| Bobby Vinton | |
|---|---|
Bobby Vinton, 1965. |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Stanley Robert Vinton, Jr. |
| Born | April 16, 1935 Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Genres | Pop |
| Occupations | Singer |
| Instruments | Clarinet oboe saxophone piano drums trumpet |
| Years active | 1959–present |
| Labels | Epic ABC Ahed Tapestry Curb |
| Website | Official website |
Bobby Vinton (born April 16, 1935) is an American pop music singer of Polish origin. In pop music circles, he became known as "The Polish Prince".
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Vinton is the only child of a locally popular bandleader, Stan Vinton and Dorothy Studzinski Vinton.[1] The family surname was originally Vintula, and was changed by the senior Vinton.[2] Vinton's parents encouraged their son's interest in music by giving him his daily 25 cent allowance after he had practiced the clarinet.[3] At 16, Vinton formed his first band, which played clubs around the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area. With the money he earned, he helped finance his college education at Duquesne University, where he studied music and graduated with a degree in musical composition.[1] While at Duquesne, he became proficient on all of the instruments in the band: piano, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, drums and oboe.[4] 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.[5]
Vinton's birthplace of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania is also the birthplace of Perry Como.[6] His hometown named two streets, Bobby Vinton Boulevard and the shorter adjoining Bobby Vinton Drive, in his honor. These streets were built in the late 1970's, 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 home town and thus hundreds of people changed their address when the town re-named a street in the east end after Perry Como. Canonsburg town fathers had plans to erect a statue in his honor, but Vinton vetoed the idea noting that the $100,000 planned cost could go to far more important town needs.[7]
After two-years service in the U.S. Army, when 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 came after Vinton and his band appeared on Guy Lombardo's TV Talent Scouts program.[1][8] Two albums and several singles were not successful however, and with Epic ready to pull the plug, Vinton found his first hit single literally sitting in a reject pile.[3] The song was titled "Roses Are Red (My Love)". Vinton had to do his own promotion for the song; he bought 1,000 copies and hired a young woman to deliver a copy of the record and a dozen red roses to every local disc jockey.[1][9] It spent four weeks at No.1 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 No.1. Twenty-three years later, David Lynch named his movie Blue Velvet after the song. In 1990, "Blue Velvet" climbed to the top of the music charts in Great Britain, after being featured in a Nivea commercial. In 1964, Vinton had two #1 hits, "There! I've Said It Again" (a #1 hit in 1945 for Vaughn Monroe) and "Mr. Lonely". Vinton wrote "Mr. Lonely" during his service in the U.S. Army in the late 1950s, when he served as a Chaplain's Assistant. 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 DJ's 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 and reached #1 on the charts 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 #1. Harmony Korine named his 2007 film Mister Lonely after the latter, and it is now also the basis for Akon's hit, "Lonely".
Vinton's version of "There! I've Said It Again" is noteworthy for being the final 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.
In 1965, Vinton continued his "Lonely" success streak with the self written "L-O-N-E-L-Y". "Long Lonely Nights" peaked at #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". 1967 saw Vinton's lush remake of "Please Love Me Forever" reach #6 and sell over a million copies. His 1968 hit, "I Love How You Love Me", surged to #9, sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold record by the RIAA. [10]
In the 1970s, the "Polish Prince" continued to hit the Top 40, notably with "Ev'ry Day of My Life", produced by Jimmy "The Wiz" Wizner and CBS recording engineer Jim Reeves, which peaked at #24 in January, and "Sealed With a Kiss" hitting #19 in June, 1972.[5] The next year, Epic Records decided to drop Vinton from his contract (despite the notable success of these two hits), claiming that his days of selling records were over. Undeterred, Vinton spent $50,000 of his own money on a self-written song sung partially in Polish: "My Melody of Love". The suggestion for the song came from Vinton's mother.[2][5] After Vinton was turned down by six major labels, ABC Records bought Vinton's idea, and the result was a multi-million selling single that hit #3 on the Hot 100, #2 on the Cashbox Top 100 chart, and #1 on the AC chart in 1974.[2][11] A gold album, Melodies of Love, followed as well as more Top 40 pop hits ("Beer Barrel Polka" and "Dick And Jane" in 1975), a successful half-hour variety show The Bobby Vinton Show (which aired from 1975 to 1978), which used "My Melody of Love" as its theme song; ABC Records subsequently released an album of songs performed on the show.[12] In 1978, CBS TV aired Bobby Vinton's Rock N' Rollers a one hour special that achieved top ratings. Earlier in the decade, he also starred in two John Wayne movies: Big Jake and The Train Robbers.[1]
He owned, and performed at, the Bobby Vinton Blue Velvet Theatre in Branson, Missouri until 2002, when the theater was sold to David King, creator and producer of Spirit of the Dance.[8][9] Vinton returns to Branson annually for limited engagements at the theater.
Billboard Magazine called Bobby Vinton "the all-time most successful love singer of the 'Rock-Era'". From 1962 through 1972, Vinton had more Billboard #1 hits than any other male vocalist, including Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra. In recognition of his recording career, Bobby Vinton has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6916 Hollywood Blvd.
Vinton's alma mater, Duquesne University, awarded him an honorary doctorate in music in 1978.[4][12]
Vinton and his wife, Dolores "Dolly" Dobbins Vinton, have been married since December 17, 1962, and they have five children: Robert, Kristin, Christopher, Jennifer (who later changed her name legally to Hannah after getting married) and Rebecca.[1][8] His oldest son, Robbie Vinton, played Vinton in the movie Goodfellas (1990).
The Vintons make their home in Englewood, Florida.
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