They are best known for their instrumental "Sleep Walk", which became a regional hit and eventually reached the top of the Billboard pop chart when it was released nationally in 1959.
At present, Santo is semi-retired and Johnny 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.
Santo and Johnny Farina were born in Brooklyn, New York; Santo on October 24, 1937 and Johnny on April 30, 1941. Their father was drafted into the Army while they were children and was stationed for some time in Oklahoma. After hearing a steel guitar on the radio, he wrote to his wife, "I'd like the boys to learn to play this instrument".
Upon returning from World War II, the boys' father found a music teacher who gave the boys steel guitar lessons. When Santo was a teenager, he was able to get a local music store to modify an acoustic guitar, allowing him to play it like a steel guitar.
Within two years, Santo was performing in amateur shows on a new Gibson six-string steel guitar and had started receiving lessons from a steel guitar teacher who had studied in Hawaii. By the age of fourteen, Santo was composing songs, and formed an instrumental trio with a guitarist and drummer. This trio appeared at local dances and parties, performing both original compositions and some Hawaiian standards. With money Santo made from these performances, he bought a Fender steel guitar, one with three necks, each with eight strings. This allowed him to experiment even further, and he tried different tunings until he found ones that appealed to him.
When Johnny reached the age of twelve, he began to play accompaniment to Santo on a standard electric guitar. The brothers soon formed a duo and became rather popular in school, eventually performing at events in the New York boroughs. They recorded a demo which they circulated to local New York record companies.
In 1958, Mike Dee & The Mello Tones (Santo Farina, steel guitar; Johnny Farina, guitar and their uncle Mike Dee, drums) recorded a self-penned instrumental which they called "Deep Sleep". Loosely inspired by the song "Softly, As In The Morning Sunrise" (Sigmund Romberg, 1929), it had the same chord progression but a simpler melody line.
"Deep Sleep" became "Sleep Walk" and in September 1959 it topped the American charts.
The brothers eventually came to the attention of a music publishing company and signed a song writer's contract and eventually a contract with Canadian-American Records. Their first release, "Sleep Walk", was composed by the two brothers. (The original single credits three Farinas, including an "A. Farina" for the composition. It's sometimes reported that their mother or sister helped, but this is apparently false.) It was recorded at Trinity Records in Manhattan. "Sleep Walk" entered Billboard's 'Top 40' on August 17, 1959. It rose to the No. 1 position for two weeks in September (the 21st and the 28th) and remained in the 'Top 40' list until November 9. It was the last instrumental to hit #1 in the 1950s and earned Santo & Johnny a gold record. The follow-up song "Tear Drop" was also a hit, though their LP Santo & Johnny was less successful in the United States.
After touring Europe, Mexico, and Australia, Santo & Johnny signed to an Italian record label and had several hits in Europe that included "Sleep Walk", "Love Story", "Maria Elena", "Ebb Tide", "Love is Blue", "Enchanted Sea", and others.[citation needed] In 1964, they released an album of The Beatles covers; "And I Love Her" hit #1 in Mexico and held the spot for 21 weeks. In 1973, Santo & Johnny recorded the theme to the movie The Godfather, which went to #1 in Italy and stayed at that spot for 21 weeks. They received a gold record in Italy and were inducted into the Italian Music Hall of Fame.
Johnny Farina currently operates the official Santo And Johnny worldwide website, which includes current tour dates, discography, biography, trivia and new merchandise Farina also currently operates the official Johnny MySpace page, which includes current tour dates, discography, biography, and audio samples from his new solo albums.
"Sleep Walk" continues to be popular due to consistent radio airplay as well as its usage in commercials, television shows, and movies. One of the first covers was by Betsy Brye (stage name of Bette Anne Steele) in 1959. While Santo & Johnny wrote lyrics for "Sleep Walk", they never recorded a lyrical version, but Betsy Brye's version included these lyrics. It has been also covered by The Shadows, Stray Cats, The Ventures, Jake Shimabukuro, Amos Garrett, Kenny Vance and the Planotones, Larry Carlton, Deftones, Chet Atkins, Danny Gatton, Leo Kottke, The Sir Douglas Quintet, Jonathan Richman, Larry Berwald, and Joe Satriani. Indie group Modest Mouse also covered the song with lyrics and entitled their version "Sleepwalkin'". A version by Brian Setzer received a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance of 1998. "Sleep Walk" was used throughout the 1992 Stephen King film, Sleepwalkers. "Sleep Walk" also plays a role in the 1995 Terry Gilliam sci-fi film, 12 Monkeys. It is also played in the end scene of "La Bamba" after protagonist Ritchie Valens dies. The song can also be heard in "Eddie and the Cruisers" as well as in the film "Hearts in Atlantis" starring Anthony Hopkins. Tim Kring's 'Heroes' which aired on NBC also featured "Sleep Walk" playing on a record in a diner, from the episode '1961'.
