Aldo Franco Arabic

A singer and songwriter in the mid nineteen nineties, Aldo Franco Arabic rose to become a leading, popular artist in the Arabic and World Music scene in the genre of music known as Franco Arabic music.

His popularity was underscored by the success of his second album Yalla from which came two major chart hits. Aldo is seen, along with artists such as Dalida, as a leading pioneer in this West meets East form of Arabic music. The term Franco Arabic is a termed used in the Middle-East to describe this special crossover relationship between Western and Middle Eastern styles in areas ranging from business relationships to the world of entertainment. The famous Egyptian actor Omar Sharif is often described as a 'Franco Arabic' actor.

Aldo - Franco Arabic Singer (Born in Perth, Western Australia, 23 Nov, 1960)

Background

Born In Perth, Western Australia, Aldo was born of European parents. His father immigrated to Australia from Italy and his mother (who also immigrated to Australia at around the same time) immigrated from Germany in the early nineteen fifties. From early in life Aldo was into music from playing instruments such as the piano accordion and guitar through to learning to sing at school.
It was during his teenage years that Aldo discovered his love for singing and performing working with local hometown bands such as the 'Diablos', a school rock and roll band called 'Nautilus' and the Italian cabaret band 'Rivali'. Aldo's father was a notable operatic baritone who was once offered a place in the famous La Scala Opera Company of Milan, As a result of this influence, Aldo too became interested in opera. In his late teenage years he joined the Western Australian Opera Company under the then director Gerald Krug. At the same time he took opera singing lessons to help further develop his vocal ability. This lead him to perform in many different arenas including on stage operas and ultimately would lead to his Middle-Eastern success.

The Arabic Connection

In 1984, Aldo married a girl named Bernadette who was of Egyptian birth. So began his Middle-Eastern connection. As a performer Aldo performed in many community related events, He made many friends and contacts in this period and many inroads into the local Arabic migrant communities in Australia. As a consequence of some of these contacts Aldo got involved with (and ultimately took control of) the local Arabic language broadcaster 'Arabic Radio' in the late 1980's. The success of the Arabic Radio programmes surprised many but no one more than Aldo who initially spoke no Arabic but still managed to coordinate and bring the shows together. The Franco-Arabic influence became evident at that point and his career began to navigate in a whole new direction. The success of the 'Arabic Radio' programme has been credited largely due the popularity it gained through bridging the gap between the migrated Arabic population and their New Australian offspring who were attracted by the Western influence into a normally very traditional and rigid Arabic media form. This was the influence known throughout the Arabic world as Franco Araby - Franco Arabic.

Arabic Song

It was during the period that Aldo was with Arabic Radio in Western Australia that he was invited to sing at an Arabic community function. He happily accepted but had second thoughts when he was asked to sing at least one song in Arabic. After some coaxing from friend an future musical collaborator Richard Elhaj, he accepted the challenge and performed the song 'Mayal' by Amr Diab, one of Egypt s leading pop stars. While he could not speak Arabic at the time, he was coached into learning the song 'parrot fashion' by his friends, family and colleagues. The show was a hit and lead to offers to make a demo recording of some material that was in secret written for him as a result of the performance. Clearly having enjoyed the demo experience, Aldo went on to record further material with the support of lyric and music writers from the local community who also assisted in the creation process for his early material.
In 1995 Aldo received offers from two record companies in the Middle East to join their labels, one in Egypt and one in Saudi Arabia.
Aldo decided to accept the proposal from Music Master of Saudi Arabia, a decision he was to say later was perhaps a hasty one.

Recording Releases

Under the Music Master label Aldo had his first Middle East release of Mish Momkin in late 1995. The single went to number three on the Arabic Singles Charts ahead of major artists at the time such as Amr Diab, Fairuz, Majida El Roumi, Hisham Abbas, Moustafa Amar and many other well known stars who also had new releases out at the time. In early 1996 the next hit Yalla did the same on the charts. The Aldo phenomenon was born. A 'Westerner' singing in Arabic. The next two years were what Aldo himself describes as a 'golden time' for his music.

Success

The video clips and promotion for Aldo made a big impact throughout the Arabic world with TV appearances and coverage across the globe. However, in private the impact was not always as smooth. Aldo's family commitments and a falling out with Music Master Records, saw Aldo complete his last project for some time back in 1997. That project was the writing and recording of the title song for the Australian-Arabic movie production 'Assef Habebti' -(Sorry my Love). The song Sorry My Love was an instant hit with fans but instead of using this to continue his success he chose to retreat from the spotlight and spend the time with his family and his business interests. The impact of his music contribution however, had already been profound and permanent.

Aldo Today
Aldo today is spends most of his time in his personal business pursuits both in Australia and overseas. Although there has been talk of a new recording Aldo has not confirmed this saying only that he was very happy with the support he received, the acceptance his music enjoyed and its positive contribution to Arabic culture.

References and Sources

* IMDB online movie database (http://imdb.com/name/nm/)
* Music Master Records, Saudi Arabia (http://www.music-master.com)
* Aramusic Distributors, North America/Canada(http://www.aramusic.com/)
* CD Arabia online, (http://www.cd-arabia.com/shopping.php)
* Arabic Radio, Perth, Western Australia (http://www.mrtawa.org.au/1/arabicradio.php)

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