Porto Empedocle

#396: Ladano


The song “Ladano” written by Veronica Tapia, performed by Stan Climie (bass clarinet), Laurie Radford (electronics)

RECORD STORE TALES MkII: Getting More Tale
#396: Ladano

It looks easy to say, and it is!  LA-DA-NO.  Emphasis on the middle DA. That’s it!  That’s all!

Yet, as a kid, I knew that if I ever wanted to be a famous rock star, I’d have to change my name.  I considered “Michael Ladd” as a good stage name.  See, the problem is that most of my life, people haven’t been able to pronounce my last name.  Would Peter Criss be famous today if he went by his real name Peter Criscoula?  Would Gene Simmons still be the Demon today, if he stuck with the name Chaim Witz?  I don’t know, but it’s hard to imagine the 1960’s with Robert Zimmerman instead of Bob Dylan, right?  “Michael Balzary” is harder to say than “Flea”…and would Declan McManus had a shot at the charts if he didn’t change his name to Elvis Costello?

The ironic thing is, my grandfather changed his last name’s spelling in the early 1900’s to “Ladano” so that Canadians would be able to pronounce it easier.  I’m sure he would have been disappointed in my 2nd grade teacher who must have thought I was related to Lando Calrissian, since she pronounced it “LaLando”.

Sometimes my sister, also a musician, will be referred to simply as “Lando”, to which she would really like to respond, “You’ve got a lot of guts coming here…after what you pulled.”

She has stubbornly refused to change her name even after marriage.  In fact she has a song called “Ladano”.

Here are some more of the best variations of my last name that I have seen and heard:

  • “Ledano”
  • “Ladana” (in my dad’s first email address set up by Bell!)
  • “Ladno”
  • “Landon”
  • “Landano”
  • “Landono”
  • “Landoni”
  • “Laudon”
  • “Ladino”
  • “Ladeeno”
  • “Ladhani”
  • “Ladayno”

And finally, my favourite:

  • “Radono”

That last one was on an official cheque from a major bank!

My last name is traditionally supposed to be spelled Laudano.  I’ve traced my family back five generations to Amalfi, Italy in the mid-1800’s.  Our side of the family left Amalfi for Sicily, opening up a shop there in Porto Empedocle.  The Laudanos then left for America in the early 1900’s and changed the spelling on purpose after arrival.  I think my grandfather would be disappointed to see the many mutilations of our name, despite him simplifying it to Ladano!

There are many Laudanos still out there, some in Ontario, Canada and others in New Hampshire.  One thing we all have in common:  Whether it is spelled Ladano or Laudano, we’re all family and we call each other “Cousin”.  (Turns out the Laudanos are actually a musical family with an extensive history of musicians!) One recent “cousin” I have met is Luigi, who came here from Amalfi Italy, where the Laudanos also originated. He is a very popular server from the highly recommended local restaurant Borealis (“Think Global, Eat Local”). Luigi married into the Laudano family, so now we call ourselves “cousins”! Getting to know those Laudanos has been a lot of fun for us.

I wonder if my cousins have had their name as mangled as mine?!*

BASS 2

* In a strange twist, one of my former online handles used to get mangled, too.  “Geddy”.  I used to use the name “Geddy” on message boards about 20 years ago.  The majority of people misspelled it “Getty”.  I’m not kidding. 

Part 233: Dr Stompin’ Tom Road

RECORD STORE TALES Part 233:  Dr Stompin’ Tom Road

One of the biggest thrills during the record store days was the last vacation I ever took from that place!  I’ve always wanted to go to Eastern Canada, and see the ocean.  I have always been drawn to the sea.  I think this is because of my Italian side, it must be in my blood and DNA.  We came to Canada in 1904 from Porto Empedocle, Sicily.  It is a fishing village on the coast, and my great-grandfather Luigi owned a shop there around the turn of the century.  My great-great grandfather Salvatore was from Amalfi, near Naples.  If you ever see pictures of Amalfi, you might understand why I have always loved the sight of water.

In May 2002, I finally visited the beautiful province of Prince Edward Island.  I got to see the ocean, the harbors and the lobster boats.  We checked out a lot of cool sideroad shops, walked a lot of trails, and played with the vibrant red sand.  We met some of the friendliest people we’d ever encountered.  But there was no way I was leaving Prince Edward Island without doing three important things:

1. Eating lobster in some form every single day.

2. Visiting the Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Odditorium, one of only two in Canada.

3. Setting foot in Skinners Pond, home of Dr Stompin’ Tom Road.

Obviously, I had to pay my respects to the boyhood home of one of the greatest Canadians (# 13) and folk musicians of all time, Stompin’ Tom Connors.  In the end, I accomplished all three of my goals.  Of the five days I spent on the island, I had lobster on every one of them, even having the bizarre McLobster on one of those days.  As an added bonus, I found an interesting piece of guitar-shaped folk art, made by a fellow named Keirras Jeffery, that I had to buy.  It looks awesome on the wall.

Photos of Stompin’ Tom’s eponymous road are difficult to find online, so I proudly present to you a selection of my holiday snaps, May 2002.

Here’s another great site with info on Stompin’ Tom’s home in PEI:  PEI Heritage Buildings – Skinners Pond and Stompin’ Tom Connors