It Was 50 Years Ago Today: “Un Anno d’Amore” by Mina
June 9, 1965
“Un Anno d’Amore” by Mina
#1 on the Musica e Dischi singles chart (Italy), April 3 – July 2, 1965
When rock ‘n’ roll crossed into mainstream culture, it carried with it the tinge of the immoral, the antisocial, and the sexually illicit. In the late ’50s, Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry seemed to confirm the music’s lowdown reputation by embroiling themselves in scandals involving underage girls. The subsequent backlash contributed as much to the death of rock ‘n’ roll’s first wave as Elvis’s Army draft and the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper. But while Lewis’ and Berry’s careers skidded to a halt, rock’s “bad boys” still managed to maintain pockets of popularity and successfully launched comebacks a few years later. Had the musicians in question been women, however — say, Connie Francis or Brenda Lee — it’s easy to imagine the repercussions of their sexual indiscretions being far more severe.
Yet a few years later in Italy, where the state-owned media was even more restrictive than America’s and the Vatican loomed nearby, a young female singer not only survived a scandal that should have killed her career, but became even more popular. Mina started out in the late ’50s as one of the country’s first rock ‘n’ rollers; among her earliest releases was a heavily accented take on Gene Vincent’s “Be Bop a Lula.” Her runaway success and raucous voice earned her the honorific “Queen of the Screamers” title. Once the rock fad started to fade in Italy, however, she traded her guitar and pedal pushers for an evening gown, successfully expanding her repertoire into sophisticated, adult Euro-pop.
In 1963, Mina became pregnant through an affair with Corrado Pani, a married actor. Radiotelevisione Italiana, which controlled the country’s media, censored her for “indecent morals,” refusing to play her music or let her appear on TV. The broadcaster soon was forced to relent, however, when the public rebelled; Mina was simply too beloved to be banned. For her part, the singer refused to put on a conciliatory face or try to mend her image. Instead, she dyed her hair a brassy blonde, shaved her eyebrows, and became the first Italian pop star to wear miniskirts. It was an intentionally confrontational look, allowing Mina to reclaim the media’s image of her as a fallen woman, and setting the tone for her increasingly boundary-pushing pop directions to come.
Mina’s single “Un Anno d’Amore,” released in late 1964, may not strike most casual listeners as any sort of radical musical departure, especially when compared to some of her more outré later material. The orchestral pop arrangement, cloaked in withering strings and slinky vibes, is more reminiscent of a Bond movie theme than the rock ‘n’ roll that made her famous. Yet “Un Anno d’Amore,” based on Nino Ferrer’s French-language song “C’est Irreparable,” is an electric vehicle for Mina to express her defiance. On one level, she’s daring her man to abandon her after their “year of love” together; on another, she seems to be criticizing the media and public who condemned her personal life after having spent so much time celebrating her music.
The verses alternate between reflective semi-whispers and emphatic pleas, as she reminds him of their shared past and what he’ll lose if he leaves. By the chorus, however, she is boiling over. Mina’s passionate cries of “ricorderai/ tuoi giorni felici/ ricorderai/ tutti quanti i miei baci” (“remember/ your happy days/ remember/ all of my kisses”) sound less like she’s gently persuading him to return, and more like she’s taunting him for what he’ll never have again. The high-strung emotions of “Un Anno d’Amore,” as well as the singer’s three-octave vocal range, seem to root the pop song in Italy’s operatic tradition. At the same time, Mina’s conversational, semi-naturalistic phrasing gives the song a distinctly modern appeal.
“Un Anno d’Amore” became Mina’s fourth #1 hit, and, more notably, her first after the scandal broke. The single stayed at the top of the charts for an astonishing three consecutive months, the longest run for any Italian #1 record that year. Its success proved beyond a doubt that Mina had triumphed over the moral authorities who had tried to force her decline. In the decades since, she has continued to maintain her position as one of Europe’s biggest pop stars, evolving her sound while staying true to herself and her artistry. But even beyond her music, Mina remains admirable as a woman ahead of her time, defiantly withstanding personal and professional blows and refusing to be humiliated.
It Was 50 Years Ago Today examines a song, album, movie, or book that was #1 on the charts exactly half a century ago.
