With a Song in Their Heart

Legend has it when Sammy and Andrew were born, they came out singing and they haven't stopped since. Their last name, "Arena", should have tipped us all off in advance that they were destined for show business! When I called Sammy and asked where they wanted to meet, he said, "The West Tampa Coffee Shop"–it is one of their favorite hangouts. We met on August 30, 2005. The noise level at this local coffee shop is deafening, but the "café con leche" is excellent!

CCM: All right, let's get started. Sammy, do you want to go first?

Sammy: "Hi, my name is Sammy and I'm four minutes older than Andy.

Andrew: "And, I'm Andrew, born in the City of Tampa at El Centro Asturiano. We were the first twins born at that hospital on Lake Avenue."

CCM: When were you born?

Sammy: "We were born on September 1, 1931 and the day after tomorrow we will be 74 years old!"

CCM: How many siblings do you have?

Sammy: "There are four of us–Anthony who was born 15 months after the twins, and then our sister Irene who was born after him."

CCM: Tell us about your mother and father.

Sammy: "Our mother came from Italy with her family when she was 9 months old and she was raised in Ybor City. She was a cigar maker and worked at Corral-Wodiska Cigar Factory. Our father came from the same little town outside of Palermo, Sicily as our mother did."

CCM: Did they meet in Ybor City?

Sammy: "Yes, our father came here during WWI when he was just 17 years old and that is when he met our grandfather. Our grandfather introduced our mother and father and said, 'Grace, this is going to be your husband, and Tony, this is going to be your wife', and that was it."

Andrew: "Our father received 5 bronze stars and 1 Silver Star and served in Germany. After the war, he went back to New Jersey where his family lived and then returned to Florida. He then married our mother and four years later the twins were born."

{A few times during our conversation, the twins would speak of themselves in the third person. It seems the tie that bonds these two is so strong, it takes on a life of its own.}

CCM: You lived in New Jersey for a while didn't you?

Sammy: "Yes, our family left when we were 6 months old and we lived in New Jersey until we were 12 years old. It was 1944 when we moved back to Tampa. We were real poor then. Anthony and the two of us shined shoes on 7th Avenue and also sold papers. We gave all the money to the house and our mother would give us something like 50 cents to spend on ourselves. Our father wasn't well then."

CCM: How old were you when you first started singing?

Sammy: "We were 7 years old and sang in front of our father's grocery store on Staten Island, N.Y. One day a man came by and said, 'I'd like to hear the boys sing', and they put us in the closet."

Andrew: "No, no, we got in the closet because we were scared and wanted to hide. But eventually we sang for him."

Sammy: "We sang the song, 'Polly Wolly Doodle All Day'. He wanted to take the two of us for five years and, believe it or not, he was one of the people that chose the first Mouseketeers. Our mother said, 'No, I'm an Italian mother and you aren't taking my kids anywhere.'"

{As if on queue, they both started belting out the first verse of this classic song.}

CCM: So singing obviously came naturally to you.

Sammy: "Yes, it did, and we don't even know how to read music and yet we have sung with all kinds of bands and musical instruments. We can learn a melody like nothing, but it can take us weeks to learn the lyrics."

CCM: When were you first on stage?

Sammy: "We were about 14 years old and there was a program called, 'Fiesta in Tampa'. Mr. Ruben Fabelo, who put on this show, was sitting in the window of the Rainbow Record Store. I walked up to him and said I wanted to sing. He told me to go see this lady on 8th Avenue who played the piano for the show to see what she thought of my singing. She played a song and I sang, and then that Sunday I performed on the show at the Cuban Club in Ybor City. The week after that, Andrew said he wanted to go. So he did, and that is when we started singing together because, to tell the truth, we were so scared to sing it was better to do it together than by ourselves. That was the beginning; Fiesta in Tampa gave us the chance. Then we sang at different places around Tampa, basically singing for our food."

CCM: When did your professional career begin?

