WW's desert island discs #4

I seem to have gotten ahead of myself a bit, because before I leave the sixties, I must make references to two influences that well, influenced me.

In 1961 or 62, my father and mother set off in a white MG Magnette convertible for Rome. I was left behind, as usual, with the grand parents. Upon their return, they produced an LP called "Top Italian Hits" and it got played to death. "Roman Holiday" and "La Dolce Vita" had played big in those years, Volare was a big hit, and some people were starting to cook something called Spaghetti Bolognese, made with olive oil bought in 10cl bottles from a chemist. Being able to make spag bol in 1962, and play authentic Italian music, together with a bottle of Chianti in a raffia case, was a definite puller as far as my dad was concerned. He was an arch philanderer. He once told me, in a moment of drunken sincerity, that he had shagged my aunt at a party. Most women in my own town, of a certain age, looked wistfully into the distance when I mentioned I was his son. My hopes of being "continental" were stirred then, and the lure of Europe became an ambition. "Top Italian Hits" was my window into the world of La Dolce Vita.

So here then, is Tintarella di luna, by Mina.