Salvatore Catalanotte, known to his friends as "Singing Sam" was a young and charismatic Gianolla gang lieutenant by the time he was 20. At the time of the Gianolla-Vitale war Catalanotte was the president of Detroit's Unione Siciliana. He became the leader of a splinter group within the Gianolla gang after the murder of his bosses. Catalanotte was highly respected throughout the Detroit underworld for his intelligence and diplomacy, something he learned as a protégé of Gaetano Gianolla, the gang's councilor. Catalanotte formed a strong alliance with Wyandotte area beer baron, Joseph Tocco and Hamtramck Mafia leader Chester La Mare. The new combine under Catalanotte has created an influential Mafia faction known as the Westside Mob.