DJ JOHNNY HiHAT ENTERTAINMENT

MAMBO ITALIANO

	Break-out the red & white table clothes, chianti, pasta, and pane'... There's an Italian musical feast to be served. "Ya... I Spin 'Mob Hits'... You Gotta A Beef With It!"   Mob Hits 'n Misses Modern Music Marketers Hit The Target With This Classification  But Surely Missed The Historical Point With These Tunes.   They're Pop Standards From The Fifties!     That's when there were the "Italian Stallions," as they were called. They included: Dean Martin, Jerry Vale, Perry Como, Al Martino, Tony Bennett, Vic Damone, Frank Sinatra, Louis Prima & others some of whom are listed below.  Their fame continued into the '60s and beyond.   Ironically, the music from these singers was either romantic, or cleverly humorous, like what you are hearing... all quite different from today's violent "gangsta music." Back then, they weren't Mob Hits, at all... just Top-Pop 40 tunes that everyone enjoyed and, of course, anthems played and sung at every Italian wedding.   The blockbuster movies "The Godfather" and "Good Fellas" plus other stereotyping created the current genre name.  Make no mistake, these are artists with great voices singing melodies and lyrics from some of the best songwriters of the time. And, I haven't even begun to mention the opera singers... so,   Bada-Bing!   A SAMPLING THE ANTHEMS Volare | Al-Di-La | I Have But One Heart | That's Amore | Oh Marie | Lazy Mary Mambo Italiano | Buona Sera | To Each His Own | Non Dimenticar | Return to Me Angelina Zooma Zooma | Roman Guitar | Pretend You Don't See Her | On and On Innamorata | Love Me the Way I Love You | Eh, Cumpari | Speak Softly Love   A SAMPLING OF ARTISTS Dean Martin (Dino Crocetti) | Al Martino (Alfred Cini) | Perry Como (Pierino Como)  Tony Bennett (Anthony Dominic Benedetto) | Bobby Darin (Walden Robert Cassotto) | Frankie Laine (Frank Paul Locecchio) | Vic Damone (Vito Rocco Farinola) Franki Valli (Francis Stephen Castelluccio) + the other "3 Seasons" Gaudio, Massi & Devito  Julius LaRosa, Louie Prima, and of course... Francis Albert Sinatra whose voice and personality fit his name perfectly. Then there are the women Connie Francis (Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero), Joni James (Joan Carmela Babbo) | Kay Ballard (Catherine Gloria Belotta).  And Some Early Rock 'n Rollers  Frankie Avalon (Francis Thomas Avallone) |Sonny Bono (Salvatore Philip Bono) Freddy Cannon (Frederick Anthony Picariello) | Joey Dee (Joseph DiNicola) Johnny Rivers (John Ramistella) | Bobby Rydell (Louis Ridarelli) Not To Forget Some Current Performers Jon Bon Jovi (John Francis Bongiovi Jr.) | Vinnie Vincent of Kiss (Vincent Cusano) Madonna (Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone) | Bernadette Peters (Bernadette Lazzara) Gwen Stefani | Liza Minnelli   A SAMPLING OF PROPS Without doubt the biggest prop is great food and drink. Fuggedaboud the corn chips!  If its name ends in "os," it doesn't fit here.   You don't like to cook? (Whatsamatta for you!)...Well then, order-in Pizza.   Otherwise the sky is the limit...  (But, hold the Swedish Meatballs for MEATBALLS that need no national adjective!) Antipasto | Bruschettas | Calamari | Garlic Bread | Prosciutto | Gorgonzola Cheese Sidedishes of  Linguine, Lasagna, Stuffed Shells, Baked Ravioli or Manicotti And...tell your neighbors to lock up their pets 'cause you're gonna Cacciatore, Marsala, Saltimbocca, and/or Parmigiana anything with four legs!  Dolci, of course to top things off.   "Abudanza!"   DEAN MARTIN   Dean, originally Dino Crocetti, wasn't the original artist to record this tune, Rosemary Clooney was. However, back then, artists and music weren't linked together as they are today. The concept of "covering" (recording over the original artist) wasn't unusual. It was simply: Find a great tune and sing it to your style.   Interestingly, Dean Martin was thought to be the "weaker" of the "Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis Show" as he was the "straight-man" for Lewis' comedy.  However, the charts tell the tale, as do the number of movies and TV shows.   Lewis had one hit "Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With A Dixie Melody," which he still sings on his Muscular Dystrophy Telethon.  Martin, on the other hand, had 17 Top 40 hits of which two were #1s that went GOLD:   The first was "Memories Are Made Of This" (1955), which was #1 for 6 weeks; Top 40 for an amazing 19.  It was a monster hit:  Disc Jocks #1 for 5 weeks; #1 Best Seller for five weeks, #1 Juke Box for 4 week.  It was also used in the "Easy Rider" soundtrack.   Then there was "Everybody Loves Somebody" (1964),  which was #1 for 1 week and on the Top 40 for 13 weeks. Despite its lesser chart success, Dean used this tune as the theme to his very successful TV show which ran from 1965-1974. After all, it was a #1 Adult Contemporary Hit for 8 weeks... Finally, back to the concept of cover, it is ironic that Dean's Rat-Pack buddy, Frank Sinatra, first recorded this tune in 1947.   Sadly after the death of his son, who crashed while in the U.S. Air Force Reserves, Dean, himself, literally and physically crashed. He died on Christmas Day of 1975, far from the public eye.   In all, Dean sang a self-fulfilling prophecy with his first Gold hit, "Memories Are Made Of This."  TO DATE, NO ONE HAS REPLACED HIS "THIS!"... not his voice, personality, nor countenance. That's because in the memories of his contemporaries, he remains irrepressible and irreplaceable.   Johnny

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