Super Mina!

I've been obsessed with Volume 1 of her greatest hits album for the past year. Don't let her pop-singer, variety show veneer fool you. Mina Mazzini was kind of a badass; the closest thing to a female rock star Italy had in the 60s.



Of course she was a badass! What else can you do with a bit of a hatchet face, a soprano voice, and a proclivity for screaming?

Watch her essentially kill it during her very first television appearance. You can see her hairy armpits at the very end.



And here's one of her catchiest hits, "Tintarella Di Luna." It's about a girl who moonbathes on her roof at night, instead of joining all the other girls at the beach and taking the sun. In other words, the girl would prowl around at night with "all the other cats." That must be 60s-speak for slut.



Below is my favorite Mina song from that era, "Rosetto Sul Coletto." It's about finding another woman's lipstick on her boyfriend's collar, but instead of freaking-the-fuck out, she's just like, "So, how was it?" and then she's all, "Maybe you forgot, but I'm the only one that's supposed be kissing you, okay?" And the discussion is over.

Kissing in this case is clearly a 1959 euphemism for boning. I just love the song for the chipper organ solo. I can't find Mina performing this one, so here is a clip that uses pictures based on the lyrics. Like a YouTube version of karaoke videos.



When Mina got knocked up by a then-famous and very married actor, she was banned from Italian television. Kind of a cultural exile since in Italy, still to this day, you're nothing if you're not a cheesy variety show staple.

She had a comeback in the 70s after RAI finally pulled the furniture out of its butt and let her back on TV, and she made records all through the 80s. I can't vouch for any of those yet because I'm still enamored with this mid-century pop. But I'll keep you posted!