"Moon Over Naples" is a 1965 instrumental composed and recorded by German bandleader

Bert Kaempfert Bert Kaempfert (born Berthold Heinrich Kämpfert; 16 October 1923 – 21 June 1980) was a German orchestra leader, multi-instrumentalist, music producer, arranger, and composer. He made easy listening and jazz-oriented records and wrote the musi ...

. The instrumental version reached No. 6 on ''Billboard'''s

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

chart. It won a

BMI Award The BMI Film & TV Awards are accolades presented annually by Broadcast Music, Inc., honoring songwriters, composers, and music publishers in various genres. Based in the United States, the awards include the BMI Christian Awards, BMI Country Awards ...

in 1968. Vocal versions of the song have been recorded as "Spanish Eyes" with lyrics by

Eddie Snyder Edward Abraham Snyder (February 22, 1919 – March 10, 2011) was an American composer and songwriter. Snyder is credited with co-writing the English language lyrics and music for Frank Sinatra's 1966 hit, "Strangers in the Night". Snyder was bor ...

and Charles Singleton. The most notable of these was released by

Al Martino Al Martino (born Jasper Cini; October 7, 1927 – October 13, 2009) was an American singer and actor. He had his greatest success as a singer between the early 1950s and mid-1970s, being described as "one of the great Italian American pop croone ...

, which topped ''Billboard''s

Easy Listening chart The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on airplay data submitted to ''Billboard'' by sta ...

for 4 weeks in 1966. It is one of the most recorded songs with over 500 versions released in various languages.

Background

"Moon Over Naples" was composed by

. It was the first track on his album, ''The Magic Music of Far Away Places'', for

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

. In 1968, "Moon Over Naples" earned Kaempfert one of five

BMI Awards The BMI Film & TV Awards are accolades presented annually by Broadcast Music, Inc., honoring songwriters, composers, and music publishers in various genres. Based in the United States, the awards include the BMI Christian Awards, BMI Country Awards ...

that year; the other awards were for his compositions "Lady", "Sweet Maria", "

Strangers in the Night "Strangers in the Night" is a song composed by Bert Kaempfert with English lyrics by Charles Singleton and Eddie Snyder. Kaempfert originally used it under the title "Beddy Bye" as part of the instrumental score for the movie ''A Man Could Get ...

" and "

The World We Knew (Over and Over) "The World We Knew (Over and Over)" is a popular song recorded by Frank Sinatra in 1967. It is based on a composition by Bert Kaempfert, a German musician and composer. The song first appeared on Sinatra's 1967 album ''The World We Knew'' and was ...

" with a posthumous BMI Award given September 16, 2003. Two different set of lyrics were added to the tune by Charles Singleton and

. In one, "Moon Over Naples" was written as a

Neapolitan song Canzone napoletana (), sometimes referred to as Neapolitan song ( nap, canzona napulitana ), is a generic term for a traditional form of music sung in the Neapolitan language, ordinarily for the male voice singing solo, although well represented ...

, and this vocal version was recorded by

Sergio Franchi Sergio Franchi (born Sergio Franci Galli; April 6, 1926 – May 1, 1990) was an Italian-American tenor and actor who enjoyed success in the United States and internationally after gaining notice in Britain in the early 1960s. In 1962, RCA Vict ...

in 1965, but the song did not chart. In another set of lyrics, the composition became a song about a Mexican girl, and the song title was changed to "Spanish Eyes". Both lyricists are credited in these two versions.

Charts

;Moon Over Naples

"Spanish Eyes"

The Austrian singer

Freddy Quinn Freddy Quinn (born Franz Eugen Helmut Manfred Nidl; 27 September 1931) is an Austrian singer and actor whose popularity in the German-speaking world soared in the late 1950s and 1960s. As Hans Albers had done two generations before him, Quinn ...

, a friend of Kaempfert who was involved in the production of Quinn's hit song "Die Gitarre und das Meer", first recorded "Spanish Eyes" in 1965 with English lyrics written by

. It was released in the United States by

Polydor Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

, and as it was rising in the regional charts, the single by Quinn was pulled from the market due to a dispute over the rights to the song between Polydor and Kaempfert's label

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...

Al Martino version

"Spanish Eyes" was recorded by

and it became a hit single in 1966. The song was released in late 1965 in the United States, and it reached number 15 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 Whitburn, Joel (2004). ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits'', 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 401. and spent four weeks atop the ''Billboard''

Easy Listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...

chart in early 1966.Hyatt, Wesley (1999). ''The Billboard Book of #1 Adult Contemporary Hits'' (Billboard Publications), page 41. This vocal version was also a hit in Europe, where it sold an estimated 800,000 copies in Germany and made the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

twice, peaking at number 49 in 1970 and then reaching number five in August 1973. All subsequent English versions use the title of "Spanish Eyes", with both Singleton and Snyder credited as lyricists.

Charts

Other versions

*As "Spanish Eyes", the song would go on to be performed by diverse artists, among them:

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

Wayne Newton Carson Wayne Newton (born April 3, 1942) is an American singer and actor. One of the most popular singers in the nation from the mid-to-late 20th-century, Newton remains one of the best-known entertainers in Las Vegas. He is known by the nicknam ...

