Miko Mission

Although best known for his gloriously kitsch 1980s Euro-pop classic 'How Old Are You?', Italian pop dreamer Pier Michele Bozzetti aka Miko Mission first emerged as a fresh-faced teen idol in the 1960s, and plugged away on the European pop scene for years before creating a handful of cult Italo-disco hits. Born in the historic city of Alessandria in the North West of Italy, Bozzetti started singing and performing at the age of seven and by 14 he was playing locally with his band The Oscars. He got his first big break in 1964 when he won the Ribalta Per Sanremo talent show and landed a deal with Ariston Records, releasing popular summer jukebox singles 'Gente Che Ragazza!' and 'Non Hai Piu Niente per Me' under the name Don Miko. He was still only 20 when he entered the prestigious Sanremo Music Festival in 1965 and was soon making his first television appearances on variety programmes such as 'Settevoci' and 'La Fiera dei Sogni'. He also collaborated on songs with Luciano Beretta, Valerio Negrini and Adriano Celentano, returning for a more successful performance at Sanremo in 1976 with wistful ballad 'Signora Tu'. As synthesised pop took over the charts in the 1980s, he launched a comeback as Miko Mission and 'How Old Are You?' became one of the great club anthems of the era selling millions of copies across Europe. Singles 'The World Is You' and 'Two for Love' were similarly flamboyant slices of Euro-pop glee and Miko Mission's reputation as a cult Italo-disco hero was cemented.

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