Who Are Those Singers & Musicians ~ Little Tony

 

Antonio Ciacci was born in Tivoli, Lazio, Italy on February 7, 1941. He formed a rock and roll group with his two brothers, Alberto and Enrico, in 1957, naming himself Little Tony in emulation of Little Richard. The following year, the group were signed by Durium Records, who released a series of covers of American rock and roll songs by them in Italy.

In 1959, the Italian singer Marino Marini, when in London, recommended the group to TV pop show producer Jack Good. Good, visited Italy to meet the group, was impressed, and signed them up to appear in his British TV show ‘Boy Meets Girls’. They made their first appearance on the program in September 1959, and released their first single in the UK, "I Can't Help It" - the 11th single of their career in Italy - on the Decca label soon afterwards. For their third British single, Good recorded the group in London for the first time, and the resulting single, "Too Good", written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, reached # 19 on the UK singles chart in January 1960, their only chart success in Britain. The group continued to appear regularly on TV shows in Britain until 1962.

The group first revisited Italy in 1961 to appear at the Sanremo Festival when they performed the song "24.000 baci" with Adriano Celentano and finished second, returning more permanently the following year. Little Tony then worked as a solo singer, having his first #1 in Italy with "Il ragazzo col ciuffo" in 1962. He began working as a movie actor, appearing in over 20 movies in Italy, and becoming a star in the musicarelli film genre.

Tony can be heard singing the main theme song “Rainbow... vorrei... vorrei” in the 1968 Spaghetti western “Spara, Gringo, spara” (The Longest Hunt) starring Brian Kelly and Fabrizio Moroni.

Little Tony died of lung cancer on May 27, 2013, in Rome, at the age of 72.

LITTLE TONY (Antonio Ciacci) [2/7/1941, Tivoli, Lazio, Italy - 5/27/2013, Rome, Lazio, Italy (bone cancer)] – singer, actor, brother of actor, singer, musician Enrico Ciacci [1942-2018], actor, singer Alberto Ciacci [1948-2024], member of ‘Little Tony & His Brothers’, founded Little Records [1969], married to stewardess Giuliana Brugnoli [194? –1993] (1972-1993) father of singer Cristiana Ciacci [1974-    ], married to singer Luciana Manfra [1974-    ] (1999-2013).

The Longest Hunt – 1968 [sings “Rainbow... vorrei... vorrei”]