Bella Notte - Umberto Marcato

Here's a cover of Bella Notte by Italian artist UBERTO MARCATO. I found this track on a value CD called ABSOLUTE ITALIAN CLASSICS and don't really know much more about it, except that it was recorded in 1957.

I don't really know much about Uberto Marcato either so if any of you out there know a good Umberto Marcato website or what album this song originally appeared on, please let me know!

Bella Notte Umberto Marcato 1957

Bella Notte - Steve Tyrell

Based on Ward Greene's short story Happy Dan, the Cynical Dog, Walt Disney's 15th animated feature film, Lady and the Tramp, has gained a solid place in the history of the studio.

The most memorable song in the film has got to be Bella Notte, a love ballad that is sung to the titular characters as they shared the same plate of spaghetti. This scene, even though it was created for the film and was never in the original story, has become a well recognized scene. It is argued to be the most romantic moment in Disney animation and has been parodied many times over the years.

This version is by pop jazz artist STEVE TYRELL and is a classy reworking of the song. I particularly like it when he breaks into Italian toward the end.

Bella Notte Steve Tyrell 2006

Bella Notte - Demis Roussos

Here's a song that I can't believe I haven't covered yet. Bella Notte, the love ballad from Lady and the Tramp. This song has become very popular for Italian singers to cover, but today's cover is not one of those.

DEMIS ROUSSOS is from Egypt but he started his career in Greece when he was 17. After playing in a number of folk cover bands he met up with Aphrodite's Child and joined the group as a lead singer in 1968. His operatic style put the band on the map and after their break up in 1971 Pandolfi had a sucessful solo career. Many of his EPs and single have reached number one in the UK but Roussos remains under the radar in North America.

You'll hear a good sample of his vocal ability in his cover of Bella Notte which he recorded for his 1996 album SERENADE.

Bella Notte Demis Roussos 1996

Bella Notte/Les Poissons - On the Record Cast

It's the fifth Friday of the month and that means that I am going to fulfill a reader request. The first request I got was one from an anonymous reader asking for covers of Poor Unfortunate Souls and Les Poissons, obviously this person is a Little Mermaid fan.

Well, I don't really have any covers of either of these songs, except a version of Poor Unfortunate Souls by the Jonas Brothers. But I do have this one from the Disney's On the Record Broadway musical. It is a medley of Lady and the Tramp's Bella Notte and Les Poissons. Is this an unusual pairing for a medley? Yes. But it is part of the seventh session in the musical that features songs about animals (Bella Notte is a little bit of a stretch because it's not really about animals).

Take a listen anyway. It's cool how they mash these two songs together. And I don't really have anything to say about the history of this song or the performers or anything, except that today is the day that On the Record began performances in Chicago at The Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University.

Bella Notte/Les Poissons On the Record Cast 2004