Ron Dante
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- Not to be confused with hypnotist Ronald Pellar, aka Ronald Dante or Dr. Dante.
Ron Dante (born Carmine Granito, August 22, 1945, in Staten Island, New York) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer.
Dante is best known as the lead vocalist for the cartoon group The Archies from 1968 to 1971. Their third single, "Sugar, Sugar", written by producer Jeff Barry with Andy Kim, was the number one selling record of 1969. Prior to his stint with The Archies, in 1965, Dante was a member of the parody group The Detergents, who recorded a song jokingly entitled "Leader of the Laundromat".
Concurrent with his work on the Archies project, Dante was also employed as a session singer, recording demonstration records, and also sang many television and commercial jingles.
In 1969, Ron recorded an album under the group name of The Cufflinks for his old Detergents songwriter-producers Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss. Providing both lead and background vocals through overdubbing (as he did with most of the male Archies' vocals) Dante hit the U.S. Top Ten with the single "Tracy", at the same time that The Archies' "Sugar, Sugar" was at the top spot on the same chart. (Dante was anonymous on both tracks, as with all Archies and Cufflinks recordings).
Dante's first album release under his own name, on Don Kirshner's label, was Ron Dante Brings You Up in 1970. In 1972, also under the supervision of Kirshner, Dante became lead vocalist for another cartoon group, The Chan Clan. In 1979, he recorded a disco album under the name Dante's Inferno, and in 1981 his second solo album Street Angel was released.
From 1973 to 1981, Ron Dante was the record producer for singer Barry Manilow. Dante often sang background vocals on Manilow's recordings, including the groundbreaking single "Mandy." Dante also continued to record sporadically during those years; in 1975, with Manilow wearing the producer's hat this time, Dante released a dance version of "Sugar, Sugar" as a single under his own name. In 1978, Dante produced the Tony Award winning play Ain't Misbehavin' on Broadway.
During this same period, Dante, who was a Manhattan neighbor of George Plimpton, was invited to serve as the publisher of the Paris Review (1978-85).[1][2]
Dante remains active as a singer, producer, and concert performer. His solo CD Favorites was released in late 1999, and another CD, Saturday Night Blast, was issued in 2004. The extended play California Weekend CD was released in the summer of 2006.
Contrary to popular belief, the lead verses to the Archies single, Jingle Jangle (portrayed as being sung by either Betty or Veronica) were not sung by a female vocalist. It was sung by Dante using a falsetto voice.[3]
