Born in Calabria, the south of Italy, Sal Patitucci came to the U.S. in 1960, at age 24. Though he worked on flood-plain projects for the Army Corps of Engineers, his real avocation was in the air — or, rather, on the air. “Radio Italia,” his Italian-language music and news program, has been aired on regional stations continuously for the past 43 years. Today, Sal’s voce affascinante (charming voice) and impressive record collection can be heard from 5-6 p.m. Monday through Friday, on White Oak’s WEDO 810 AM (www.wedo810.com).
How did you get started in radio?
It was a love of music, really. When I came to Pittsburgh, there was an Italian guy on the radio who owned a travel agency. Instead of promoting the music, he was promoting his business. I thought, “I would love to do a program!” Well, I can’t speak English now, so you can imagine what I sounded like then! I went to the station in New Kensington [WKPA] and asked the station manager if he would like an Italian program. There was a big Italian community there at the time. The guy said, “If you can go out and sell four spots, I’ll give you the program.” I went out, and in a week, I started the program. It was October 11, 1964. I was there for 18 years, then the station was sold. Since then, I came to WEDO. I was also on WQED for eight years. Back then there was an Italian program, a French program, an Indian program. Then they got a new program director and she took all the ethnic programs off the air. A week later, WYEP called me. They had just come on the air and were very poor. A few years later, the same thing!
Did you get paid for any of these programs?
No! I’m doing this as a public service for the Italian community.
What kind of music do you play?
On Monday, I play music of the past, like from the ’60s; on Tuesdays, I play folk music because each region in Italy has a different sound; Wednesdays I have Neapolitan music; Thursdays I play dancing music; Fridays I play the best of the week. Every day I have the news live from Italy and I play something from the hit parade, the latest tunes popular in Italy. I’m trying to please everybody. My program is the only ethnic program on that is on five days a week in the United States!
And you do interviews too?
Oh, lots. People from Luciano Pavarotti to [soccer star] Totti from the World Cup. In Cleveland, I interviewed Gianni Marandi, a well-known singer. He’s a soccer player too! In Italy, singers will play soccer in a stadium against, say, television stars, to make money for poor people.
What do you see as the importance of your broadcast?
Communication. It’s important to stay in touch with the community. The Italian government wants a program on in America in order to keep the young generation alive and tell them that Italy is waiting for them to visit, for tourism, for culture. You have to know about your history. Why should you be ashamed to say, “I’m Italian,” or Greek or French? Everybody should be proud of their heritage. It’s very important. Pittsburgh is a great ethnic city. All these heritages are a part of the pot here.
What about people who don’t speak Italian?
Teachers at Duquesne or Pitt tell their students to listen my program. After you listen to songs, you’ll start to understand words. Music is universal. Even if you don’t understand, you will like the music.
What is your favorite type of music?
The best era for music in Italy was in the ’60s. It was more melodic. In Italy today, there is rap music. It’s not original. Back then, Italian music wasn’t so influenced by American music. If you travel in Europe now and look at a jukebox, 95 percent of the music is from the United States.
What do you think about those who want to declare English the official language of the U.S., and discourage the use of other languages?
It’s a very poor thing! In Europe, people will study French and Italian. Here people are afraid of learning another language. It’s very nice when you travel to know languages. We don’t want to go back to the U.S. being an isolated country like it was in the 1950s!
Sophia Loren or Anna Magnani?
Artistically, Anna Magnani is the only one. Today, Monica Belucci.
This article appears in Feb 8-14, 2007.
