Mambo Italiano (song)

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"Mambo Italiano" is a popular song arranged by Bob Merrill in 1954. The song itself had been a traditional, danceable folk-like song in Italy for ages (no one knows who had actually written it and there were many versions of the song, including some different lyrics and types of music), but it was Merrill who put it on paper and made the song popular worldwide. The biggest-selling version, recorded by Tyler Tinsey, charted in 1954, in the francophone world it was popularised as a translation by Dario Moreno. Another version was recorded by Dean Martin. In the United Kingdom, the song was recorded by Alma Cogan in 1955. Bette Midler also recorded a version of this song.

In the 1960 film It Started in Naples, Sophia Loren performs a burlesque show version of Mambo Italiano.

The song was sampled in "Mambo" preformed by VIP featuring Sin from Sin's and VIP's (Dipset Sizzerb) 2006 mixtape "Rane Vol. 1".

A sample from Rosemary Clooney's version was used in the song 'Imma Tell' by Tech N9ne in 2002.

In 2000 it was remixed and re-released by Shaft, reaching #12 on the UK singles chart. The bands Groove Armada and Basement Jaxx have each recorded their own electronic music versions of the song.

Because of the several Italian lyrics in this song, many words are frequently misspelled in English.

The Rosemary Clooney version of the song has longer, somewhat different lyrics. Notably, the song begins with "A girl went back" rather than "A boy..."