The music of the 50s is memorable for more reasons than I can count. It was the high-octane fury of rockabilly, the soft sweetness of ballads, the ebb and flow of surf that we remember, and all the great bands that brought us these tunes for the first time. And now, thanks to Italian revivalists Marco DaSilva and the Midnighters, we can celebrate a band that delivers all of these memories in a single, wonderful package.

The Midnight Bop is music for all hours of the day, from the hole-shot pace of Johnny Burnette's "Tear It Up" to the lay-down sweetness of the classic "All I Have to Do Is Dream". The collection of songs is a veritable hit-parade, featuring classics from Carl Perkins' "Blue Suede Shoes" to Richie Valens' "Donna", which is an especially strong version of a very challenging vocal part.

Bandleader Marco DaSilva does a great job of singing the songs with his own signature tenor, so enjoyable that by the fourth listen the accent melts away and you’re just left with the music. And what fine music it is! Lead guitarist Lorenzo Salvatori is masterful, ripping away on "Rip It Up" or singing us to sleep on "All I Have to Do Is Dream".

Personal favorites among the album's 15 covers are the wonderfully western "If I Had Me a Woman" and "You're Sixteen", the latter benefiting from the deft piano of Emilio Merone. But really, each version is worthy of its original, right on down to the closing version of Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues". Put simply, it's "Rockabilly Boogie" that "I can't Help Falling in Love" with, because it's just "Fabulous".

www.dasilvabilly.it