Biography
Vocal duo Renée & Renato continue to be identified most strongly with the much-parodied kitsch classic “Save Your Love,” the duet that nevertheless reached the summit of the British pop charts over the 1982 Christmas period. Born in Rome, Renato Pagliari launched his working life as a professional waiter in a succession of five-star restaurants around the world, where he frequently sang Neapolitan songs and operatic arias for delighted diners and gratified employers alike. After establishing himself in Birmingham, England, in 1975, he performed on the television talent showcase New Faces.
Songwriter Johnny Edward was so struck by Pagliari’s soaring tenor that he promptly invited the singer to record “Save Your Love,” yet a protracted series of business and legal obstacles postponed the session for seven years. During that interval Edward also encountered singer and actress Hilary Lester, a graduate of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art whose earlier distinction included an extra’s role in the film version of the Pink Floyd concept album The Wall.
Edward rechristened Lester “Renée” and finally secured the single’s release in autumn 1982. The treacly ballad, whose lyrics were extravagantly sentimental, debuted on the U.K. pop charts at number 54 before surging to number one for the closing weeks of the year. Because Lester had already joined another band by the time the record reached stores, the promotional video—itself flamboyantly overblown—featured stand-in Val Penny lip-syncing her part. Lester rejoined Pagliari for the 1983 follow-up “Just One More Kiss,” which peaked at number 48; when the third single, “Jesus Loves Us All,” failed to chart at all, Edward ended the project and the pair parted company.
Thereafter Lester supplied backing vocals for film soundtracks that included Evita and The Land Before Time, performed as a solo artist, and collaborated with pop singer Don Fardon of “Delta Queen” renown as well as swing-revivalist Mick the Knife; in 2007 she appeared in the stage production Confessions of a Stay-at-Home Mum. Pagliari, for his part, adapted the Neapolitan song “O Sole Mio” into “Just One Cornetto” for a well-known Wall’s ice-cream advertisement, issued six solo albums, and worked as a cruise-ship entertainer for Royal Caribbean International, Cunard, and Costa Cruise Lines. In his later years he regularly sang at his son Remo’s Staffordshire restaurant, Renato’s. Pagliari died on 29 July 2009 after surgery to remove a brain tumor.
Songwriter Johnny Edward was so struck by Pagliari’s soaring tenor that he promptly invited the singer to record “Save Your Love,” yet a protracted series of business and legal obstacles postponed the session for seven years. During that interval Edward also encountered singer and actress Hilary Lester, a graduate of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art whose earlier distinction included an extra’s role in the film version of the Pink Floyd concept album The Wall.
Edward rechristened Lester “Renée” and finally secured the single’s release in autumn 1982. The treacly ballad, whose lyrics were extravagantly sentimental, debuted on the U.K. pop charts at number 54 before surging to number one for the closing weeks of the year. Because Lester had already joined another band by the time the record reached stores, the promotional video—itself flamboyantly overblown—featured stand-in Val Penny lip-syncing her part. Lester rejoined Pagliari for the 1983 follow-up “Just One More Kiss,” which peaked at number 48; when the third single, “Jesus Loves Us All,” failed to chart at all, Edward ended the project and the pair parted company.
Thereafter Lester supplied backing vocals for film soundtracks that included Evita and The Land Before Time, performed as a solo artist, and collaborated with pop singer Don Fardon of “Delta Queen” renown as well as swing-revivalist Mick the Knife; in 2007 she appeared in the stage production Confessions of a Stay-at-Home Mum. Pagliari, for his part, adapted the Neapolitan song “O Sole Mio” into “Just One Cornetto” for a well-known Wall’s ice-cream advertisement, issued six solo albums, and worked as a cruise-ship entertainer for Royal Caribbean International, Cunard, and Costa Cruise Lines. In his later years he regularly sang at his son Remo’s Staffordshire restaurant, Renato’s. Pagliari died on 29 July 2009 after surgery to remove a brain tumor.
Albums