Italy is iconic worldwide for his mainstream "neapolitan" melodic singing style, and historically, very xenophile but quite slowly receptive to musical influences from abroad.
Rock and roll was seen as a gimmick, or just noise for "teddy-boys" (actual term for young rogues) taste; only some mild-mannered "modern-style" singers (like Tony Renis of "When, when, when" fame) were allowed to be aired, publish records with main labels, and participate in the institutional "Festival di Sanremo" contest.
The early pioneers of rock'n'roll (so-called urlatori) had some media coverage as novelties, but soon, those who wanted to pursue a career in music business had to switch toward the traditional mainstream.
[3] Other popular acts include Bad Boys, Thane Russall, Mike Liddell, Kim Brown & the Renegades, the Senate; the Motowns, fronted by Lally Stott; and the Sorrows, the only band to have also had some chart success in UK.
Foreign but non-British beat groups included the Pyranhas, Evy [it], Nino Ferrer and Antoine from France; Trutz Groth & the Black Stars, and the Honeybeats [it] from Germany; Rocky Roberts & the Airedales from the United States; and Kameleoni from Yugoslavia.