MobTunes

It's nice to be Italian. The wine is good, the food can't be beat, and it's comforting to know that you probably have a distant cugino who can take care of "that little problem you had upstate." Eh, Paisano! is another reason to celebrate the Italian-American experience, whether or not you're Italian. This collection of crooner classics reads like a set list for the local goodfella wedding singer. The immortal "That's Amoré" by {|Dean Martin|} (real name Dino Paul Crocetti) is almost as good as momma's homemade gravy (or sauce, as Americans like to call it). Songs like {|Louis Prima|}'s "Angelina and Zooma Zooma" and {|Lou Monte|}'s "Peppino, the Italian Mouse" will get all the grandmas away from the buffet and doing the tarantella. And not even Tony Soprano could resist {|Julius LaRosa|}'s hysterical "Eh, Cumpari?" There are also plenty of beautiful ballads that will leave you weeping in your chianti, dreaming of the homeland. So what if there's no {|Frank Sinatra|} on this disc? All the real Italians have all his music already anyway. Mangia! Chris (my mother's Italian) MacDermott