History - Discography - Charts - Videos
As Yeah Yeah had failed in becoming a big hit-single in Italy, the promotion of Sabrina's forthcoming album, Over the pop, seemed more difficult than planned. Indeed, if several good songs had been recorded, none of them had the potential to become a huge hit like My chico. But a last-minute addition to the album gave new hopes to her Italian record company and boosted the album sales: Siamo donne.
According to the official version, Jo Squillo came to Sabrina's to make her listen to a duet she had especially written for them during the winter of 90; it's rather funny that Sabrina was offered to record a feminist anthem as she had been so much criticized by the women's movements at the end of the 80s. Anyway, the day after this meeting, work began and the song was quickly recorded.
To create a kind of event around this surprising duet, it was decided that Sabrina and Jo Squillo would take part in the San Remo festival from February 27th till March 2nd, 1991. Sabrina declared then that, as a child, she had always dreamed to participate in this festival, especially in Italian. The dream thus was becoming reality… Sabrina and Jo Squillo performed the song (live) twice in San Remo. The reception was mixed and they finished 13th in the category "Campioni " where Riccardo Cocciante triumphed that year. However, the song became very popular. It reached #15 in the Italian charts and climbed even higher in several hit-parades thanks to a strong promotion on TV and in the press. The duet also toured in several discos.
For Sabrina, the benefits were thus very positive and Siamo donne became the real lead single of her new album which went out in Italy in April, a few weeks after the San Remo Festival. The title of the song was moreover mentioned in red on the front cover of the album.
But Sabrina was very independent and could not achieve fulfillment in a duet. Becoming a two-headed star was straight against her nature. That's why she recorded a solo version of Siamo donne featuring the rap recorded for the remix of Yeah Yeah. She performed it on very numerous occasions, in particular during the Festivalbar where this version became quite successful. But instead of including it in a re-issue of the album Over the pop, Sabrina's label decided to publish it on the B-side of the 12" Shadows of the night released in late June.
Needless to say that the two singers were no longer seen together on stage that year after the release of Sabrina's solo version ... It was not until January 1994 that the duo got together again for a TV show (Domenica in) during which they performed a new remix of their song.
If Siamo donne appeared as a commercial success, it covered up a deep and profound malaise in Sabrina's professional life. Indeed, the relationships with her manager were deteriorating more and more. She even said a few years later that San Remo had increased tensions between them and had been a very painful experience for her. She considered with hindsight that her participation to the festival, besides with a song in Italian, had been a big mistake. She probably thought that it had limited her to the only Italian market while she should have consolidated her international career. In the 90s, when she explained the reasons why she had left her manager, she said that she didn't like anymore most of the songs she had to record. Siamo donne was probably one of them. So, it's not surprising if Sabrina didn't re-record it in 2008 for her album Erase / Rewind. Nevertheless, as she was aware of the fact that it remains one of her most famous songs in Italy (with Boys), especially for the gays who are nowadays her main fan-base, she never stopped singing (in playback) her 91' solo version, in concert or in (gay) discos during the 2000s. She even released a short version which is nowadays available for download on I-tunes and Amazon.
Jo Squillo also tried to capitalize on her main hit and re-recorded Siamo donne in 1993, 2008, 2009 and 2012.
Note that an English version of the song was recorded for the San Remo Festival : Part time lovers by Shannon. The song was also released in Italy but this version flopped. Shannon appeared in the official music video for Siamo donne.
More than 20 years after its release, we can now wonder if Siamo donne could have been released outside Italy. Maybe in Spain, a good market for Italian music and a country where Sabrina was still famous in 1991. As for a release of the English version, it's impossible to know if Sabrina and Jo Squillo were asked to record it. But if they were, Sabrina, on the verge of a nervous breakdown, probably categorically refused, quoting her song All of me: "Don’t want a Part time lover!"
Charts
COUNTRY |
HIGHEST POSITION |
CHART ENTRY DATE |
CHART HISTORY |
Italy |
15 |
Unknown |
#23 on March, 30. Then #15, 19, … |
Official Music Video
First performance at San Remo
Second performance at San Remo
Shannon's Part time lovers (Audio)
In 2008, Sabrina was a guest at Very Victoria. On this occasion, Victoria Cabello e Sabrina Impacciatore made a great and funny imitation of Sabrina and Jo Squillo singing Siamo donne.