Browse by Artist: GODI, FRANCO

Artist:	GODI, FRANCO
Title:	Signor Rossi
Label:	BUREAU B (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	BB 012CD

Signor Rossi was an Italian-made cartoon (1975-1978) from Bruno Bozetto consisting of 3 series of 12 episodes each. The cartoons told of the adventures of Signor Rossi and his doggy pal Gastone and their quest for happiness in all manner of places (and times) such as the Stone Age, the Middle Ages and the future, encountering all kinds of characters including Zorro, Tarzan, Robin Hood, Sherlock Holmes, Alladin and many more. The music from Franco Godi (aka "Mr. Jingle" -- from his advertising music) perfectly conveys the playfulness and light-hearted adventures, using a variety of styles and signatures. Godi was a master at creating melodies that were instantly memorable, and never forgotten. New versions of these songs were recorded for English and German audiences, and are still hummed by young and old today. Franco Godi, a native of Milan, after working initially for Radio Firenze, is still active today as a successful music producer for advertising and pop. When setting the full-length Signor Rossi series to music, he assembled a group of outstanding speakers, singers and musicians, who, in the mercilessly catchy song "Qua Qua Qua," for example, provide a scintillating demonstration of their vocal skills. Further highlights include the cannibal song "Bu Bu Buana Bu" with its jungle-y lyrics written by Godi himself, and the crisp, sitar-scented "Tutankamen Cha Cha Cha." Since 1962, Franco Godi has come up with what must be a record-breaking number of advertising tunes written for companies such as Kodak, Tuborg, for sundry Fiat models or for Fernet Branca, earning him -- along with a little extra pocket money -- the title of "Mr. Jingle." Godi also worked with Bozzetto and Manuli on other series, and with Osvaldo Cavandoli on his classic La Linea. The CD booklet depicts the finest scenes from the series, accompanied by in-depth liner notes authored by Ron Gissori, about the diminutive gentleman in his red attire.

Artist:	GODI, FRANCO
Title:	La Linea OST
Label:	BUREAU B (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	BB 013CD

Bureau B releases the original soundtrack music to the 1970s cartoon, La Linea, composed by Franco Godi (also the composer for Signor Rossi). This is the music from all episodes on CD, supported by two modern remixes. La Linea (also called Lui) was a big-nosed cartoon character drawn as a single outline around his silhouette, walking on an infinite line of which he is a part. Along with his distinctive appearance, another unique feature of this popular character was that he -- to put it mildly -- did not hold back his opinions, ranting, griping, sneering and gloating to his heart's content. La Linea's creator was the Italian cartoonist Osvaldo Cavandoli, who recalls that the inspiration for this work was to "reduce everything to one line and express everything I wanted to say with this line" while tidying up his desk. Little did he know that it would become his greatest success. Starting in 1972, around 100 episodes were broadcast in 40 countries. Voicing this little hothead, who spoke, or rather ranted, in a gibberish fantasy language, was Italian voice actor Carlo Bonomi. Totally without technical aids, using nothing but his unusually multi-faceted voice and versatility, he made Mr. Linea's legendary temperamental outbursts audible and understandable to everyone around the world. But these little cartoons were also supported by wonderful music, composed by a number of advertising jingle specialists -- initially mainly by Franco Godi, later mostly by Corrado Tringali -- wonderfully cheerful, swinging easy-listening gems with hints of Latin music. To liven up the CD further, Mr. Linea pipes up occasionally with a spiteful laugh or throws a little fit of rage.

Previous Page Index of Artists Next Page