Hi Everyone,
Well here we are, already in February. What happened to January, do you know?
It’s the day after Super Bowl Sunday!! I hope those of you that like football and went to Super Bowl parties had a terrific time. Hope you didn’t eat too much or over do the beer!! I also hope your team won!! For the rest that had a quiet Sunday and enjoyed Il Volo videos and Il Volo CD’s, you had a great Sunday too!
It seems Ignazio’s appearance at his friend’s concert has gone well, hope they had a terrific turnout. Check out our video!
Ignazio has tweeted a picture of himself with his new dog, Buddy. Check Mundial or All Things Il Volo for the really cute photo.
Gianluca has tweeted that he is taking driving lessons!
Piero tweeted a good morning kiss, while sitting at his piano!
Today’s “Did You Know” looks into the career of Frankie Laine. I know you remember him, he had a 75 year career as a singer, did you know that? He was another of the great singers of Italian descent that has entertained us over the years.
Frankie Laine was born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio in Chicago, Il in 1923. His parents had emigrated from Monreale, Sicily. His father worked at one time as the personal barber of Al Capone. A young Francisco was with his grandfather when he was gunned down by rival gangsters. Francesco changed his name professionally to Frankie Laine in 1938.
It is not possible to cover his long career here. His emotionally charged style after WW 2 was considered the harbinger of Rock and Roll music to come. It was said “Laine cannot be categorized” , he’s one of those singers not on one track.
His famous songs include “That’s My Desire“, “That Lucky Old Sun“, “Mule Train“,”High Noon” and “Rawhide“. He is well known for singing the theme songs on many westerns.
His last public appearance was on “My Music” on PBS in 2005. He died in 2007 at the age of 93.
Keeping with the theme of entertainers of Italian descent, do you remember Pat Cooper, the comedian? No, he was not a singer, but he used his Italian backround in his comedy all the time!
Pat Cooper was born Pasquale Caputo in Brooklyn, NY on 7/31/29. His Mom emigrated from Naples Compania and Foher. His dad, from Mola di Bari, Foggia. Pat Cooper often appeared as second billing with Sinara, Martin, Martin and Lewis, Bennett, Connie Frances and Tony Martin. He was a TV fixture for years on Perry Como, Ed Sullivan and Mike Douglas, to name a few. Today he is age 85 and still considers taking some TV rolls!
Did you know this about the beautiful city of Naples in Italy?
Naples is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Bronze Age Greek settlements were established in the Naples area in the second millennium BC A larger colony – initially known as Parthenope – developed on the Island of Megaride around the ninth century BC, at the end of the Greek Dark Ages. The city was refounded as Neápolis in the sixth century BC and became a lynchpin of Magna Graecia playing a key role in the merging of Greek culture into Roman society and eventually becoming a cultural centre of the Roman Republic Naples remained influential after the fall of the Western RomanEmpire, serving as the capital city of the Kingdom of Naples between 1282 and 1816. Thereafter, in union with Sicily, it became the capital of the Two Sicilies until the unification of Italy in 1861. During the Neapolitan War of 1815, Naples strongly promoted Italian unification.
Remember February 11th is Gianluca’s 19th birthday, hope you all sent your greetings in for the video.
As we know on March 6th, Il Volo will appear at “The Theatre” at Madison Square Garden as the guests of Italian singer, Laura Pausini. I don’t know about you, but I’m excited that they will be back here in The States again. When we have information on any further activity, we’ll let you know.
Gianlucca tweeted today, “Going back to Ny and LA in a month” Could LA mean recording?? Just askin’
Linda