TV Italian Style
The ‘TV Italian Style’ podcast is an A-Z of the golden age of Italian television of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s from the perspective of the ever popular varietà and the famous faces who would host and guest star on these shows. It’s a bilingual podcast, in English and Italian, with conversations with experts on Italian TV and culture alongside clips from all the best shows and performances. Visit the accompanying website https://tvitalianstyle.wordpress.com/ to download translated transcriptions for each episode to support your listening.
TV Italian Style
Z: ‘Zum zum zum’ and other theme songs of the varietà
Sarà capitato anche a voi
di avere una musica in testa,
sentire una specie di orchestra
suonare suonare suonare suonare
Zum zum zum zum zum,
Zum zum zum zum...
Well, has it ever happened to you? Have you found yourself humming or singing a song that's got stuck in your head? And how many times has that song been from a television show you were watching?
Television theme songs are the focus for this final episode of the TV Italian Style podcast series, and we're talking about 'Da-da-un-pa', 'Tutta la gente del mondo', 'Stasera mi butto', 'Quelli belli come noi', 'Ma che musica maestro', 'Tiritera', and 'Zum zum zum'. We're exploring how theme songs act as miniature representations of the programme they feature in, and become the 'soundtracks of our lives - thereby giving us another angle from which to think about the importance of Italian television during this golden age of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. I'm really pleased in this concluding episode to be joined with my co-hosts from the series, who have each proposed a theme song to talk about. Thank you to Cecilia Brioni, Jessica Harris, Giancarlo Lombardi, Matteo Marinello, and Nicolò Salmaso for coming back to the podcast and for contributing throughout the series - I could not have done it without you! Thank you also to the British Academy for providing the funding to support the creation of the podcast and the research I have undertaken to produce the contents. I hope you have enjoyed the series!