Ronnie Dove

Ronnie Dove (born September 7, 1935) is an American pop and country musician who had a string of hit pop records in the mid to late 1960's and several country records in the 1970s on.

Biography

Ronnie Dove, the only son of Fairfax County, Virginia police sergeant Paul S. Dove and his first wife, Catherine Pearl nee Smith Dove Rusk, was born in Herndon, Virginia, his older sister is Marjorie L. Forrester. Dove began his singing career in the clubs of Baltimore. He formed a group, The Belltones, and they played Baltimore and the East Coast for four years. In 1959, they recorded their debut single "Lover Boy" as well as a cover of the Buddy Knox hit "Party Doll" before Dove went solo with Diamond Records. His first solo single, "Sweeter Than Sugar" appeared in 1964 to no fanfare. Later that year "Say You" was released and earned Dove his first chart record. The next single, a cover of Wanda Jackson's "Right Or Wrong," put him into the Top 20. In 1965 he had 5 chart singles and after just three albums Diamond Records released a "best of" collection. His name was featured many times in both Billboard and Cashbox awards in 1965.

More hits came in 1966 and 1967 including "My Babe", "Cry", "Happy Summer Days" and more. In 1966, he began hosting a local television show in Baltimore called "The Ronnie Dove Show". It lasted for 13 episodes. Today, only 2 episodes survive. When Diamond closed in 1970, he moved, briefly, to Aubrey Mayhew's Certron Records. Shortly thereafter, he went to the independent Wrayco Records and released a Bobby Hebb cover of "Sunny". He then signed a new deal with Decca Records in 1971 and pointed his career in a more country oriented direction. Then, he moved to the Motown country label Melodyland and had a top 40 country hit. Although he moved to some smaller, independent labels throughout the rest of the 1970s he still continued to record. He opened his own club in Baltimore and his fans were able to see him perform through the 1980s. He briefly revived the Diamond record label in 1987 to release a couple of singles and an album. Dove continues to perform in the Baltimore area (where he lives) and nationwide. There have been several compilations issued on CD. Collectables Records has even issued three 2-on-1 discs with his complete original Diamond albums plus a collection of rarities.

Although not generally perceived as a Rhythm and Blues artist, Dove's version of "Right Or Wrong" hit the top 5 of Cashbox's 1964 R&B listings (Billboard did not print national R&B lists in 1964). In 2013, he appeared on RFD-TV's "The Shotgun Red Variety Show".

Dove also maintains a music website (www.ronniedovemusic.com) where fans can select a number of his recordings and order a custom made CD compiled by Ronnie himself.

Planned Retirement

Having previously retired in 1988 to care for his ailing mother, Ronnie planned on retiring for good in 2014 due to declining health. However, his health began to improve, and he canceled his retirement. He further announced a retirement in 2016 due again to failing health. As of May 2017, Ronnie Dove is still active in the DC, MD, VA and PA area and has several concerts scheduled through November, please see his on-line site for a list of scheduled dates.

Discography

Albums

• The Swinging Teen Sounds of Ronnie Dove (Design Records, 1962)
• Right Or Wrong (Ronnie Dove album) (Diamond Records No. 5002, 1964)
• One Kiss for Old Times' Sake (Diamond Records No. 5003, 1965) U.S. No. 119^[1]
• I'll Make All Your Dreams Come True (Diamond Records No. 5004, 1965)
• The Best Of Ronnie Dove (Diamond Records No. 5005, 1966) U.S. No. 35
• Ronnie Dove Sings the Hits for You (Diamond Records No. 5006, 1966) U.S. No. 122
• Cry (Diamond Records No. 5007, 1967) U.S. No. 121
• The Best of Ronnie Dove Volume 2 (Diamond Records No. 5008, 1967)
• Ronnie Dove Greatest All-Time Hits (Certron Corporation #CS-7011, Stereo, 1970)
• Ronnie Dove (MCA Records No. 309 Stereo, 1973)
• Ronnie Dove Sings His Greatest Hits (Gusto Records (Power Pak) #PO-286, 1975)
• The Bird is Back (D.R.D. Records MS-4114, 1985)
• From the Heart (Diamond Records No. D-380-LP, 1988)
• The Complete Original Chart Hits: 1964-1969 (Real Gone Music, 2014)

Singles

DVDs

• "Time Capsule" (features his American Bandstand and Nashville Now performances among others.)
• "The Ronnie Dove Show" (features the only two surviving episodes of his television show from 1966.)

These two DVDs can be purchased from Ronnie's website (www.ronniedovemusic.com) ^[3]

References