Caterina Caselli

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Nessuno mi può giudicare

1966

Caterina Caselli found fame in the 1966 San Remo song contest with Nessuno mi può giudicare and went on to become one of Italy’s most successful singers of the 1960s and starred in several screen musicals.

She was born on 10 April 1946 in Sassuolo, near Modena.

At the age of 14, she joined the group Gli Amici as singer and bassist. Four years later, in 1964, she took part in the Castrocaro song contest and was offered a recording contract with the Milan-based MRC label. However, the brunette singer’s first single, Ti telefono tutte le sere, didn’t sell.

A follow up, Mi sento stupida, fared no better.

In 1965, a switch of record label, to CGD, and hair colour, to blond, saw her release Sono qui con voi, a version of the Van Morrison-penned Baby please don’t go, a hit for British group Them. Though it attracted some radio attention, it wasn’t a hit.

However, it prompted the label to enter the singer in the 1966 San Remo song contest, the Italian competition that had served as inspiration for the Europe-wide Eurovision song contest. When established star Adriano Celentano turned down the energetic Nessuno mi può giudicare, Caterina was offered the song. It didn’t win, but no matter: the song went to number one in the Italian charts in February 1966 and remained on the top

spot for nine weeks, outselling a rival version

by US star Gene Pitney and the winning song

from the contest (Domenico Modugno’s Dio

come ti amo).

The song established Caterina as a star and

further hits quickly followed. She won the

Fetivalbar contest in the summer with

Perdono, which made number five in the

charts in July 1966 (again beating a rival

version, this time by beat babes Brunetta e

i suoi Balubas) and was backed with the

equally popular L’uomo d’oro.

(Interestingly, British singer

Toni Daly/Antoinette recorded a highly

credible version of the latter as her final A-side.)

For her first album, she teamed up with British

group We Five for the imaginatively entitled

Caterina meets the We Five.

Further hits, the emotionally charged Cento giorni and Tutto nero, a version of the Rolling Stones’ Paint it black, and a second album, Casco d’oro (a humorous reference to her helmet of blond hair) rounded off the year.

1967 kicked off with the release off with Puoi farmi piangere, a cover of Alan Price’s I put a spell on you (which had also been recorded by Nina Simone). Caterina took part in the San Remo contest again, this time with Il cammino di ogni speranza, which didn’t win but gave her another top 20 hit.

She chose Sono bugiarda, a cover of the Monkees’ I'm a believer, for the follow up, which gave her a bigger hit, reaching number five in the charts.

A further single, Solo spento, made number 12, and she released her third album, Diamoci del tu, the same year. She also showed her versatility by starring in the musical films Io non protesto, io amo and Quando dico che ti amo.

Cento giorni

1966

L'uomo d'oro

1966

Caterina Caselli on YouTube

Kicks

1966

Sono qui con voi

1965

Perdono

1966

Tutto nero

1966

Wie all' die Ander'n

1969

In 1968, the newly brunette Caterina enjoyed huge hits with Il volto della vita, a cover of David McWilliams’ Days of Pearly Spencer, and the Italian original Insieme a te non ci sto più, both of which made the top five. An appearance in the Canzonissima song contest with Il carnevale gave her a number two chart hit, and a further film appearance, this time in Enzo Battaglia’s Non ti scordar di me, consolidated her success.

The following spring took she took part in the San Remo contest again, with Il gioco dell’amore, which provided her with a further top 20 hit.

Caterina’s appeal wasn’t confined just to Italy. She had recorded specifically for the Spanish market since 1964, albeit occasionally, and had also attempted a breakthrough in France in 1966. But in 1969, it was decided that Caterina should have a stab at the lucrative German market too. Her San Remo hit was issued in its original Italian in Germany, but it failed to provide the hoped-for breakthrough.

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Cover cuts

Caterina Caselli Nessuno mi può giudicare

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So Il carnevale was translated into German for the follow up. Perhaps surprisingly, then, Wie all’ die Ander’n was consigned to the B-side of the less remarkable Si si signorina, and only one further single was issued in Germany, 1970’s Es ist nicht alles Liebe, was man Liebe nennt.

Back at home, a further entry to the San Remo contest in 1970, with Re di cuori, proved less successful than her earlier attempts.

She carried on recording in the early 1970s before taking a place behind the production controls. She released a few further singles in the 1980s and 90s and made appearances in various song contests, before becoming a manager for other artists.