Bino (singer)

Bino (born Benedetto Arico; * 24 April 1953 in Contessa Entellina; † 19 October 2010 in Contessa Entellina) was an Italian pop singer. Bino (real name Benedetto Arico) first studied architecture in order to take over his father's company. He returned to Italy and came back to Germany in 1975 as a musician, first to Schopfheim in the Black Forest. In nearby Bad Säckingen, he became a member of the existing group "I Figli Di Yuma" with which he toured the region and through Switzerland. Then he came to Oldenburg, where he once worked as an ice cream vendor, sometimes as a singer at festivals and on to Hamburg, where producer Rainer Felsen from Pino Music first took notice of him. In 1978, working with Drafi Deutscher and Mike Mareen, Bino recorded Mama Leone., a song composed by German pop composer and singer Drafi Deutscher and was first sung in German version by Ruth Händel in 1976, but was not a success in this version or in the version by Mike Mareen released in the same year. A third version was released in 1978, sung by Bino. In addition to the German version, he also released an English and an Italian version with lyrics written by himself. Bino landed his biggest success in 1978 with the song Mama Leone, with music composed by Drafi Deutscher and Mike Mareen. The song was recorded in Italian with lyrics by Bino, as well as a German version.