Blue Nell Rides Again

Few of them could understand the lyrics, but none of them could escape the tune. Wherever they went in Italy this summer, tourists were attacked by the lilting, insidious and all-but-meaningless lyrics of Nel Blu, Dipinto di Bin (In the Blue, Painted Blue). From nightclub star to curbside troubadour, everyone was belting out the refrain of Italy's most popular song. And the tourists were humming it before they went home.

Last week they were still humming, but the far-off foreign drone had risen to a resounding chorus. By the polls, Nel Blu is the hottest song property on the pop music circuit anywhere in the U.S.

Decca Records, which bought the U.S. rights to the song, is shipping out some 60,000 platters a day (v. 30,000 per day for a run-of-the-scale bestseller). Already, at least 14 American artists have recorded an Americanized version of the song with a new title, Volare (To Fly), and new lyrics that bear as little resemblance to the original as they do to poetry. Sample: "Just like birds of a feather, a rainbow together we'll find." When they call their favorite disk jockey, U.S. fans hardly know what to ask for. But whether the title comes out "Domingo," "Nelly Blue" or "Blue Nell Rides a Blue Pinto," even a monolingual jock knows enough to spin Nel Blu.

Gypsy Rhythm. The bestselling version of the song (Decca's) was recorded by Composer Domenico Modugno himself. Last week, as if to make the success official, the swarthy, mop-headed Sicilian followed his voice to the U.S. And as soon as he alighted at New York's Idlewild Airport, exuberantly sliding down the banister of the landing steps, Domenico treated his welcoming committee to a rendering of Nel Blu.

Swinging easily from suave, Como-style sophistication to the animal beat of rock 'n' roll, Domenico still managed to save some memory of the guitars and ritual-dance rhythms of his gypsy ancestors. The freshness of his singing, the unlettered freedom of his song itself are probably due in part to the fact that he has yet to find time to learn to read or write music. His father taught him simple tunes when he was still a barefoot boy barely as big as his guitar. He composed his first song at 14, has been playing ever since.

I Am. As a nightclub singer and composer, Domenico, 30, enjoyed modest acclaim in Italy before he put together

Nel Bin. But he has been a waiter, too, and more recently an actor. He studied at Rome's experimental movie center and once played Athos in a 13-week, filmed U.S. TV series on The Three Musketeers.

This week he was supposed to be back on U.S. television with an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. But no sooner had Domenico landed than he learned that back home in Rome his wife had given birth to a son. Marco. Tempted though he was to fly home for a prompt look at his heir, Domenico decided that the show must go on. He showed up at the Sullivan show, and to no one's surprise, sang Nel Blu. Domenico already has another song written to celebrate the baby's arrival. Its title: lo (I). Says he: "It means 'What is this man coming happy in the street? Why he smile at everybody? He is happy because he is a miracle. He can say "I," he can say "I am." '

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