Santo & Johnny were inducted into The Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 2002.
Love in Space
Santo & Johnny Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
唱：葉振棠
曲：Wonder Stevie
詞：Wonder Stevie
編：余遠鳴
All is fair in love love is a crazy game
All is changed with time future none can see
The road you leave behind ahead lies mystery
But all is fair in love I had to go away
A writer takes his pen to write the words again
That all in love is fair
All of fate's a chance it's either good or bad
I tossed my coin to say in love with me you'd stay
But all in war is so cold you either win or lose
When all is put away the losing side I'll play
But all is fair in love
I should have never left your side
A writer takes his pen to write the words again
That all in love is fair
A writer takes his pen to write the words again
That all in love is fair
The song "Love In Space" by Santo & Johnny tells the story of a half-man, half-machine astronaut who is floating in outer space, a hundred years after he last touched his lover's face. Their love was programmed to last but the astronaut's CPU is now clinging to the memory of his past love. He fell off the ship around the Milky Way and wonders if his love remembers him light years away.
The astronaut laments that it is not easy being him, with a robotic heart that is indestructible but broken just the same. He remembers every strand of hair, every time she kissed his lips, and knows that she is still alive somewhere. Even though he had her memory to ease his pain, thoughts of sweet connections with her interface are the only thing that had kept him sane. They used to stroll by the cargo bay, counting the stars under cosmic rays, but one day as she reached for him, he slipped away and the horror in her eyes burned in his database.
As the astronaut floats by a massive star, he wishes happiness for his past love and all living things before going offline. The song ends with a repeated chorus of "happiness for you and all living things" as his goodbye message to the universe.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm floating
I am aimlessly drifting through space, unconnected to anything or anyone.
In outer space
I am in the vast emptiness, surrounded by nothingness.
One hundred years
It has been an inordinately long time since I last saw my beloved.
Since I've touched her face
Since I have last felt the warmth of her embrace.
Our love was true
Our affection for each other was sincere and real.
Programmed to last
Our love was designed to withstand the test of time.
And now my CPU
Now, my mind (or artificial intelligence)...
Cling to the past
...cannot let go of our previous moments together.
Fell off the ship
I was thrown from the spacecraft or vessel.
'Round the milky way
I am now located somewhere in the vicinity of our home galaxy.
Does she remember me
I wonder if my dear still retains any memory of me at all.
Light years away
She is so far out of reach, separated from me by an unimaginable distance.
It ain't easy being me
I find it difficult to cope with my current circumstances.
Half-man and half-machine
I am part human, part artificial intelligence.
Robotic heart, indestructible
My seemingly mechanical heart is built to last forever.
But broken just the same
But my spirit is still shattered by my loss.
I remember everything
I can still recall every detail of our time spent together.
Every strand of hair
I can picture every wisp of hair on her head.
Every time you kissed my lips
I relive every instance of her tender kisses.
I know you're still alive somewhere
I hold on to the hope that she has endured all these years.
At least I had your memory
Although it is not the same, I am grateful for the recollection of her.
To ease my pain
The thought of her helps alleviate the agony of separation.
Thoughts of sweet connections with your interface
The memories of intimate moments shared with her technology console make me feel more human.
Is the only thing that's kept me sane
These moments are the only thing that's prevented me from becoming completely insane.
We were strolling
I recall a time when we were walking together.
By the cargo bay
We were in the area used to store equipment and goods.
Counting stars
We were looking up at the sky, determining the number of visible stars.
Under cosmic rays
We were exposed to the radiation originating from celestial bodies.
She reached for me
She extended her hand toward me.
As I slipped away
As I gradually moved out of her reach.
The horror in her eyes
The expression of fear on her face.
Burned in my data base
It is permanently etched into my being.
It ain't easy being me
I am having the hardest time accepting my current existence.
Just can't seem to think of your name
I find it difficult to recall my beloved's name.
Since that goddamn solar storm
Since the catastrophic event that occurred because of the rays emanating from the sun.
By a massive star
I am now close to a gargantuan celestial body.
It's gravity pulls me
I am being drawn magnetically by its force.
Toward its fiery core
I am headed toward the intense heat emanating from the center of the massive star.
Before I go offline
Before I am shut down permanently...
One wish to give
I have one final desire to express.
Happiness for you, my love
I wish for my beloved to experience contentment, despite our separation.
And all living things
May all other creatures find joy and satisfaction as well.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: STEVIE WONDER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind