Un'estate italiana

"Un'estate italiana"
Single by Edoardo Bennato and Gianna Nannini
B-side Karaoke version
Format CD single, CD maxi,
7" single, 12" maxi
Recorded 1989
Genre Pop rock
Length 4:23
Label Warner Bros Music,
Sugarmusic, Virgin
Writer(s) Edoardo Bennato, Giorgio Moroder,
Gianna Nannini, Tom Whitlock
Producer Giorgio Moroder
Gianna Nannini singles chronology
"Voglio fare l'amore"
(1989)
"Un'estate italiana"
(1990)
"Scandalo"
(1990)
Edoardo Bennato chronology
"Vendo Bagnoli/ZEN"
(1989)
"Un'estate italiana"
(1990)
"Il paese dei balocchi/Buon compleanno bambina"
(1992)
Music video
"Un'estate italiana" on YouTube

"Un'estate italiana" (in Italian) or "An Italian Summer" (in English), is a 1990 song composed by Giorgio Moroder with lyrics by Tom Whitlock for the 1990 FIFA World Cup held in Italy. The Italian version, also known as "Notti Magiche", was recorded by Italian artists Edoardo Bennato and Gianna Nannini, who also wrote the Italian lyrics.

The song achieved success on the charts of several European countries.

Contents

Background and release

The English version, released under the name Giorgio Moroder Project, was used the opening theme to RAI TV programs related to the World Cup.

For the Italian release, Moroder addressed Gianna Nannini and Edoardo Bennato, who rewrote the lyrics and took the song to the top of the charts in Italy and Switzerland. From January to September 1990, the song was the best-selling single in Italy. The song was presented for the first time by the two singers-songwriters in Milan in December 1989, and performed live during the opening ceremony, held on June 8, 1990, in Milan, before the Argentina-Cameroon football match.

The song was among the first to contain a single instrumental version (indicated as a karaoke version) and to be published as a maxi single.

Track listings

7" single
  1. "Un'estate italiana" – 4:07
  2. "Un'estate italiana" (karaoke version) – 4:07
12" maxi
  1. "Un'estate italiana" (stadium version) – 4:50
  2. "Un'estate italiana" (7" version) – 4:07
  3. "Un'estate italiana" (karaoke version) – 4:07
CD maxi
  1. "Un'estate italiana" (stadium version) – 4:50
  2. "Un'estate italiana" (single version) – 4:07
  3. "Un'estate italiana" (karaoke version) – 4:07

Charts and sales

Peak positions

Chart (1990) Peak
position
Austrian Singles Chart[1] 11
French SNEP Singles Chart[1] 23
German Singles Chart[1] 2
Italian Singles Chart 1
Norwegian Singles Chart[1] 4
Swedish Singles Chart[1] 7
Swiss Singles Chart[1] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (1990) Position
Austrian Singles Chart[2] 28
Swiss Singles Chart[3] 1

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Germany (BVMI)[4] Gold 250,000^
Sweden (GLF)[5] Gold 25,000x

^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Chart successions

Preceded by
"Black Velvet" by Alannah Myles
Swiss number-one single
July 1, 1990 (1 week)
Succeeded by
"Verdammt - ich lieb' dich" by Matthias Reim
Preceded by
"A Special Kind of Hero" by Stephanie Lawrence
FIFA World Cup theme song
1990
Succeeded by
"Gloryland by Daryl Hall and Sounds of Blackness
and
"We Are the Champions" by Queen

References