Bobby Vinton

[Ron Phillipchuk]

 [ You are not allowed to view this attachment ]




Stanley Robert "Bobby" Vinton, Jr. (born April 16, 1935) is an American singer and songwriter. In pop music circles, he became known as "The Polish Prince of Poch", as his music pays tribute to his Polish heritage.

Known for his angelic vocals in love songs, his most popular song, "Blue Velvet" (a cover of Tony Bennett's 1951 song), peaked at number 1 on the now renamed Billboard Pop Singles Chart, and number 2 in the UK in 1990. It also served as inspiration for the film of the same name.

Vinton is the only child of locally popular bandleader Stan Vinton and Dorothy Studzinski Vinton. He is of Polish and Lithuanian descent. The family surname was originally Vintula, and was changed by Vinton's father.  Vinton's parents encouraged their son's interest in music by giving him his daily 25 cent allowance after he had practised the clarinet.

At 16, Vinton formed his first band, which played clubs around the Pittsburgh area. With the money he earned, he helped finance his college education at Duquesne University, where he graduated with a degree in musical composition.  While at Duquesne, he became proficient on all of the instruments in the band: piano, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, drums, and oboe. When Vinton became an active musician, it was common for people to become confused with the bands of father and son, as both were named Stanley. Vinton's father suggested his son use his middle name of Robert professionally to clear up the confusion.

Vinton's birthplace of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania is also the birthplace of Perry Como.  Joey Powers was born in nearby Washington, Pennsylvania, and at one time played in a band with Vinton. Vinton's hometown named two streets, Bobby Vinton Boulevard and the shorter adjoining Bobby Vinton Drive, in his honor. These streets were built in the late 1970s; prior attempts to name a residential street after him failed. The residents did not care for the singer always using Pittsburgh as his home town on TV interviews.

Como always claimed Canonsburg as his hometown, so hundreds of people changed their address when the town renamed a street in the east end after Perry Como. The Canonsburg town fathers had plans to erect a statue in Vinton's honor, but Vinton himself vetoed the idea, noting that the $100,000 planned cost could go to far more important town needs.

After two years' service in the United States Army, where he served as a chaplain's assistant, Vinton was signed to Epic Records in 1960 as a bandleader: "A Young Man With a Big Band". The break for the Epic Records contract had come after Vinton and his band appeared on Guy Lombardo's TV Talent Scouts program.  However, two albums and several singles were not successful, and with Epic ready to pull the plug, Vinton found his first hit single literally sitting in a reject pile.  The song was titled "Roses Are Red (My Love)". Vinton had to do his own promotion for the song; he bought one thousand copies and hired a young woman to deliver a copy of the record and a dozen red roses to every local DJ. It spent four weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

Arguably, his most famous song is 1963's "Blue Velvet," originally a minor hit for Tony Bennett in 1951, that also went to number one. 23 years later, David Lynch named his movie Blue Velvet after the song. In 1990, "Blue Velvet" reached number 2 in the UK Singles Chart, after being featured in a Nivea commercial. The 1990 reissue also hit number 3 in the Irish Singles Chart and number 7 in Australia.

In 1964, Vinton had two number 1 hits, "There! I've Said It Again" (a number 1 hit in 1945 for Vaughn Monroe) and "Mr. Lonely". Vinton's version of "There! I've Said It Again" is noteworthy for being the last U.S. Billboard number-one single of the pre-Beatles era, deposed from the Hot 100's summit by "I Want to Hold Your Hand". Also noteworthy is the fact that Vinton continued to have big hit records during the British Invasion, scoring 16 top-ten hits, while Connie Francis, Ricky Nelson, the Shirelles, and other major artists of the early 1960s struggled to reach even the Top 30.

Vinton wrote "Mr. Lonely" during his chaplain's assistant service in the U.S. Army in the late 1950s. The song was recorded during the same 1962 session that produced "Roses Are Red" and launched Vinton's singing career. It was released as an album track on the 1962 Roses Are Red (and other songs for the young & sentimental) LP. Despite pressure from Vinton to release it as a single, Epic instead had Buddy Greco release it and it flopped. Two years and millions of records sold later, Bobby prevailed on Epic to include "Mr. Lonely" on his Bobby Vinton's Greatest Hits LP.

Soon DJs picked up on the song and airplay resulted in demand for a single release. "Mr. Lonely" shot up the charts in the late fall of 1964 to reach number 1 on the Hot 100 on 12 December 1964. Epic then released the LP Bobby Vinton Mr. Lonely, giving the song a unique claim to fame since it now appeared on three Bobby Vinton albums released within two years. The song has continued to spin gold for its composer in the 45 years since it hit number 1. Harmony Korine named his 2007 film Mister Lonely after the latter and features the song in the film's opening, and it is now also the basis for Akon's hit, "Lonely".

