“Never on Sunday“, also known by its original Greek title “Ta Pediá tou Pireá“, is a song written by Manos Hatzidakis and first sung by Melina Mercouri in the film of the same name, directed by Jules Dassin and starring Mercouri. The song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1960, a first for a foreign-language picture since the Academy began to recognise achievements in this category in 1934. The film score was first released on 1 October 1960 by United Artists Records.
“Never on Sunday” was written by Manos Hatzidakis as “Ta Pedia tou Pirea” (The Children of Piraeus). His original Greek lyrics, along with the foreign translations in German, French, Italian and Spanish do not mention “Never on Sunday” (as found in the English lyrics), but rather tell the story of the main female character of the film, Illya (Mercouri). Illya is a jolly woman who sings of her joyful life in her port town of Piraeus (“If I search the world over/I’ll find no other port/Which has the magic/Of my Port Piraeus”). Although she earns her money as a prostitute, she longs to meet a man someday who is just as full of joie de vivre as she is herself.
English: An orchestral version recorded by Don Costa reached number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1960, then returned to the Billboard Top 40 when reissued in 1961. His version also peaked at #13 in Canada and #27 in the UK Singles Chart. Following the success of the orchestral version as well as the Oscar win, an English language version of the song was commissioned to be written especially to match the title of the film. The lyrics to the English version of the song were written by Billy Towne.
A vocal of the song by The Chordettes reached number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 16 on the Canadian charts in 1961, making it their final Top 40 hit in North America. It was also recorded by Billy Eckstine, Bing Crosby, Lena Horne, Doris Day, Trini Lopez, Petula Clark and the New Christy Minstrels, plus as an instrumental by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass and James Last. The Ventures released a version on their 1963 Dolton album The Ventures Play Telstar and the Lonely Bull, as did The Baskerville Hounds on their 1967 Dot Records album The Baskerville Hounds – Featuring Space Rock, Part 2.
In the United Kingdom, there were five versions in the UK Singles Chart. They were Don Costa, reached number 27; Chaquito (actually Johnny Gregory), reached number 50; Lynn Cornell with the only vocal version in the UK chart, reached number 30; Makadopulos and his Greek Serenaders, reached number 36; and Manuel and his Music of The Mountains (actually Geoff Love), which peaked at number 29. This song was sung on the Muppet Show by Miss Piggy and Greek pigs, complete with smashing plates.
