Randazzo
—  Comune  —
Comune di Randazzo
Randazzo.
Randazzo Location of Randazzo in Italy
Coordinates: 37°53′N 14°57′E / 37.883°N 14.95°E / 37.883; 14.95Coordinates: 37°53′N 14°57′E / 37.883°N 14.95°E / 37.883; 14.95
Country	Italy
Region	Sicily
Province	Catania (CT)
Frazioni	Flascio, Monte la Guardia, Murazzorotto
Government
• Mayor	Ernesto Del Campo
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	95036
Dialing code	095
Patron saint	St. Joseph
Saint day	March 19
Website	Official website

Randazzo (Sicilian: Rannazzu) is a town and comune of Sicily, Italy, in the province of Catania. It is situated at the northern foot of Mount Etna, 70 km NW of Catania by rail. It is the nearest town to the summit of Etna, and is one of the points from which the ascent may be made.

History[link]

This section requires expansion.

In the 13th century the town had its own army, which fought in favor of the king against the rebels. In 1210 King Frederick II of Hohenstaufen and his young wife Constance of Aragon sheltered at Randazzo to escape the terrible plague which raged in Palermo.

Randazzo became one of the most densely populated towns in the island, after Palermo and Messina. The town was also divided into three main districts: the Greeks lived in St. Nicola's quarter, the Latins in St. Mary's and the Lombards in St. Martin's.

During the Black Death of 1575-1580 the population of Randazzo declined. The economy slumped, and Randazzo almost turned into a ghost town.^{[citation needed]}

During World War II, Randazzo was bombed by the Allies, destroying or damaging 76% of its buildings.

Historic buildings[link]

• Church of Santa Maria. It has a façade completely built of black lava stone, three polygonal apses in the form of towers and 15th-century side portals in the Catalan-Gothic style. The huge interior is divided into three naves by black monolithic columns, and preserves statues by the Gagini school and six paintings by Giuseppe Velasquez (1750–1827).
• Church of San Martino. It has a 14th-century bell tower, by some acclaimed as the most beautiful in Italy.
• Church of Santa Nicola, the largest in the town, originally established in the 14th century but rebuilt in 1585. It houses works by Antonello and Giacomo Gagini, and in the right nave a triptych by Messinese painters
• Castello Svevo ("Hohenstaufen Castle"), the only one remaining of the eight medieval towers, on a high lava rock, already existing at the time of Frederick II of Hohenstaufen. For a time it was the seat of the Giustiziere del Valdemone (a kind of medieval judge and governor) and a prison, then became the mansion of the Romeo e Vagliasindi families, to become again a prison in later centuries: a sinister building, with tiny cells, a torture chamber, the well for those who were sentenced to be bricked up alive. After a recent restoration the castle is used today as an exhibition center and houses a collection of "Pupi siciliani" and the Paolo Vagliasindi archeological museum.

Main sights[link]

• Aragonese Gate
• Palazzo Lanza
• Palazzo Scala, a former Royal residence from the 12th century.
• Palazzo Finocchiaro (1509).
• The Castello Svevo ("Hohenstaufen Castle")

Gallery[link]

Church of Santa Maria   Church of San Martino   Church of Santa Nicola   Former Town Gateway   Castello Svevo   Cell in Castello Svevo, where prisoners were walled in to starve to death

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Randazzo

Alessandro "Teddy" Randazzo (May 13, 1935 - November 21, 2003) was a NYC ^[1] born pop songwriter who composed 1960s hit songs such as "Goin' Out of My Head", "It's Gonna Take a Miracle", "Pretty Blue Eyes", and "Hurt So Bad".

