Lou Monte

Monte was born on April 2, 1917 in Manhattan to Italian immigrant parents. His mother died when he was only two. He was raised in Lyndhurst, New Jersey, and he began performing at the age of fourteen. But success came slowly: by his own account, although he sang and played guitar in a number of clubs, he did not begin to gain a large following for about fifteen years.

By the early 1940s, he was performing in New York City, and he was also a headliner at several New Jersey clubs. But when World War II broke out, Monte had to put his career on hold and enlist in the Army. When he was discharged, he resumed playing in clubs, and got a break when he was hired by WAAT AM-970 in Newark, New Jersey in 1948 to do his own show. This offered Monte a chance to refine his act and it helped him to gain a much larger audience. The station rewarded him by convincing its sister TV outlet, WATV-13, to give him some airtime.

Monte's first big hit came in 1954, with the release of his version of "Darktown Strutters' Ball". In 1962, Monte released his first million-seller song, "Pepino the Italian Mouse", which was awarded a gold disc. Co-written by Ray Allen and Wandra Merrell and sung alternately in English and a pastiche of Calabrese, "Pepino the Italian Mouse" tells the humorous tale of a mischievous mouse who lives within the walls of a man's home and who pesters him by eating his cheese, drinking his wine and frightening his girlfriend. Arranged by Joe Reisman, who was Monte's longtime collaborator, the single is credited to Don Costa Productions. "Pepino" peaked at number five on Billboard's Hot 100 in mid-January and fared even better in certain markets, including Monte's native New York City, where the single spent two weeks at number one on WABC at the end of December.

Lou Monte Sings Songs for Pizza Lovers/Lou Monte Sings for You (1999) Collectable Records Corp. BMG Special Products (RCA Victor re-release) COL-CD-2745 DRC1 2333 Songs from(The Album "Songs For Pizza Lovers" was originally released in 1958 as RCA 1877)

(The Album " Lou Monte Sings for You" was originally released in 1958 as RCA 1651)

(Bonus Tracks originally released in 1958 as selections from the Album RCA 1976-"Italian House Party".)

Monte's 1971 recording "I Have An Angel In Heaven" was highly popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s satellite radio version of the "Music Of Your Life."

"Dominick the Donkey" has enjoyed more recent success in the UK, thanks to its extensive use on The Chris Moyles Show in reference to Newsbeat newsreader and regular show contributor Dominic Byrne during the Christmas season. During the week leading up to Christmas of 2011, the show suggested or hinted that users download the song from iTunes and Amazon. This led to the song being the number two song on iTunes between 19 December 2011 and 25 December 2011. "Dominick the Donkey" reached number 3 in the midweek charts on 21 December 2011, before being confirmed at number 3 in the UK Official Christmas Chart for 2011, only beaten by the X-Factor winners (Little Mix) and a charity record by the Military Wives. Dominic the Donkey did however outsell several rival chart campaigns most notably campaigns supporting Nirvana's rerelease of "Smells Like Teen Spirit", which made number 11, and unsigned YouTube blogger Alex Day, who reached number 4.