Carosone was one of the first post-war Italian artists (the other one being Domenico Modugno) who sold records and toured in the United States without singing in English.

[1] Carosone was born on 3 January 1920 in Naples, in Vico dei Tornieri, near Piazza del Mercato [it], to Antonio and Carolina Daino, the first of two other brothers, Olga and Ottavio.

At 14, he wrote "Triki-trak", his first composition for piano, and in 1935, he was hired by an opera dei pupi puppet theater to play music to the battles of Count Roland and Renaud.

Carosone, however, decided to remain in East Africa, and he moved on to Asmara in the Eritrean highlands, playing piano in an orchestra at the Circolo Italia.

Following the surrender of the last regular Italian forces in the region in November 1941, Carasone returned to British-occupied Asmara, where his cousin Antonio was director of the Odeon Theatre.

Partially due to his long tenure abroad and inactivity caused by the war, Carosone was discovered to be virtually unknown in his home country.

These new performances were strongly influenced by the new rhythms and music styles he had encountered during his ten years in East Africa and caught the attention of local promoters.

After some auditions, he signed the Dutch guitarist Peter van Houten and the Neapolitan drummer Gegè Di Giacomo and formed the Trio Carosone.

"Torero" was translated into twelve languages and covered by almost thirty artists in the United States alone, including versions by The Andrews Sisters, Connie Francis and The King Brothers.

"'O suspiro", "Torero", "Tu vuò fà l'americano", "Mambo italiano", "Pigliate 'na pastiglia" and "'O sarracino/Caravan petrol" were among their greatest hits.