Early years[link]

In the early years of rock and roll, Randazzo played with a group called The Three Chuckles and appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show numerous times. Their first hit "Runaround", was a top 20 hit. As a solo artist, he had three singles that made the Billboard Top 100: "Little Serenade" (#66) in 1958, "The Way Of A Clown" (#44) in 1960 and "Big Wide World" (#51) in 1963. He co-starred in rock revues staged by the legendary disc jockey Alan Freed, appearing with such artists as Chuck Berry and LaVern Baker. Randazzo also had some starring roles and often performed in such rock films as Hey, Let's Twist, The Girl Can't Help It, Rock, Rock, Rock and Mr. Rock and Roll in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Hit-making years[link]

Randazzo wrote a string of major hits for other artists with composing partner, Bobby Weinstein ^[2], including "Pretty Blue Eyes", a top ten hit for Steve Lawrence. He penned many songs for Little Anthony and the Imperials, producing and arranging several albums for the group in the mid-60s. The hit songs included "Goin' Out of My Head" (#6 Pop, #22 R&B), which was covered by numerous artists including The Zombies and Frank Sinatra; "Hurt So Bad" (#10 Pop, #3 R&B), which was covered by The Lettermen (#12 in 1969), as well as Linda Ronstadt who took it to #8 in 1980; and the Imperials' Top 20 hits, "I'm On The Outside (Looking In)" and "Take Me Back". The Lettermen combined "Goin' Out of My Head" with Frankie Valli's hit, "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" in a medley which reached #7 in 1968.

He arranged and produced two albums on MGM Records with Baltimore girl group, The Royalettes including the Top 50 hit "It's Gonna Take A Miracle" in 1965. He gave the group a big production sound with a full orchestra (compared to sparer instrumentation for Little Anthony recordings), but despite critical acclaim and good reviews for their live shows, the group failed to achieve a major commercial success. "I Want To Meet Him", the follow-up in 1966, reached the Hot 100 and the Top 30 R&B charts. "Miracle" was revived in 1982 by Deniece Williams, who took it to the number 1 R&B spot and #10 in the Hot 100.

All of the 27 songs that Randazzo produced on the two albums, plus another issued on single, appeared on a CD retrospective of the Royalettes' complete MGM output released by UK label, RPM in late 2010.

Many of Randazzo's tunes became pop classics, recorded by a gamut of industry giants from Ella Fitzgerald to (as mentioned previously) Frank Sinatra. "I've lost count on how many versions there are", Randazzo once said of "Goin' Out Of My Head". It is now included in the Top 50 most recorded songs with sales of over 100 million by over 400 artists, according to the Songwriters' Hall Of Fame.

Randazzo wrote "Yesterday Has Gone", which was recorded by UK band Cupid's Inspiration in 1968 and climbed to #4 in the UK pop chart. Later, he provided several songs for albums by New York soul group, The Manhattans, during their 1970s' hey-day, including the 1977 hit, "It Feels So Good To Be Loved So Bad" (#6 R&B, #66 Pop), "There's No Good In Goodbye", "A Million To One" to name a few. He also wrote and produced for the Stylistics. Albums include "Fashionably Yours" and "Love Spell." At this time, Teddy co-wrote songs with his then girlfriend, Victoria Pike and songwriters Roger Joyce and Souren Mozian.

During the early and mid 60's, Randazzo toured extensively with his own band appearing at the Copacabana, New York, Hotel Americana, San Juan and regularly at the Thunderbird Hotel, Las Vegas. Band members included renowned musicians: Larry Taylor, Gerry McGee, Tommy Boyce, Bobby Hart, Vince Megna, Billy Lewis, Kenny Rankin, Bobby Weinstein and Billy Barberis.

Later life and death[link]

Randazzo married R. Shelly Kunewa ^[3] of Hawaii and divided his time between their home in the islands and their home in Florida for most of the latter half of his life. He continued writing and producing. Randazzo produced and arranged the "Honolulu City Lights" album (for Tom Moffat's Paradise Records Label] The song was a hit, the album has become a classic. In 2004, the editors of Honolulu Magazine asked a panel of distinguished recording industry veterans to rank their choices for the best Hawaii album of all time. "Honolulu City Lights" was chosen #1.

Randazzo died at age 68 at his home in Orlando, Florida.

Songwriters Hall of Fame[link]

Randazzo and his writing partner, Bobby Weinstein, were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2007, fifty years after they first started writing songs together.

See also[link]

• List of Italian American entertainers

Sources[link]

• Teddy Randazzo obituary
• Bio of Teddy Randazzo
• Songwriters Hall of Fame

References[link]

1. ^ NYC vital records
2. ^ BMI and Songwriters Hall Of Fame
3. ^ Honolulu Advertiser

External links[link]

• Teddy Randazzo at Find a Grave
• Biography at Allmusic website
• Teddy Randazzo at Spectropop

Florencio Randazzo
Argentine Interior Minister Florencio Randazzo
Ministry of Interior of Argentina
Incumbent
Assumed office Dec 10, 2007
President	Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
Vice President	Julio Cobos (2007 - 2011) Amado Boudou (Since 2011)
Preceded by	Aníbal Fernández
Personal details
Born	March 1, 1964 Chivilcoy, Buenos Aires Province
Nationality	Argentina
Political party	Front for Victory
Alma mater	University of Buenos Aires
Profession	Accountancy

Florencio Randazzo (born March 1, 1964) in an Argentine Justicialist Party politician, currently the President's Interior Minister. The Interior Ministry in Argentina serves as the President's chief political office.

Life and times[link]

Aníbal Florencio Randazzo was born in Chivilcoy, Buenos Aires Province, in 1964, to Gladys Campagnon and Juan "Togo" Randazzo, whose father emigrated from Sicily to Argentina. The elder Randazzo was an active Peronist organizer in Chivilcoy and first involved his son, Florencio, in political activity in 1981, during an economic crisis precipitated by Argentina's dictatorship at the time. Enrolling at the University of Buenos Aires in 1983, he graduated with a degree in accountancy in 1989.

Randazzo was brought on in 1991 as the executive assistant for Fernando Galmarini, the Minister of Government to the new Governor of Buenos Aires, Eduardo Duhalde. He also accepted an pro bono position in the Provincial Organ Transplant Fund, a post he retained until 2003. Named the Minister of Government's Chief of Staff in 1992, he was elected Chivilcoy City Council President in 1993, a position he accepted ad honorem while retaining a post as Director of the Governor's Rural Development office. Elected to the Buenos Aires Provincial Legislature in 1995, he served in numerous social and economic policy committees and, from 1999, as majority leader before his 2002 appointment as Secretary of Government Modernization by the new Governor, Felipe Solá. Governor Solá named Randazzo Cabinet Chief in 2003, effectively making him his top adviser.^[1]

Randazzo at his desk

Opposed by many of the Greater Buenos Aires-area Mayors primarily because Solá broke with tradition by naming a Cabinet Chief from outside the metro area (home to two out of three residents in the Province of Buenos Aires), Randazzo largely limited himself to his role as the Governor's political adviser. The Legislature's rejection of Gustavo Lopetegui as President of the Bank of the Province of Buenos Aires (the nation's second-largest) in December 2005 led Randazzo to recommend the relatively young Martín Lousteau to the powerful post, a decision that reaped Solá benefits when Lousteau successfully negotiated a US$65 million debt the institution owed Spain's Banco Santander.^[2]

Following outgoing President Néstor Kirchner's decision to transfer the Interior Ministry's traditional aegis over law enforcement to the Justice Ministry (leaving Interior focused on political affairs), newly elected President Cristina Kirchner, on Governor Solá's recommendation, appointed Randazzo Interior Minister upon taking office on December 10, 2007.

Randazzo ordered Society of St. Pius X Bishop Richard Williamson to leave the country within ten days on February 19, 2009, following recent comments the bishop made to Swedish television, espousing Holocaust denial. ^[3]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Florencio Randazzo

• Ministerio del Interior (Spanish)

v t e Government of Argentina President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner Vice President Amado Boudou Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers Juan Manuel Abal Medina Ministers Florencio Randazzo (Interior) Héctor Timerman (Foreign Relations) Arturo Puricelli (Defense) Hernán Lorenzino (Economy) Julio de Vido (Federal Planning and Public Utilities) Julio Alak (Justice and Human Rights) Nilda Garré (Security) Alberto Sileoni (Education) Lino Barañao (Science, Technology and Innovative Production) Carlos Tomada (Labor, Employment and Social Security) Juan Luis Manzur (Health) Alicia Kirchner (Social Development) Débora Giorgi (Industry) Norberto Yauhar (Agriculture) Carlos Enrique Meyer (Tourism)