Tony Orlando and Dawn
Tony Orlando and Dawn | |
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Background information | |
Also known as | Dawn Dawn featuring Tony Orlando |
Origin | New York City, U.S. |
Genres | Pop |
Years active | 1970–1977, 1988–1993, 2005, 2015–2016, 2018–present |
Labels | Bell, Elektra |
Members | Tony Orlando Telma Hopkins Joyce Vincent |
Tony Orlando and Dawn (also known simply as Dawn) is an American pop music group that was popular in the 1970s, composed of singer
Early history
This section needs additional citations for verification. (September 2023) |
While working as a music executive, Orlando received "Candida", a song other producers and singers had turned down. Originally, Orlando could not lend his name to the song, as he was working for April-Blackwood and recording under his name would be a professional conflict of interest. After producer Hank Medress insisted Orlando dub his voice over the male vocals on the original track, Bell Records released the single as being performed by the band "Dawn" to protect Orlando's position. On the American Top 40 radio episode for the week ending October 3, 1970, host Casey Kasem stated that the lead singer of Dawn was Frankie Spinelli; obviously this alias was used to further obscure Tony Orlando's true identity as the lead singer on Candida. A few weeks later on the American Top 40 episode for the week ending October 31, 1970, Casey Kasem stated that four guys make up Dawn: Frank, Ricky, Jim, and Dave.
The background singers on the track were
Bell Records was desperate to have a real-life act to promote Dawn's records. Orlando asked former Motown/Stax backing vocalists Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent Wilson, whom he had hired to work as background vocalists while producing Barry Manilow in the late 1960s, to become Dawn.[3] The threesome then went on the road in 1971, on the success of "Candida" and "Knock Three Times". After a tour of Europe, Hopkins and Vincent assumed background vocal duties in the studio, first recording on the late 1971 album Dawn Featuring Tony Orlando. The first single with their voices in the background was "Runaway/Happy Together" in 1972.
The group (now billed as 'Dawn featuring Tony Orlando') released another single in 1973, and it became their next No. 1 single — "
On The Carol Burnett Show in 1975, Harvey Korman, Carol Burnett, and Vicki Lawrence did a spoof of Tony Orlando and Dawn, as Tony Tallahassee and Dusk, singing "Wrap Your Jammies Round the Old White Pine".[6] At the end of the number, they were kicked off the stage by the real Tony Orlando and Dawn. Earlier, Lawrence's "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" had immediately preceded Dawn's "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" at the top position of the Hot 100 in April 1973.
Period of group's variety show
The group's next single, "Say, Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose" (from their concept album Dawn's New Ragtime Follies), went to No. 3 on the Hot 100, followed by Top 40 hits "Who's In The Strawberry Patch With Sally" (the first single with recording credit "Tony Orlando & Dawn") (No. 27), "Steppin' Out (Gonna Boogie Tonight)" (No.7), and, with some disco influence, Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter's "Look in My Eyes Pretty Woman" (from the trio's 1974 album Prime Time) (No.11).
With a new record label (
Later career
They re-formed in 1988 for a five-week tour that wound up lasting into 1993, with Pamela Vincent stepping in whenever Hopkins was fulfilling her acting/television obligations.
Orlando is still a popular appearance performer on tour regularly with the
Tony Orlando and Dawn occasionally reunite for television and benefit performances. In 2009, Joyce Vincent joined Scherrie Payne and Lynda Laurence's Former Ladies of the Supremes' group. She continues to tour and perform to audiences all over the world. Tony Orlando, Telma Hopkins, and Joyce Vincent reunited again in 2015 for the sold-out "Tony Orlando and Dawn: To Be with You Again" tour and appeared at Chiller Theatre in Parsippany, NJ, and again for a successful Christmas tour in late-2018. Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent joined Tony Orlando on stage at his final (retirement) concert on March 22, 2024 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.
Discography
- Candida (1970)
- Dawn Featuring Tony Orlando (1971)
- Tuneweaving (1973)
- Dawn's New Ragtime Follies (1973)
- Prime Time (1974)
- He Don't Love You (Like I Love You) (1975)
- Skybird (1975)
- To Be With You (1976)
- Christmas Reunion (2005)
See also
References
- ^ Hyatt, Wesley (1999). The Billboard Book of No. 1 Adult Contemporary Hits (Billboard Publications), page 127.
- ^ Knopper, Steve (July 23, 2015). "Tony Orlando still hasn't needed that backup career option, despite his mother's advice". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
- ^ a b "Knock 3 times if you want Tony Orlando". mercurynews.com. February 16, 2012. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
- ^ "Linda November and Artie Schroeck (contains clips of singing)" (audio). Ronnie Allen Show. December 2009. Retrieved June 15, 2011.
- ^ Casey Kasem noted the then-developing trend of Dawn's long song titles on both the September 15, 1973, and December 15, 1973, editions of American Top 40.
- ^ "Tony Orlando and Dawn: The Ultimate Collection (R2 Home Video-2006)". Retrieved July 26, 2018.
- ISBN 0-89820-155-1.
External links
- Tony Orlando and Dawn at IMDb
- Tony Orlando and Dawn at IMDb
- Tony Orlando and Dawn discography at Discogs
- Classicbands.com