I spent all day in the garden today, on what was probably the hottest day of the year so far - I achieved a lot, including splitting and re-potting one of the Salvia uglinosa, moving loads of plants around to their summer locations ("playing Tetris"), and then watered and fed every one of our 200+ pots! I'm knackered now.
Inevitably, my company all day was BBC Radio 2 and, it being the run-up to Eurovision, a number of Euro-themed shows were on offer.
Most fascinating was Jack Savoretti's Made In Italy, in which he explored the breadth of Italian pop and its relationship with Eurovision [this year's contest takes place in Milan] - and with a whole load of songs that we consider "standards" today, such as these...
Dusty Springfield's You Don't Have to Say You Love Me began life as an entry in the 1965 Sanremo Festival thus:
Mostly due to a certain Dean Martin, this song has had a life of its own for decades, yet was originally entered in the 1958 Eurovision Song contest, only coming third:
Cilla's You're My World was originally Il mio mondo, premiered by Umberto Bindi, but sung here by Miranda Martino:
Finally, where would one of or treasured Patron Saints Dame Shirley Bassey have been without the pioneering team behind this massive hit for another Patron Saint, Mina?!
Viva l'Italia!
