Joe Dolce

Joseph Dolce (, originally ; born October 13, 1947 ) is an American and Australian singer, songwriter, poet and essayist.

Dolce achieved international recognition with his multi-million-selling novelty song "Shaddap You Face", released worldwide under the name of his one-man show, Joe Dolce Music Theatre, in 1980–1981. The single reached number one in 15 countries. It has sold more than 450,000 copies in Australia and continues to be the most successful Australian-produced single worldwide, selling an estimated six million copies. It reached No. 1 on the Australian Kent Music Report singles chart for eight weeks from November 1980. and also No. 1 in Germany, France, Fiji, Puerto Rico, the Canadian province of Quebec, Austria New Zealand and Switzerland. Dolce received the Advance Australia Award in 1981. The song has had hundreds of cover versions over the decades including releases by artists as diverse as Lou Monte, Sheila (France), Andrew Sachs (Manuel in Fawlty Towers), the actor Samuel L. Jackson and the hip-hop artist KRS-One. In 2018, the first Russian-language version was released by two of Moscow's most popular singers, Kristina Orbakaite and Philipp Kirkorov. The song has been translated into 15 languages, including an Australian Aboriginal dialect.

By February 1981, the song had become Australia's best-selling single ever, selling 290,000 copies, entering the Guinness Book of World Records and surpassing the previous record of 260,000 copies by Brady's own "Up There Cazaly".

"Shaddap You Face" has continued to be licensed and recorded by other artists and companies since its release in 1980, with its most recent appearance in 2021 as part of the US series The Morning Show (aka Morning Wars in Australia).

The follow up single, "If You Wanna Be Happy", was released in 1981 and charted in Australia and New Zealand. for the soundtrack of the 1984 film The Terminator, now part of the US Library of Congress collection. He was a featured lead actor in the Australian film Blowing Hot and Cold (1988). He has continued to perform solo and with Van Hek as part of their music-literary cabaret Difficult Women.

In 2010, two of his photos were selected for publication in the US journal Tupelo Quarterly.

Since 2009, he has been a prolifically published poet in Australia. In 2010, he won the 25th Launceston Poetry Cup at the Tasmanian Poetry Festival. His poems were selected for Best Australian Poems 2014 & 2015. He was the winner of the 2017 University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor's Health Poetry Prize, for a choral libretto, longlisted in the same year for the University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor's Poetry Prize and included in the Irises anthology. He longlisted for the 2018 University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor's Poetry Prize and was included in the Silence anthology. He was Highly Commended for the 2020 ACU Poetry Prize and included in the Generosity anthology. He was selected as the August 2020 City of Melbourne Poet Laureate.

Poetry Collections

Discography Albums + List of albums, with Australian chart positions Title Album details Peak chartpositions AUS Shaddap You Face(as Joe Dolce Music Theatre) Released: 1981 Format: LP, cassette Label: Full Moon (FML 12001) - Christmas in Australia(as Joe Dolce Music Theatre) Released: 1981 Format: LP, cassette Label: Hammard (HAM 065) 92 Steal Away Home: The Songs of Motherwell-Dolce Released: 1988 Format: Cassette Label: Dolceamore Music (DM 001) - Pundulumura: Two Trees Together(with Lin Van Hek, Gnarayarrahe Waitaire and Ponjyflydu) Released: 1991 Format: Cassette Label: Dolceamore Music (DM 002) - Difficult Women(with Lin Van Hek) Released: 1992 Format: Cassette Label: Difficult Women (DW 001) - Difficult Women: Black Pepper with a Hint of Violets(with Lin Van Hek) Released: 1995 Format: CD Label: Difficult Women (DW 002) - Memoirs of a Mouth Organ Released: 1997 Format: CD Label: Dolceamore Music (DM 003) - Flower(with Lin Van Hek) Released: 2000 Format: CD Label: Difficult Women (DW 003) - Freelovedays Released: 2004 Format: CD Label: Dolceamore Music (DM 004) - The Wind Cries Mary Released: 2007 Format: CD Label: Dolceamore Music (DM 005) - Live at Poet House(with Lin Van Hek) Released: 2019 Format: CD Label: Difficult Women (DW 004) - Green-eyed Boy of the Rain Released: 2024 Format: CD Label: Dolceamore Music (DM 006) -

Singles + List of singles, with Australian chart positions Year Title Peak chartpositions Sales + certification AUS 1979 "Boat People" - 1980 "Shaddap You Face" 1 AUS: 290,000+ 1981 "If You Want to Be Happy" 61 "Christmas in Australia" / "The 12 Days of Christmas" - 1982 "You Toucha My Car I Breaka You Face" -