Farewell to Carmelo La Bionda, the father of the Italian disco

Carmelo La Bionda, who with his brother Michelangelo formed the musical duo 'La Bionda', also known by the artistic name DD Sound and considered among the inventors of Italian disco music, died on November 5 in his home in San Donato, Milan.

Born on February 2, 1949 in Ramacca, in the province of Catania, Milanese by adoption since 1954, Carmelo La Bionda was 73 years old and had been ill for a year.

He had a tumor that he fought a lot.

His son Francesco Paolo and his family announced it.

The funeral will be held on Tuesday 8 November at 2.30 pm at the church of Santa Barbara in San Donato in Milan.

The La Bionda brothers have made entire generations dance, their great workhorse and still today a worldwide success is "One For You, One For Me"

Growing up in a working-class neighborhood in Milan, San Luigi, where his family had moved in 1954, Carmelo had graduated as an electrical engineer and with Michelangelo, the younger of the two brothers, born in 1952, he had started writing songs in 1970. , spurred on by the Ricordi record company.

The debut as authors of the two visionary brothers, whose artistic and life path is inextricably linked, is with 'Primo sole, primo fiore' interpreted at the Venice Song Festival by the Rich and the Poor, fresh from the victory in Sanremo.

The La Bionda brothers then collaborate with Mia Martini - for whom Michelangelo writes with Dario Baldan Bembo and Bruno Lauzi 'Little Man'.

Within a few years they manage to establish themselves as composers, artists, record producers and publishers, on the international music scene.

In 1972 they released their first album, Fratelli La Bionda Srl. In 1974 they played the acoustic guitars of De Andrè's album (Volume Eighth), and with the second album Tutto va Bene landed in London in the legendary new Apple studios and worked with Phil McDonald and pianist Nicky Hopkins, section player of the Rolling Stones.

Then it's time for Munich, the capital of dance, where they bring Amanda Lear of which they are producers, and where the La Bionda brothers are among the first to offer disco music throughout Europe.

The first album is from 1977 but comes out with the stage name DDSound.

Hence the song Disco Bass which becomes the theme song of one of the most followed programs on Italian TV, La Domenica Sportiva and 1-2-3-4 Gimme Some More, a single that will make a splash in discos and mixes various styles.

In 1978 the single One For You One For Me became a worldwide success and in 1980 a new turning point arrived with I wanna be your lover, considered the first electronic pop song and with the discovery of Righeira and the launch in 1983 of Vamos A La Playa.

Producers, pioneers of video clips, the La Bionda brothers also enter the world of soundtracks for films (Bud Spencer and Terence Hill) and in 1985 we started making music for advertising.

In the same year they built the Logic Studios, the recording studios where, among other things, dozens of jingles are recorded for commercials of important brands.

As music publishers they have represented American authors of songs such as Stand By Me and Thriller for many years.