 1986 C'è poesia
C'è poesia
Loredana Bertè Re 1986 Fotografando... i miei successi
Fotogrando
Andrea Bocelli L'attesa 2004 Andrea
Scialpi L'Io e l'Es 1983 Es-tensioni
Hallelujah
Andrea Mirò Non è segreto (single) 1988
Laura Valente – 1985 Tempo di blues (LP)
Helena Hellwig Di luna morirei 2006 Di luna morirei (CD Single)
Geranio
Dennis Fantina Se non-con te 2002 Dennis
Non è il cuore
Gloria Bonaveri Joe 1996 Gloria
Anna Bussotti Nessun dolore (single) 1986

Cover

Some of his songs were rearranged by Italian and foreign artists, including:

Artist Song Year Album
Mia Martini Se Mi Sfiori 1976 Che vuoi che sia... se t'ho aspettato tanto
Patty Pravo Per Te Che Mi Apri L'Universo
Per amarti d'amore (Tu pioggia io mattino)		 1976 Tanto
Patty Pravo Sentirti 1978 Sentirti/Notti Bianche
Scialpi Nero e blu 1983 Es-tensioni
Loretta Goggi Lei verrà (featuring Mango) 1986 C'è poesia
Leo Sayer The Moth and the Flame (Tu...si) 1990 Sanremo Music Festival
Mina Oro 1994 Canarino mannaro
Hélène Ségara Tu peux tout emporter (Amore per te) 2000 Au nom d'une femme
Mietta Sentirti 2003 Per esempio... per amore
Eleftheria Arvanitaki Min Orkizesai (Come Monna Lisa) 2007 Dinata 1986–2007
Neri per caso Bella d'estate (featuring Mango) 2008 Angoli diversi
Wender Lei verrà (featuring Saretta) 2010 Alpacaaaa
Antonella Lo Coco Disincanto 2012 Cuore scoppiato
Alessio Scarlata featuring Zenîma Luce 2015 1st Posthumous Tribute Single

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilations
  • Visto così (1999)
  • Tutto Mango: oro e platino (2006)

Albums recorded in Spanish

References
  1. Mario Luzzatto Fegiz. "Mango, la voce divenuta strumento che ha rinnovato la musica leggera". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  2. Evan C. Gutierrez. "Mango – Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  3. Ernesto Assante. "L'amore è invisibile", il nuovo Mango. "U2, Sting, De André... canto quello che mi piace". la Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  4. Notice of death of Pino Mango, la Repubblica. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  5. Ambrosia Jole Silvia Imbornone. "Un infarto ha stroncato l'Usignolo di Lagonegro durante un concerto" (in Italian). lisolachenoncera.it. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  6. "Manu Katché: discography". manu-katche.com. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  7. "Número 1 de 30/04/1988" (in Spanish). los40.com. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  8. "Credo" (in Italian). discografia.dds.it. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
  9. "Libera di amare" (in Italian). telenovelasmania.it. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  10. "Mango's brother dies a day after star's death". thelocal.it. 9 December 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  11. "Buon viaggio, Mango" (in Italian). vanityfair.it. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  12. "Mango, La terra degli aquiloni: "Le canzoni devono arrivare agli occhi"" (in Italian). rockrol.it. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
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