BONUS FEATURE
TONY ORLANDO: One Classy And Caring Guy
by Tom Lounges
Though it has been three decades since
Tony Orlando has enjoyed a chart-topping hit as the lead voice of the
pop trio, Dawn (with Joyce Vincent and Telma Hopkins), he is still red
hot when it comes to selling concert tickets and filling seats.
“Honestly, I thank God everyday, because this is my 43rd year in
entertainment, and the ‘forget’ factor in show business is about a
week,” said Orlando in a phone interview to promote his upcoming
September 18 concert at Governor’s State University’s Center For The
Performing Arts in University Park, IL. “To see people still there for
me as they are, and still coming to shows as they do, is just amazing to
me.”
Perhaps
Orlando’s secret to continued success is that he has perpetuated “good
karma” in the years that have passed since songs like
“Candida”, “Knock Three Times (On The
Ceiling)” and
“Say, Has Anybody Seen My Sweet
Gypsy Rose?”
were AM radio staples.
The
mustached Latin crooner has done this though tireless humanitarian work
on behalf of American Armed Service Veterans and people suffering from
the ravages of Muscular Dystrophy.
His
indelible 1973 rendition of “Tie
A Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree,”
has become an international anthem of reunion that crosses generational,
cultural and racial barriers.
“I was
just the mailman, I just delivered the letter,” Orlando humbly said.
“That song was written by Irwin Levine and is one of the great American
love stories of all time. Listen to those words. It’s a great song.”
Orlando
takes what the “yellow ribbon”
has come to represent to the public very seriously. He spearheaded what
is now the annual “Yellow Ribbon
Salute To Veterans”
in Branson, Missouri. The whole town opens its arms to veterans on
November 11 –– Veteran’s Day –– granting vets free theatre shows, free
dinners, etc.
Sixty-year-old Orlando spent only 57 total days at his Branson home
during 2003 and has no plans to slow his pace. “I don’t feel old. I
get more out of performing now than I ever did.”
Following
his concert at Governor State University’s Center For The Performing
Arts, will be a lavish reception organized to raise funds for the
Muscular Dystrophy Association, for which Orlando proudly serves as a
Vice President. By making a donation to help vanquish the debilitating
muscle disease, fans can meet and socialize with Orlando.
The Lefty
Brothers, a veteran musical group of 23 years will back Orlando, as they
have for the last eight years; as will vocalist, Toni Wine, whose resume
includes singing on albums by John Lennon, Steely Dan, Willie Nelson and
Elvis Presley. Wine has also composed a wealth of hit pop songs,
including Dawn’s “Candida”
and the Mindbenders hit, “Groovy
Kind Of Love.”
Orlando
feels his live shows today are higher caliber than those from his 1970s
heyday. “When I was hot and selling records and doing the television
show, I was really pretty green as an entertainer.” His youthful energy
on stage is credited to walking five miles a day and hitting a gym three
times a week, regardless of his geographic location.
“We open with
‘Tie A Yellow Ribbon’,”
he informed, “so don’t arrive to the show late!” Dean Martin once
advised Orlando, “Open the show with a closer to get their attention
fast!”
Orlando
has performed alongside many other entertainment giants of the 20th
Century, including Sammy Davis Jr. “It was Sammy’s 40th anniversary in
show business,” he recalled. “We had this party for him at Caesar’s
Palace in Las Vegas and he turned to me and said ––
‘You know what Tony, after 40 years,
I’m just now learning how to do this!’
I fully understand now what Sammy meant, because it is exactly how I
feel today.”
Orlando
has also benefited strongly from the advice and friendship of veteran
entertainers Bob Hope and Jerry Lewis, both whom he hails as personal
mentors and role models.
“The
first time I ever sang ‘Yellow
Ribbon’ live was at the Cotton Bowl in 1973 in front of 70,000
people. I had been invited by Bob Hope to help welcome home the P.O.W.’s
from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos,” recalled Orlando. “That day and those
men changed my life forever! I’ve worked hard for veterans ever since.”