Hello Heather Mull, I enjoyed your article / interview wirh Sal Patitucci…I hope more of the Pittsburgh/ Western Pa. community would also be able to read this and find out just what an “international flavor” brings to the radio waves via his daily Italian music program , “Radio Italia”….I listen regularly & love it….even though I really don’t understand the words …the music is great…Who doesn’t serve or eat some sort of Italian food anymore,,,it seems like pizza & spagetti are a regular dish in every American home & restaurant….And we all have come to love the great Italian-American singers,,,Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Al Marino, Tony Bennett, Patricio Bounne , Connie Francis, and on & on…Sal does a lot more to promote the Italian heritage & culture…I first met him at the Pgh Italian Festival that used to be held at Station Square Ampitheatre…He supported them with actual “live” broadcasts of his show originating from the “Festa”…He also brings “live” news broadcasts from Italy and offers them daily on his regular show…I got to know him from that festival and befriended him…I invited him to be apart & involved in our own “Festa Italiana di Vandergrift” that we annually hold in Vandergrift, Pa..I credit him & his show with the promotion of our Festa & also the “live” broadcast he did for “it’s great success “. I hope to continue many years of friendship & working together.. Ciao, Mitch Abraham, Entertainment Committee Member, Festa Italiana di Vandergrift
Hello Heather Mull, I enjoyed your article / interview wirh Sal Patitucci…I hope more of the Pittsburgh/ Western Pa. community would also be able to read this and find out just what an “international flavor” brings to the radio waves via his daily Italian music program , “Radio Italia”….I listen regularly & love it….even though I really don’t understand the words …the music is great…Sal does a lot more to promote the Italian heritage & culture..Who doesn’t serve or eat some sort of Italian food anymore,,,it seems like pizza & spagetti are a regular dish in every American home & restaurant….And we all have come to love the great Italian-American singers,,,Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Al Marino, Tony Bennett, Patricio Bounne , Connie Francis, and on & on…Sal does a lot more to promote the Italian heritage & culture…I first met him at the Pgh Italian Festival that used to be held at Station Square Ampitheatre…He supported them with actual “live” broadcasts of his show originating from the “Festa”…He also brings “live” news broadcasts from Italy and offers them daily on his regular show…I got to know him from that festival and befriended him…I invited him to be apart & involved in our own “Festa Italiana di Vandergrift” that we annually hold in Vandergrift, Pa..I credit him & his show with the promotion of our Festa & also the “live” broadcast he did for “it’s great success “. I hope to continue many years of friendship & working together.. Ciao, Mitch Abraham, Entertainment Committee Member, Festa Italiana di Vandergrift http://www.festaitaliano.us
Dear Heather, thanks for the well done article on Sal Patitucci’s avocation of sustaining Italian culture in our region. I hope it will encourage others to tune in to Sal’s radio program and find, as I have for over 35 years, that contemporary and folk Italian music opens a different part of your heart and mind to life’s joys and challenges. And you don’t even have to understand Italian to appreciate it!
I have the pleasure to be a “PAESANO” of Sal Patitucci; both of us were born in the same town in Calabria. I learned of his radio station by browsing the site of our hometown in Calabria, so I decided to contact him via e-mail and after a short while we spoke over the phone. It was very pleasant to talk to a “PAESANO”. Although I’m younger than Sal, when we spoke, we came across many people name that perhaps Sal remembers better than I, but what pleased most, is that he knew all of my family and relatives, the once still in Italy as well those in the USA.
I sincerely like to consider Sal a found friend and hope to meet him in person someday, for the time being we keep in touch via e-mail and by phone.
I also wish I could listen to his radio programs in the state of New York where I live, but as Sal says, it’s only for local surroundings.
Again, I like to wish Sal the very best for the future and thank him for all he’s doing for the Italian cummunity, he deserves all our admiration and hope that others will follow in his footsteps.
Mario Milizia
Dear Heather,
I found your article very enjoyable and informative to not only the Italian American Community, but also those who live in the Pittsburgh area. I first started listening to “Radio Italia” two years ago when I saw a flier in the Strip District advertising Sal’s hour long show. After that first day of listening, my mom, nonna, nonno and I were addicted.
While being the president of the Italian Club at the University of Pittsburgh, I had the pleasure to meet Sal last semester when he came to talk to the club about “Radio Italia”. The students were so pleased to have him as a speaker and constantly speak highly of his vibrant personality. Now they, too, listen to “Radio Italia”. Again, thank you for showcasing Sal and all of his hard work.
Dear Heather,
In reading your interesting interview of Mr. Sal Patitucci, I made this pleasant discovery: through Radio Italia, Mr Patitucci has long been a familiar voice and cheerful influence in my family. For decades in my parents’ home, I recall how my non-Italian father had so often tuned in to this show, not just for my Italian mother’s benefit but also for his own real pleasure. In fact, he would usually sing at the top of his voice, articulating the Italian lyrics with perfection and tapping his hands and feet in time with the music. The program made him feel alive and happy and served as his personal communication tool to connect with my mother’s Italian heritage. She always marveled and laughed hard at his acculturated Italian behavior during this sing-along, thanks to the opportunities Mr. Patitucci’s program provided. I sincerely believe these experiences drew them closer together and erased the differences in their cultural backgrounds
Both my parents became very ill and have lived in my home for the past six years. My father died a year ago; however, up to the end, he never stopped tuning in to the joyful spirit of Sal Patitucci’s radio program and cheering up my mother through his loud and precise Italian phrasing with the music.
It has been said, “To do good in this world, you must first know who you are and what gives meaning to life.” Without a doubt, Heather, your interview profiles Mr. Sal Patitucci as a gentleman with a strong sense of identity and a love for his heritage and culture. He personifies the true Italian in so many ways, exhibiting the will to succeed, determination and hard work, and a rare goodness of heart. Having provided 43 years of public service to his ethnic community, on a volunteer basis, Mr. Patitucci emerges as a unique humanitarian, a person who continues to do a lot of good, adding meaning to life through music and the rejuvenation of cultural pride and identity in thousands of Italian American households.
Sincerely,
Betty Merti
O’Hara Township