Lou Monte (born Louis Scaglione; April 2, 1917 – June 12, 1989) was an Italian American singer best known for a number of best-selling, Italian-themed novelty records which he recorded for both RCA Victor and Reprise Records in the late 1950s and early 1960s, most famously "Lazy Mary" (1958) and the 1962/63 million-selling US single "Pepino the Italian Mouse", plus the seasonal track "Dominick the Donkey". He also recorded on Roulette Records, Jubilee Records, Regalia Records, Musicor Records, Laurie Records, and AFE Records. Early life Monte was born on April 2, 1917 in Manhattan to Italian immigrant parents, but his mother died when he was only two. He was raised in Lyndhurst, New Jersey, and he began performing at the age of fourteen. But success came slowly: by his own account, although he sang and played guitar in a number of clubs, he did not begin to gain a large following for about fifteen years. Early career By the early 1940s, he was performing in New York City, and he was also a headliner at several New Jersey clubs. But when World War II broke out, Monte had to put his career on hold and enlist in the Army. When he was discharged, he resumed playing in clubs, and got a break when he was hired by WAAT AM 970 in Newark, New Jersey in 1948 to do his own show. This offered Monte a chance to refine his act and it helped him to gain a much larger audience. The station rewarded him by convincing its sister TV outlet, WATV/13, to give him some airtime. Beginning with this exposure, Monte made a couple of recordings on local labels. Joe Carlton was an A&R for RCA Victor Records and heard him performing in a spaghetti joint south of Secaucus. He enjoyed his singing style and the way he accompanied himself on the guitar. He offered him a contract with RCA Victor which lasted seven years. Joe Carlton would go on to start Carlton Records. Success Monte's first big hit came in 1954, with the release of his version of "Darktown Strutters' Ball". In 1962, Monte released his first million-seller song, "Pepino the Italian Mouse", which was awarded a gold disc. Co-written by Ray Allen and Wandra Merrell and sung alternately in English and a pastiche of Calabrese, "Pepino the Italian Mouse" tells the humorous tale of a mischievous mouse who