Andy Williams Howard Andrew Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold certified and three platinum certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hos ...

(in his 1967 album, ''

Born Free ''Born Free'' is a 1966 British drama film starring the real-life couple Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers as Joy and George Adamson, another real-life couple who raised Elsa the Lioness, an orphaned lion cub, to adulthood, and released her in ...

''), and

Faith No More Faith No More is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1979. Before settling on the current name in July 1983, the band performed under the names Sharp Young Men and later Faith No Man. Bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist/r ...

. *A cover by

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...

and

Julio Iglesias Julio José Iglesias de la Cueva (; born 23 September 1943) is a Spanish singer, songwriter and former professional footballer. Iglesias is recognized as the most commercially successful Spanish singer in the world and one of the top record ...

peaked at number 8 on the ''Billboard''

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart in 1988. *

Little Willie Littlefield Willie Littlefield, Jr., billed as Little Willie Littlefield (September 16, 1931 – June 23, 2013), was an American R&B and boogie-woogie pianist and singer whose early recordings "formed a vital link between boogie-woogie and rock and roll". ...

recorded a version for his 1990 album ''

Singalong with Little Willie Littlefield ''Singalong with Little Willie Littlefield'' is a studio album by United States, American Rhythm and blues, R&B and Boogie-woogie pianist and vocalist Little Willie Littlefield. Content The album was recorded in 1987 at The Farmsound Studio in He ...

''. *In 2013, vocal group

Il Divo Il Divo (; ) are a multi-national classical crossover vocal group. The male quartet, which originated in the United Kingdom in December 2003, consists of tenors Urs Bühler, David Miller, and Sébastien Izambard. It also included baritone ...

recorded a duet with British singer Engelbert Humperdinck. Produced by

Alberto Quintero Alberto Quintero (born in October 1970 in Palencia, Spain) is a Spanish composer, arranger, music producer, musical director and conductor. Biography Although most of his career has been focused on recording, he has recently focused on the w ...

, it was included in the album ''Engelbert Calling'' released September 30, 2014.

Other language versions

Ivo Robić Ivo Robić (28 January 1923 – 9 March 2000) was a Croatian singer-songwriter. Domestic career Robić began his career as a soloist with the Radio Zagreb Orchestra, while studying at the same time in Zagreb. He performed during World War II o ...

recorded a German version titled "Rot ist der Wein", which reached No. 14 on the West German chart in 1966. Robić also recorded a version in Serbo-Croat. * The song has been recorded in French as "Tes yeux" (

Luis Mariano Luis Mariano Eusebio González García (13 August 1914 – 14 July 1970), also known as Luis Mariano, was a popular tenor of Spanish origin who achieved celebrity in 1946 with "La belle de Cadix" ("The Beautiful Lady of Cadix") an operetta by ...

), "Tous ces voyages" (

Lucky Blondo Lucky Blondo (born Gerard Blondiot, 23 July 1944 in Paris, France) is a French singer who was popular in the 1960s. His heyday came during the emergence of French rock. Career His main successes were "Sheila", "Baby Face", "Dix petits indiens", ...

), and "Vivre au soleil" (

Nana Mouskouri Ioanna "Nana" Mouskouri ( el, Ιωάννα "Νάνα" Μούσχουρη ) (born 13 October 1934) is a Greek singer. Over the span of her career, she has released over 200 albums in at least twelve languages, including Greek, French, English, Ger ...

). It was recorded as "Occhi spagnoli" in Italian, and "Spanska Ögon" in Swedish.

Popular culture

*The song was sung by

Homer Simpson Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the American animated sitcom ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared, along with the rest of his family, in ''The Tracey Ullman Show'' short "G ...

in ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...

'' episode "

Homer vs. Dignity "Homer vs. Dignity" is the fifth episode of the twelfth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 26, 2000. In the episode, Mr. Burns hires a cash-strapp ...

". *The song was sung, initially by

Geoffrey Hutchings Geoffrey Hutchings (8 June 1939 – 1 July 2010) was an English stage, film and television actor. Early life and career Hutchings was born in Dorchester, Dorset, England. After attending Hardye's School, he studied French and Physical Educati ...

and

Sheila Reid Sheila Reid (born 21 December 1937) is a Scottish actress, known for playing Madge Harvey in the ITV sitcom ''Benidorm'' (2007–2016). An original member of the Royal National Theatre in 1963, she played Bianca in the National's 1965 film ver ...

as the characters of Mel and Madge in the finale to the third season of the British TV sitcom ''

Benidorm Benidorm is a town and municipality in the province of Alicante, Valencia, on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. Benidorm has been a tourist destination within Spain since 1925, when its port was extended and the first hotels were built, though ...

''.

References

External links

Example of the original Kaempfert recording at Youtube.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moon Over Naples Songs about Naples 1965 singles 1988 singles Songs with music by Bert Kaempfert Songs written by Eddie Snyder Songs written by Charles Singleton (songwriter) Al Martino songs Willie Nelson songs Julio Iglesias songs Charlie Rich songs Little Willie Littlefield songs Andy Williams songs Columbia Records singles 1960s instrumentals Schlager songs 1965 songs

Background

Charts

"Spanish Eyes"

Al Martino version

Charts

Other versions

Other language versions

Popular culture

See also

References

External links