Sammy: "We both served in Korea–Andrew was a cook and I was a machine gun sergeant. We sang with lots of stars like Lloyd Price who was real popular at the time. He was known for the song 'Stagger Lee.' We also met Terry Moore–a beautiful movie star, Marilyn Monroe, and Bob Hope–but we didn't sing with him. We were on some of the USO shows in Korea and then, when we got out of the service, we saved some money and went to New York and started pounding the streets. Our brother Anthony would help us and send money every once in awhile. We would go to different agencies trying to get a recording contract."

CCM: Did you record any songs?

Sammy: "Yes, we met a man named Bernie Wayne; he was the guy that wrote the Miss America song, 'Blue Velvet,' and a few other popular songs. With his help we did a demo record of an original song called, 'Mama Cara Mama' and we took it to Kapp Records and they signed us immediately. To this day we have that song on our CD and we sell most of our CDs because of that song."

CCM: What was your most favorite venue?

Sammy: "We performed at the largest Italian Festival in the U.S. which was held in Milwaukee. There were 9 different stages and it was a four-day affair. We had the idea to bring this type of festival to Tampa and 'Festa Italiana' was the result of us bringing the idea back with us, and it has been a great success."

CCM: Where are you performing these days?

Sammy: "We perform everywhere, but do most of our shows in south Florida anywhere between Hollywood, Florida and West Palm Beach. In our shows we sing in Yiddish, Italian, Spanish and English. We love to sing the National Anthem – it is one of our specialties–and we even sang it in Yankee Stadium."

CCM: Sammy, wasn't that around the time of your kidney transplant?

Sammy: "Yes it was, and my transplant hasn't stopped me. In fact after the transplant, it kind of gave us the push in 1994 to re-dedicate ourselves to show business."

CCM: Whenever you aren't singing, if that is ever the case, what do you do?

Andrew: "Vacation! I enjoy going on vacation."

Sammy: "Well, we are developers, you know–30 years ago we developed buildings on Madeira Beach–we built lots of houses while still singing. We also built some condominiums and shopping centers. We also have been in the ceramic tile business."

CCM: Who sings harmony?

Sammy: "I sing lead and Andrew sings harmony, but we both sing individually in our shows."

CCM: How many children and grandchildren do each of you have?

Andrew: "My wife Judy and I have two sons–Andrew, who is in land development, and Richie, who runs Arena Tile and Stone–and one daughter, Melody who teaches at the Academy of the Holy Names. We have 7 grandchildren, but Richie is getting married soon and 2 more grandchildren will be added to the Arena family and another is on the way."

Sammy: "I have three boys–Sammy, who is a senior adviser in minor league baseball; Jimmy, a pharmaceutical representative; and Christopher who is in the Marines and fighting in Iraq. He will be coming home on October 17th. I also have three grandchildren."

CCM: I was going to ask the two of you what your greatest accomplishment is, but I think you just told us that. It doesn't sound like either one of you are planning on slowing down any time soon?

Sammy: "We are 74 years old and we aren't slowing down as long as we are healthy enough and they keep calling us to sing–singing is like a vitamin or tonic; it keeps us going!"

CCM: Now, if someone wants to get in touch with you about performing what do they need to do?

Andrew: "Call the Arena Twins at 813-966-2081"

Sammy: "Or 966-2079."

CCM: One last question. When it is all said and done, how do you want to be remembered?

Sammy: "As nice guys who don't turn their heads on their friends – people that love life and appreciate everything that God has given us in the way of voices. Because it is a 'God given talent.'"

Andrew: "I want to be known as a person who is a great family man, which I think I am. I keep my family together as much as possible. My singing is very important, and I have a wife and family that understand that. And they know now that we do it (singing) because people enjoy it and we enjoy it. As long as that keeps happening, we are going to keep on doing it."

Andrew and Sammy Arena were awarded the Great American Award by the United States Government for the work they did while performing with the USO during the war.

Throughout the years, the Arena twins have given countless benefit performances for civic clubs, various organizations and have also helped to raise money for individuals who have serious illnesses. They continue to work with Lifelink of Florida, a non-profit organization dedicated to the recovery and transplantation of organs and tissues for transplant therapy.

For more information on Lifelink, visit their web site at www.lifelinkfound.org.

Featured in Cigar City - Issue 2 - 2006