FRIDAYS ARE FOR FRANK: “Glad That We’re Italian” (feat. Dean Martin)

Ok, so…

We’re all adults here. And as adults, we recognize that certain “colorful” terms once in common parlance have fallen out of contemporary favor.

That said, in the Rat Pack heyday Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin performed a “colorful” duet titled “Glad That We’re Italian.” We say colorful with an abundance of sensitivity, as Frank and Dean throw in a smattering of phrases that might raise an eyebrow in this day and age—but are a hell of a lot softer than an Archie Bunker diatribe.

Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin were unapologetically Italian—a concept that might seem superficial in this day and age, but had substantial significance during the era in which these men found the spotlight.

In a 2015 interview with hMAG, legendary writer Pete Hamill credits Sinatra for contributing significantly to an overall Italian-American ascendancy in this country. “The combination of Sinatra, DiMaggio and LaGuardia—who were more or less simultaneous—changed the image of the ‘illiterate sons of Italy.’ It gave people like me—the Irish; we didn’t know what the hell to think about most things—and it gave us a way to think about emotion, having an emotional life.”

As we come upon the “St. Ann’s Italian Festival” (known locally as the St. Ann’s Feast), we give what is meant to be a respectful nod to the deeply rooted Italian-American community here in Hoboken—a community that famously includes the Sinatra Family.

Enjoy the week, Hoboken… and be glad that you’re Italian.

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