Sammy and Andrew Arena sang since they were children. They were born in the heart of Ybor City in Tampa, Florida in 1931. The boys were just infants when their parents moved to Staten Island, N.Y. "We always knew when we were kids that there was no question but that we would sing," said Andrew.

Sammy recalled an incident that occurred when they were about 8 years old. "I was singing in our father's grocery store when a man from Disney Studios heard me. He wanted to take us both with him to sing with the Mouseketeers for five years, but there was no way our parents were going to let us go," he said.

Back in Tampa by the time they were 12, the curly-haired youths could be heard singing as they delivered newspapers and shined shoes. They thought nothing of turning over every penny to elp with family expenses. At 13, they were singing over local radio stations - Sammy singing melody, Andrew on harmony.

After a stint in the Army in the early '50s, when they sang in Army shows from Texas to Korea with a younger brother, Anthony, the brothers returned to Tampa. Tampa was where their parents, Antonio and' Grace; sister, Marie; and Tony lived.

For the next three years, the three brothers ran a ceramic-tile business "because they liked to stick around the home town."

The course of the twins' lives changed in 1959 when they drove to New York on vacation. There, they recorded "The Little Pig," "Mama Cara Mama," and "In My Wallet" on the Kapp label. The platter sold more than 30,000 copies and jumped up to the No. 4 spot on the popular-music charts the first month it was released.

The twins' popularity resulted in Sammy and Andrew making their living at singing for the next 12 years. At that point, Andrew went back to work with brother Tony, while Sammy continued singing for almost, 10 more years. Along the way, they both married, and each had three children.

Sammy and Andrew Arena possessed the fine talent of capturing and delighting huge audiences of all ages. Without any formal training, these singers mastered the art of entertainment and mesmerized their listeners.

They recalled appearances with distinguished names such as Connie Frances, Buddy Hackett, Jose Ferrer, Anna Marie Albergetti, and Charlie Callis.

They performed in such places as The Mayfair Theatre, The Hudson Theatre, The Gaiety Theatre and the Hillside Theatre.

They spent five years club dating in the Catskills. There they performed at Kutchers Country Club, Grosinger's, The Raleigh Hotel, and many other hotels and resorts.

They also spent five years in Miami at the Montmarte Hotel and did club dates at the Fountainbleau, The Doral Country Club and most major hotels on Collins Avenue in Miami Beach.

They released six songs with Kapp Records. Then, in 1959, they shifted to Columbia Records where they released, "Jambalaya", "Judy Says", and "In My Wallet."

In their later years, concerts in the Tampa Bay and Orlando areas took up most of their time. At the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center (now called The Straz Center), they played to audiences of 2,000 to 2,500 people each year for one show.

They were invited to perform at the "Festa Italiana" in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where they performed to hundreds of thousands of people.

They performed annually at the "Festa Italiana" in Tampa, Florida in front of thousands of people. The two together their audience laughing, crying, singing and dancing along as they did what The Arena Twins did best: Entertain!