In 1965, Vinton continued his "Lonely" success streak with the self-written "L-O-N-E-L-Y". "Long Lonely Nights" peaked at number 12 and spawned an album, Bobby Vinton Sings for Lonely Nights. Vinton's self-written 1966 hit, "Coming Home Soldier", was a favorite on request shows on the American Forces Network during the Cold War and Vietnam era, often called in by soldiers about to board the Freedom Bird that would take them back to the "Land of the Round Doorknobs".

Vinton's lush 1967 remake of "Please Love Me Forever", which reached number 6 and sold over a million copies, began his string of twelve consecutive hits, all remakes, over a little less than five and a half years to reach the Hot 100. His 1968 hit, "I Love How You Love Me", surged to number 9, sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold record by the RIAA

[montage]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icfq_foa5Mo

T5

Blue Velvet" is a popular song written in 1950 by Bernie Wayne and Lee Morris. A top 20 hit for Tony Bennett in its original 1951 version, the song has since been recorded many times, with a 1963 version by Bobby Vinton reaching #1.

While visiting friends in Richmond, Virginia, songwriter Bernie Wayne stayed at the Jefferson Hotel, and it was the sight of a woman at a party held at the Jefferson which inspired Wayne to write the lyric for "Blue Velvet".  When Wayne pitched "Blue Velvet" to Columbia Records head A&R man Mitch Miller he'd only played the opening line: "She wore blue velvet ...", when Miller interrupted saying: "How about [my giving the song to] Tony Bennett?" Wayne's response: "Don't you want to hear the rest of the song", drew this advice from Miller: "Quit while you're ahead!"

The first artist for whom "Blue Velvet" was a hit was Tony Bennett who recorded the song in a 17 July 1951 session with the Percy Faith orchestra: released 21 September 1951, Bennett's "Blue Velvet" peaked at #16 on the Billboard chart of "Records Most Played by Disc Jockeys", while reaching #18 on Billboard's chart of "Best Selling Pop Singles",  and #18 on Billboard's chart of "Most Played Juke Box Records".  Bennett's version made its album debut on a 1958 compilation disc entitled Blue Velvet. A live version of "Blue Velvet" was featured on the 1962 concert album Tony Bennett at Carnegie Hall with the track being included on The Good Life a 1963 EP release in the UK. Bennett dueted with k.d. lang on a remake of "Blue Velvet" for his 2011 album Duets II while Bennett's 2012 album Viva Duets featured Bennett duetting on "Blue Velvet" with Maria Gadú who sang her part in Portuguese ("Blue Velvet" was a bonus cut on an edition of Viva Duets sold exclusively through Target).

"Blue Velvet" was recorded by the Clovers for their album of the same name.  Released in 1955 through Atlantic Records, the song was released as a single on 10" shellac.  The song was initially recorded, produced, and released when the R&B group was still consisted of John "Buddy" Bailey (lead singer), Billy Mitchell, Matthew McQuater, Harold Lucas, Harold Winley, Bill Harris.  Various members of the group left, died, or were replaced, although the group as a whole still performed the song regardless of whom its members were. The track reached #14 on Billboard's Rhythm & Blues Records chart of "Best Sellers in Stores".

[admin]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcDpbBPSpnc

"My Special Angel" is a popular song by Jimmy Duncan, published in 1957.

The song became a crossover hit in 1957 for Bobby Helms. "My Special Angel" peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 chart  and spent four weeks at number one on the US Country music chart. The single made the R&B chart as well peaking at number eight.[3] It became a gold record. Backing vocals were sung by the Anita Kerr Singers.

Bill Haley and His Comets covered it on their 1960 covers album Bill Haley and His Comets.

Bobby Vinton and Frankie Avalon both released covers of this song in 1963. The Crests recorded a cover version for their 1960 album: The Crests Sing All Biggies.

It was revived in 1968 by The Vogues, a vocal group founded in Pennsylvania who had already scored top ten hits in the US with the songs "You're The One", "Five O'Clock World", and "Turn Around, Look at Me". The group's cover of "My Special Angel" reached number seven on the Hot 100 chart  and fared even better on the Easy Listening chart, where it spent two weeks at number one in October 1968.

In the United Kingdom, a version recorded by Malcolm Vaughan spent 14 weeks on the charts, peaking at number three in 1957.

[admin]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-6P0SzPUvc

"I Love How You Love Me" is a song written by Barry Mann and Larry Kolber. It was a 1961 Top Five hit for the pop girl group the Paris Sisters, which inaugurated a string of elaborately produced classic hits by Phil Spector. Bobby Vinton had a Top Ten hit in 1968 with a cover version. The song has been recorded by many other artists over the years.

