by Mark Chilla

From 1947–1954, there were 25 Italian-Americans who had chart-topping hits in the world of American Popular Music. You may say that the Great American Songbook was shaped, at least in part, by these Italian interpreters. On this episode, we'll salute the Italian-American crooners, like such artists as Frank Sinatra, Louis Prima, and Perry Como, hearing both well-known standards as well as songs from their Italian heritage.

There are countless minor deities of Italian crooners that are not covered on this episode, people like Jerry Vale, Julius La Rosa, Frankie Laine, or Vic Damone. But whether you were a titan like Sinatra, or a lesser idol like, say, Al Martino, all Italian-American crooners owe a great deal of debt to Russ Columbo.

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Source: http://indianapublicmedia.org/