Mina’s Spanish recordings

Mina is one of Italy’s biggest stars of all time, scoring dozens of hits from the late 1950s onwards. As Italian songs gained popularity in Spain, she opted to re-record many of her hits in Spanish, enjoying success in Spain and South America with the results.

She was born Mina Mazzini in Busto Arsizio, in northern Italy, on 25 March 1940 and grew up in Cremona.

Her recording career began in 1958, initially under the name Baby Gate. After taking Mina as her stage moniker, she enjoyed her first Italian chart topper at the end of 1959 with Tintarella di luna. A string of top ten successes followed.

Italian tunes were becoming popular in Spain at that time, and many of Mina’s recordings were released in Spain in their original Italian versions through the Discophon label.

However, when Il cielo in una stanza became the biggest-selling single in Italy in 1960, the decision was made to cut the song in Spanish. Four-track EPs were more popular than singles in Spain, and the song – re-recorded as El cielo en casa – was included on Mina’s first Spanish-language release and became a big hit.

Its success prompted the release of a bossa nova-styled foursome on the EP Y de ahí (a translation of Da chi) in early 1962.

A parallel launch of the singer also took place in
Germany, where her Heißer Sand topped the
German charts and spent over half a year on the
sales listings. The song was also recorded in
Spanish as Un desierto and issued on an EP that
included Dejame llorar, a version of her Just let
me cry (a song that Lesley Gore also recorded).

Back in Italy, Mina’s career took a severe knock in
1963 after her relationship with the actor Carrado
Pani who was married, though separated from his
wife, became known. She was banned from state
television RAI. Eventually the broadcaster lifted its
ban and a change of record label marked her
rehabilitation. For many, the move also signified
the beginning of Mina’s golden era.

The label change meant that subsequent Spanish releases were issued through the Belter label.

She scored a massive hit with her first single for her new Italian label, Città vuota, a cover of Gene McDaniels’ It’s a lonely town, in early 1964. Its follow up, È l’uomo per me, a version of He walks like a man, an American non-hit for Jody Miller, took Mina to the top of the charts and became the biggest-selling single of the year in Italy. Both songs were re-recorded in Spanish – as Ciudad solitaria and Mi hombre será respectively – and issued on what is considered one of the singer’s best EPs.