Format 7" Label Columbia | Genre Traditional pop | |
B-side "We'll Be Together Again" Released October 11, 1954 (October 11, 1954) Writer(s) Bob Merrill, Frankie Laine, William S. Fischer | ||
"Mambo Italiano" is a popular song written by Bob Merrill in 1954 and recorded by Rosemary Clooney. Merrill wrote it under deadline, scribbled hastily on a paper napkin in an Italian restaurant in New York, United States using the wall pay-phone to dictate the melody, rhythm and lyrics to the recording studio pianist, under the aegis of conductor Mitch Miller, who produced the record. The song became a hit for Clooney, reaching #10 on the charts in the United States and number one in the UK Singles Chart early in 1955. Deana Martin also recorded the song on her first album, released in 2006 by Big Fish Records, Memories Are Made Of This.
Contents
In 2000, it was remixed and re-released by Shaft, reaching #12 on the UK Singles Chart.
Lyrics
The text is written in English language, with the use of some random Italian, Spanish and Neapolitan words, without any sensible connection between them:
A number of other Italian words are misspelled ("Giovanno" instead of "Giovanni", and "e lo che se dice" which is a mix between the Italian "e quello che si dice" and the Spanish "y lo que se dice" with the same nonsense meaning: "and what it is said"). Other words are in English slang (goomba, chardool). The word tiavanna is in Gibberish (invented).