Emilio Pericoli

Emilio Pericoli was an Italian pop singer, guitarist and pianist, popular in the early 1960's. In his youth, he was briefly engaged as a vocalist in a dance band. He also harboured aspirations to become a dramatic actor and appeared on stage with Isa Barzizza's company in the love story "Valentina". He also appeared in a few small film roles, but this did not lead to a full-time acting career. Instead, in 1959, Pericoli was signed by Ricordi Records for a compilation of classic Italian/Neapolitan songs, including "Anema e core". His biggest hit, however, turned out to be a cover version of the Betty Curtis/Luciano Tajoli number "Al Di La", 1961 winner at the San Remo Festival. "Al Di La" was subsequently used by Hollywood as the leitmotif for the Warner Brothers movie Rome Adventure (1962), starring Suzanne Pleshette and Troy Donahue. Pericoli performed the song with a small combo in a suitably romantic nightclub setting. Resulting airplay in the U.S. moved the song up to sixth in the Billboards pop charts. In 1962, Pericoli entered the San Remo Festival in collaboration with songwriter Tony Renis and achieved additional fame with his rendition of "Quando, Quando, Quando". The following year, he made up for not winning this event with a bona fide number one entry, "Uno Per Tutte", also written by Renis. After his singing career petered out in the mid-1960's, Pericoli briefly returned to acting and then faded from the scene.