Monday, February 07, 2011

mahna mahna superbowl

Troy Polamalu is one of the star players for the Steelers, playing the Greenbay Packers in today's Superbowl. I first heard of him in 2007, when someone sent me an email about him, after they found my website about Piero Umiliani, an Italin film composer most famous for his song Mahna Mahna (from the mondo film "Sweden: Heaven or Hell"), later covered by Sesame St/The Muppets...

M Shirra wrote "Surely you've heard from many Pittsburgh Steeler's fans (Yeah, SuperBowl Champs!) about the parody heard in these parts regarding our probowl safety Troy Polamalu. Any chance of adding a link on your site? It's quite a tribute.Really enjoyed reading your site about a song that's been stuck in my head for weeks. It is truly amazing sometimes what you can find on the internet!" The song was reworked to help Steelers fans figure out how to pronounce Polamau's surname. He is of Samoan descent.

Oh, and his hair is insured for $1 million. Read about that here.

Piero Umiliani passed away in Feb 2001. In 2003, his daughter Elisabetta contacted me after a friend showed her my site. I was lucky enough to do an interview with her via email. She told me her father named his boat Mahna Mahna. Read the interview here.




2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ciao again Peter,
Hope everything is well with you.
I googled my name this morning and found your post on Mah nà Mah nà superbowl. I thought you may like to know a curious coincidence: my husband (we have been married for 22 years) is from Pittsburgh and, of course, he is a Steeler's fan! Isn't it funny?
All the best,
Elisabetta Umiliani

Peter McLennan said...

Hi Elisabetta,

lovely to hear from you again! I hope you are well. That is a funny coincidence. You should write a letter to Troy Polamalu and tell him.

All the best!