Santo & Johnny Farina - Sleepwalk - (Sonámbulo) - 1959

Santo & Johnny were an American rock and roll music duo from Brooklyn, New York, comprising brothers Santo and Johnny Farina. They are known best for their instrumental melody “Sleep Walk“, one of the biggest hits of the golden age of rock ’n’ roll, which became a regional success and eventually scored the top of the Billboard pop chart when it was released nationally during 1959. At present, Santo is semi-retired and Johnny currently tours and records new material with his own band. Johnny is also the president of Aniraf, Inc., an international record company based in New York. During 1958, Mike Dee & the Mello Tones (Santo Farina, steel guitar; Johnny Farina, rhythm guitar and their uncle Mike Dee, drums) recorded a self-composed instrumental melody which they named “Deep Sleep“. “Deep Sleep“ became “Sleep Walk“ and during September 1959 it scored at the top of the American charts. The brothers eventually came to the attention of a music publishing company and signed a song writer’s contract and eventually landed a recording contract with Canadian-American Records. Their first release, “Sleep Walk“, was composed by the two brothers plus Santo’s wife, Ann. “Sleep Walk“ was recorded at Trinity Records in Manhattan. It reached Billboard magazine’s No. 1 position for two weeks during September 1959, and earned Santo & Johnny a Gold record. The follow-up song “Tear Drop“ was also a successful, though their long-playing (LP) record Santo & Johnny was less successful in the United States.