Bobby Vinton made a comeback in the late 1960s when producer Billy Sherrill had him remake songs which had been hits a few years previous. Vinton took his cover of "I Love How You Love Me" to No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 2 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart.

The hit re-vitalized Vinton's recording career and was certified Gold by the RIAA. Due to the success of the single, Epic Records released the album I Love How You Love Me that was also a best seller into 1969. Vinton followed up with a version of "To Know Him Is to Love Him" with a track entitled, "To Know You Is to Love You" (coincidentally Vinton's precedent single to "I Love How You Love Me" had been a remake of "Halfway to Paradise" the Tony Orlando hit to which "I Love How You Love Me" had been written as the intended followup).

[admin]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfnBxbDz77U

"My Melody of Love" is the title of a popular song from 1974 (see 1974 in music) by the American singer Bobby Vinton. Vinton adapted his song from a German song composed by Henry Mayer, and it appears on Vinton's album Melodies of Love.

Vinton came up with the idea to adapt Mayer's song while performing in Las Vegas, Nevada. The original song was called Herzen haben keine Fenster ("Hearts have no windows") and was a hit in Germany and Austria as performed by Austrian singer Elfi Graf. A version with newly written English lyrics, released as a single called "Don't Stay Away Too Long" by the British duo Peters and Lee earlier in 1974, failed to chart in the US but reached number three on the UK Singles Chart.[1] Vinton's lyrics use a refrain that switches between English and Polish:

[admin]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGVS8Nal-iU

T5

"Please Love Me Forever" is a song written by John Malone and Ollie Blanchard.  The song was originally released by Tommy Edwards in 1958. Hit versions were later released by Cathy Jean and the Roommates in 1960 and Bobby Vinton in 1967.

Tommy Edwards released "Please Love Me Forever" as the B-side of It's All in the Game in 1958. Edwards' version of "Please Love Me Forever" spent 3 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 61.

Cathy Jean and the Roommates released a cover of "Please Love Me Forever" in 1960.  This version spent 12 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1961, peaking at No. 12, while reaching No. 23 on Canada's CHUM Hit Parade.

Bobby Vinton released the most successful version of "Please Love Me Forever" in 1967. Vinton's version spent 13 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 6,  while reaching No. 1 on Canada's RPM 100, No. 4 in the Philippines, No. 8 in Venezuela, and No. 39 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart. The song was ranked No. 30 on "The RPM 100 Top Singles of 1967".

[admin]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvP42bkrhO4

T5

"Sealed with a Kiss" is a song written by Peter Udell and Gary Geld and was most successful as a 1962 hit single for Brian Hyland, who recalls Geld saying the song was "based on, but not totally based on, a Bach finger exercise (see five-finger exercise)." The original recording of "Sealed With a Kiss" was that by The Four Voices which was released as a single in May of 1960 without becoming a hit.

A third Top 40 Hot 100 version came in 1972, when Bobby Vinton released a single, reaching No. 19 in the Billboard singles chart.[5] This version also placed high on Billboard's adult contemporary chart (#2).[6] Vinton arranged the song himself, with a modern sound including a unique bongo opening that made the song stand out from the pack. The success of the single led to the release of an album, also titled Sealed With A Kiss that charted as a best seller. This single, which was a follow up to "Every Day of My Life" marked a Vinton comeback in 1972, with the artist appearing on American Bandstand and other television shows on the strength of the single. Billboard ranked it as the No. 87 song for 1972.[7] Vinton's recording was used in both the trailer and end credits of the 2007 horror film All the Boys Love Mandy Lane.

[admin]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rjPC7-JMUM

"Roses Are Red (My Love)" is a popular song composed by Al Byron and Paul Evans. It was recorded by Bobby Vinton and was his first hit.

Vinton found the song in a reject pile at Epic Records. He first recorded it as an R&B number, but was allowed to re-record it in a slower more dramatic arrangement, with strings and a vocal choir added.

The song was released in April 1962.  It reached No. 1 in Australia, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, and the United States, and was a major hit in many other countries as well. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart on July 14, 1962, and remained there for four weeks.  The single was also the first number-one hit for Epic Records.

Billboard ranked the record No. 4 in their year end ranking "Top 100 Singles of 1962" and No. 36 in their year end ranking of the top Rhythm and Blues records of 1962.[6] The song was also ranked No. 17 on Cash Box's "Top 100 Chart Hits of 1962"

[admin]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4ukTTEWP54

[admin]

Please Love Me Forever

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGVS8Nal-iU

"Please Love Me Forever" is a song written by John Malone and Ollie Blanchard. The song was originally released by Tommy Edwards in 1958. Hit versions were later released by Cathy Jean and the Roommates in 1960 and Bobby Vinton in 1967.

[admin]

T4 - Bobby Vinton - Blue Velvet