Nel blu dipinto di blu (Volare)

August–September 1958

As hard as it is to imagine a non-English language song becoming a huge hit today, Italian singer (and apparently, songwriter) Domenico Modugno had a #1 hit for 5 weeks with "Volare," as it was popularly called.



It's such a time capsule - his greased-back hair, his suit and bowtie, and the corny jazz orchestra playing behind him. It's not a bad song, I guess - the chorus is pretty catchy even though I don't know what he's singing about. I guess it doesn't really matter ("volare" means "to fly").

I recently saw The Godfather again, and I can't help but be reminded of the character Johnny Fontane, the pop singer of the Corleone family whose songs sound more or less like this one. The same crooning style, the same swingin' jazz accompaniment. In the film, Johnny gets the leading role in a big Hollywood movie after the producer wakes up one night with the severed head of his prize stallion under the covers. It's a bit of dramatic flair from Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola, but you gotta wonder. You gotta wonder.

Anyway, teen idol Bobby Rydell hit the top ten with his English-language version in 1960, two summers later. It's given a more "rock" treatment, but somehow it ends up being campier than the original.

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