Melina Mercouri - Never On Sunday

First performance: 00/10/1965


Coverinfo

Bruce covered the song only once:
 
 
1965-10-00 Reception Hall, Monmouth County, NJ 
 
One show, with The Castiles the sole act on the bill. The 27 song titles of this show plus two titles that are illegible have been culled from a surviving inventory/setlist document that was originally in the possession of a member of The Castiles. This list is believed to have emanated from a wedding reception the band performed in the autumn of 1965. With the exception of "Sidewalk" (co-written by Bruce) all of the songs are covers of other artist’s material, with the most recently released song at the time being Sonny & Cher’s "I Got You Babe" (July 1965). The setlist includes numerous 1964-1965 'British Invasion" hits by the Stones, Yardbirds, Kinks, Zombies and Beatles - a clear indication of the kind of music the band was playing at teen gigs. The high proportion of 1950s ballad material in this particular show (sung by George Theiss, not Bruce) is likely the result of it being a wedding, with manager Tex Vinyard making sure his boys also catered to the older relatives in attendance. These include the G-Clefs’ "I Understand", Acker Bilk’s "Stranger On The Shore", Don & Juan’s "What’s Your Name" and Anton Karas’ "The Third Man Theme". There is no circulating audio of any of this performance . Frank Marziotti has recalled the bride's choice of song was the jazz standard "Moonglow".
 
 
 

Songinfo

Never on Sunday, or as it is mostly known in Greek “Ta Paidia tou Pirea” which translates in English as “Children of Piraeus” , is a very popular Greek song sung by Melina Mercouri in the homonym movie. Never on Sunday is a movie directed by Jules Dassin, starring himself and Melina Mercouri. The song was written by Manos Hadjidakis and it is, till today, the only Greek Song that has ever won an Academy Award. The song was introduced in the movie with Melina singing and dancing, although later, Melina sang the same song with English Lyrics in a musical called Ilya Darling, played in the UK and Broadway. Ilya is the female protagonist of both the movie and the musical, a prostitute that lives in Piraeus. Her life, loves and work are related to Piraeus and its sailors – thus the Children of Piraeus. The title Never on Sunday was given to the movie, as Ilya never “worked” on Sunday. The original Greek Lyrics of the song have nothing to do with Sunday though, but later, when the song was translated in English, French and German, the lyrics contained references to Sunday as well. The song Never On Sunday hit the charts all over the world and is the second most recognizable Greek Song after Zorba the Greek.  
 
 
 

Other cover versions

Bruce on the artist

Lyrics

Oh, you can kiss me on a Monday
A Monday, a Monday is very, very good
Or you can kiss me on a Tuesday
A Tuesday, a Tuesday, in fact I wish you would
Or you can kiss me on a Wednesday
A Thursday, a Friday and Saturday is best
But never, never on a Sunday
A Sunday, a Sunday, 'cause that's my day of rest

Most any day you can be my guest
Any day you say, but my day of rest
Just name the day that you like the best
Only stay away on my day of rest

Oh, you can kiss me on a cool day, a hot day
A wet day, which everyone you choose
Or try to kiss me on a gray day, a May day
A pay day, and see if I refuse
And if you make it on a bleak day
A freak day, a week day, why you can be my guest
But never, never on a Sunday