This Top 5 was submitted by Susan Steady of Waterford, Connecticut. In her submission Susan wrote, “Music has always played a huge part in my life. Listening and dancing around the living room with my Dad, playing piano, trumpet, and saxophone in school bands through college, in happy times, sad times, and most of all in love with my husband!” This Top 5 felt especially intimate as these are all songs Susan shared with her father Danial Mario Pannella. Daniel, born Donato, was a 1st generation American as his parents had immigrated from Italy before his birth. Daniel was raised speaking Italian in the home. He only began speaking English when he entered school but remained fluent in Italian all his life. Susan was raised with many Italian customs and foods. She still has a large family Christmas celebration on Christmas Eve each year. Susan wrote, “I miss him so much. He was always there to support and love me and our family unconditionally.”
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Tony Bennett: “Because of You” (1958)
Tony Bennett may not have been the most successful of his contemporaries during their heydays in the 1950s and 60s but he saw the most significant revival of his career in the 1990s when his music was discovered and came to be loved by an entirely new generation of listeners. The title track of his very first album, 1958’s “Because of You” is the first song in Susan’s Top 5 songs that remind her of her father. About the song she said, “This reminds me of my Mom and Dad, it was their song and I love it!”
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Engelbert Humperdinck: “Quando Quando Quando” (1968)
Throughout Engelbert Humperdinck’s career he saw great success with English language versions of Italian language songs. This single from his 1968 album a man without love was the second of Susan’s Top 5 songs that remind her of her father. About this song Susan said, “It’s Italian! It reminds me of my Dad, and my aunts! Of happy times, singing in the house, and family gatherings!”
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Luciano Pavarotti: Turandot, Act 3, Nessun Dorma! (2001)
Nessun Dorma, from the opera Turandot as performed by Luciano Pavarotti, was Susan’s father’s favorite song. This is a live version taken from Pavarotti’s album Nessun Dorma! released in 2001 that is a collection of his greatest arias. About the song Susan said, “This was my Dad’s favorite song, and his Mom’s favorite; my Noni. We watched the video of Pavarotti performing this often when I’d visit him and I feel connected to my family when I hear it.”
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Andrea Bocelli: Time to Say Goodbye (feat. Sarah Brightman)
Known as much for his pop music as his opera this duet which the Welsh soprano Sarah Brightman suggested to Andrea Bocelli they perform together may have brought him greater fame than any other song he released on record. It comes from Bocelli’s multiplatinum compilation LP Romanza. About the song Susan said, “My Dad loved this song and he introduced me to Andrea Bocelli’s music. It became more prophetic as his end came near.”
