Among the Stars

Fly me to the moon, let me play among the stars...

Here, the inspiration comes from none other than a stellar journey, the one Bart Howard set to a waltz tempo in 1954 with the original title "In Other Words". Ten years later, in August 1964, the version destined for legend was born: the album is 'It Might as Well Be Swing', arranged by Quincy Jones, with Frank Sinatra's unforgettable voice divinely accompanied by Count Basie's big band.

Buzz Aldrin chose it as the soundtrack for the first moon landing of the Apollo 11 mission, broadcast on Italian screens on the night of July 20, 1969, during a special edition of the news. Commentators for that historic live broadcast were Tito Stagno, from the RAI studios on Via Teulada in Rome, and Ruggero Orlando, reporting from the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

Many years later, during a fun interview with Corriere della Sera, Tito Stagno himself recounted that at one point in the evening—after 28 hours of uninterrupted broadcasting, rivers of coffee to stay awake, and an exhausting summer heat—the journalists in the studio tried to remove their jackets and ties. A prompt call to order from the control room did little to help. Instead of their jackets, the journalists dropped their pants! “It didn't matter since the desks covered everything...”