Umberto Marcato

Italian singer, and label owner (Gala Records), born 1930, Padua - died 23 August 2024. Marcato began his musical career aged 18, when he became the singer for the Casamatta Orchestra, led by Luciano Viani. With the orchestra, he toured in Italy and later on, the rest of the Europe. In 1957, during a successful tour in Scandinavia, the orchestra signed with the Swedish label Karusell, and recorded four songs: "Maruzzella", "Lazzarella", "Guaglione" and "Chella llà". These songs were a success in Sweden, and also in Finland. In the early 1960s, Marcato recorded "Volare", "Ciao ciao bambina", "Come prima", "Romantica" and "Tintarella di luna", among others. In 1963, he also recorded several songs in Finnish, composed by Toivo Kärki, including "Marja-Leena" and "Liljankukka". In 1964, together with the singer Siw Malmkvist, Marcato released the song "Sole sole sole" which was a small success all over the world, including the US (#58) and Canada (#32). At Karusell, Marcato worked with his friend and producer, Simon Brehm. When Brehm died in 1967, Marcato stopped singing and established a record distribution company in Italy. He returned to performing three years later, touring Sweden with artist 4653729. In 1980, he founded Gala Records. He continued touring Sweden, and in 2009 he returned to Finland, as part of the "Sinitaivas" tour.