Orlando
credits Hope for weaving “Tie A
Yellow Ribbon”
into the moral fabric of America and starting a tradition that
ultimately made the song a symbol of support for American fighting
forces. One need not look too far today before seeing a yellow ribbon
tied to a tree, or see a yellow ribbon decal or magnet affixed to a car
or truck, as American show support to those who are fighting for freedom
in the deserts and streets Iraqi.
The
“yellow ribbon”
has also become a symbol of hope for families of kidnap victims and
missing children. Lacy Peterson’s mother on national television wore it
prominently when that case first hit the headlines.
“When we
sang ‘Yellow Ribbon’
at the Cotton Bowl in
‘73, it was not even a hit yet. It was only #43 with a bullet on the
charts or something,” explained Orlando. “I remember asking, ‘Mr. Hope
WHY is my group opening this special show?’ Bob Hope then turned to me
and said, ‘Tony, I heard your song on the radio and I told my wife
Delores, that the opening line was every returning soldier’s prayer –
‘I’m coming home, I’ve done my time.’ You are the ONLY one who could
open this show!’ ”
Orlando
later honored Hope has one of the first recipients of Orlando’s now
annual presentation of “The
Yellow Ribbon of Freedom,”
which honors a person for exceptional work on behalf of America’s
veterans.
Orlando
has performed a record 25 times for Jerry Lewis’ annual Labor Day
Muscular Dystrophy Telethon, proudly becoming in recent years the aging
comedian/actor’s right hand man, and for the last two years Vice
President of the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
“I will
do anything that man asks of me, from singing on the telethon, to
appearing at fund raising events, to serving coffee and sweeping
floors,” stressed Orlando. “I admire Jerry Lewis to the bone, the way
he works and works, he is just unbelievable! This is a man who has
worked fifty years against one terrible, terrible disease that was
virtually unknown to people before he took up the cause. He has opened
up the world of genetic science and research through MDA, and an
offshoot of that research as been [the discovery of] DNA. So much has
happened as a direct result of Jerry Lewis’s tireless efforts and I
don’t think Jerry has ever gotten the kind of recognition he deserves
for all the work and sacrifices he has made over the years.”
Aside
from his strong chart run with Dawn during the 1970s, Orlando, was the
first vocal artist ever contracted to record for Epic Records and after
his 1961 signing, had a pair of Top 40 solo hits ––
“Halfway To Paradise” and “The
Bells.” He
also recorded a 1969 Top 30 hit,
“Make Believe,” while fronting the band, Wind.
All three
of those Orlando chestnuts will be included on a forthcoming DVD/CD,
Tony Orlando & Dawn Anthology”
package. The DVD
package will containing all four seasons of the mid-1970s CBS weekly
series – “The Tony Orlando & Dawn Show”
(renamed “The Rainbow Hour”
during it’s final year) – which was landmark in being the first
multi-ethnic variety show on television.
Orlando
continues to record sporadically. He released a platinum-selling
Christian music album with Carmen awhile back, and just completed a new
Latin-flavored CD, Caribbean Jewel.
“It’s a
salute to my Latin side,” he said. “My father was Greek, my mother
Puerto Rican, and I was brought up in New York by the Puerto Rican side
of the family. It’s a very autobiographical album and has sort of an R&B
meets Santana sound to it. It has a song called,
‘Papitio Played The Trumpet’,
that I wrote about my grandfather, Leon Stanley. He was an amazing
trumpet player, who invented a trumpet mouthpiece called the Stanley
mouthpiece and who was head of Local #802 for New York musicians. The
song ‘Caribbean Jewel’
tells the story of my grandmother and grandfather falling in love in
Puerto Rico.”
Orlando
does not consider himself as much a recording artist as he does a live
concert performer. “On stage singing is where I’m most happy,” he
concluded.
Given his
average of 300 live shows a year, it is apparently where Orlando’s
legion of fans are the most happy to find him too!
TONY ORLANDO performs with The Lefty
Brothers and Toni Wine on Saturday, September 18 @ 8:00pm @ Governor
State University’s Center of Performing Arts in University Park, IL
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