Yesterday Once More

25 Aug 2015

Italian American Singers

Hi Listeners

While researching for our program I was struck by the preponderance of singers with Italian heritage. This is especially true in the USA, but we also have a few singers too such as Kate Ceberano and Tina Arena. Probably one of the most famous singers is Tony Bennett (Anthony Dominick Benedetto) whose iconic classic ‘I Left My Heart In San Francisco’ is included here. Equally famous is Dean Martin (Dino Paul Crocetti) who really cashed in on the ‘Italian sound’ with hits like ‘That’s Amore’. But, there were many others you may not realise had Italian heritage such as Freddy Cannon (Frederick Anthony Picariello Jnr ) with ‘Way Down Yonder In New Orleans’, Morgana King (I Have Loved Me A Man) who was born Maria Grazia Morgana Messina and James Darren (James William Ercolani) who is represented here with his big hit ‘Goodbye Cruel World’.

Popular singers like Connie Francis (Mama) who was christened Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero used their Italian heritage to good effect. Dion (Dion Francis Di Muci) kept part of his Christian name and became a big star (Runaround Sue). Other ‘hidden’ singers were Lou Christie (Lugee Alfredo Giovanni Sacco) with ‘Lightning Strikes’ and Jack Scott (Giovanni Domenico Scafone Jnr) with his big hit ‘What In The World’s Come Over You’. Aussie singer John St Peeters (You, You’re The One) initially performed under his real name ‘Johnny Lo Piccolo’ and was a popular child performer known as ‘The Squeezebox Kid’.

Taken together you can see how influential and important was the contribution of Italian heritage to the music scene and continues to this day with huge stars like Madonna and Lady Gaga.

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