Renzo Colombo scored modest chart success in the early eighties with a string of releases on the continental Eurodisque label. Peaking at number 43 in the Italian charts with ‘Taekwondo, kwondo, kwondo’, a song that blended a smooth crooning style with fast-paced martial arts moves, he was quickly tipped to represent Italy at the 1983 Eurovision Song Contest. However, his eligibility was contested when it was discovered that Colombo was non-other than heavyweight, veteran cruise line entertainer (and former bass player with Grimsby rockers Pollock) Ray Colindale.

With his ex-wife previously believing he had died in a fish-packing accident and now chasing him for maintenance, a return to the UK looked off-limits. Despite this, moves from his management proposed he be considered as a contestant in the UK’s Song for Europe.

At a Eurovision summit in Luxembourg, this looked like a distinct possibility – provided that he sang in English. All of Ray’s compositions had been written in English and then translated into Italian by major minor songster Rosa Minestrone. However, the complex conditions of a publishing deal Ray had signed some years before in Palermo arose with an unnamed Sicilian syndicate (who owned the rights to the original lyrics) demanding ‘unreasonable royalties’.

A solution appeared to be on the table when it was suggested that, if the lyrics were simply translated back from the Italian into English, ownership could be contested and copyright bypassed. An objection from the Yugoslavian delegation meant that clearance would only be granted if the lyrics were first translated into Serbo-Croat, back into Italian and then into English. It quickly became apparent that this rendered the words utterly incomprehensible. While his management considered this a benefit, Ray himself found the whole process ‘artistically stifling’ and withdrew from the deal seeking refuge in the principality of San Marino.

With ongoing legal troubles pursuing him, a cruel twist of fate meant that Ray, or Renzo as he was now known again, was unable to perform any his Italian hits there. However, due to the tiny republic’s status, a law permitted Colombo to sing them in the original English should he wish. He quickly set about re-recording his entire back catalogue of seventeen albums, a pioneering studio technique allowing him to overdub them all with an Italian accent giving the work ‘a more authentic local flavour.’

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