Alan Dale
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Alan Dale
Biography
A fiercely independent crooner who answered to no one and once paid the price for his stubbornness by being hurled through a Latin Quarter plate-glass window, popular singer Alan Dale made television history when the immensely popular Alan Dale Show became the first television program to be kinescoped for viewing across the country. Born the son of an Italian comedian in 1925, Dale began his career at the tender age of nine when the eager youngster bolted on-stage on an open invitation from the audience. Later graduating from Brooklyn's Lafayette High School, the singer was merely 20 years old when his popular television series debuted on the Dumont Television Network in 1948. Later moving to CBS, the overworked singer would gain much attention when, at one point, he collapsed on-air from exhaustion and an ulcer. Though he lost his television shows due to an extended recovery period, Dale made a comeback with a little help from friend and Coral Records A&R chief Bob Theile. Going on to record such hits as "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White" and "Sweet and Gentle," Dale's legions of fans could later catch the singer in the 1957 film Don't Knock the Boat. Many believe that his refusal to accept the offers made to him by figures in the mafia underworld directly correlated with his sagging career, the incident at the Latin Quarter, and a deliberate disappearance from the spotlight. In April of 2002, Alan Dale died in New York following an extended illness. ~ Jason Buchanan, RoviAMG AllMusic Guide: Pop Artists:
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Alan Dale
- Genres: Vocal Music
Biography
Alan Dale (born Aldo Sigismondi) was once one of America's biggest singing stars. His baritone was heard on Pérez Prado's million-selling 1955 hit, "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White," while his tune "Sweet and Gentle" introduced the cha-cha to North America. He placed second after Frank Sinatra in the radio poll Battle of the Baritones in 1948, and received nearly half the votes as "best male singer" in a popularity poll conducted by radio show Make Believe Ballroom. He even played a role in early rock & roll, starring in Alan Freed's film Don't Knock the Rock.The son of an Italian-American theater comedian who emigrated from the Italian province of Abruzzi, Dale made his debut on his father's radio show. Leaving school at the age of 16 following an argument with a teacher, he tried his hand at a variety of jobs before considering a career in theater. Successfully auditioning for a singing job at a Coney Island Casino, he garnered seven encores with his first performance.
Although he accepted an invitation to sing with the Carmen Cavallaro Orchestra in 1944, Dale found touring intolerable. Physically ill and homesick, he tried unsuccessfully to get Cavallaro to terminate their seven-year contract. His chance came when Cavallaro was hired to appear in a film and the group disbanded. Returning to Brooklyn, Dale maintained a low profile. Although he appeared with saxophone player George Paxton's progressive jazz dance band for three years, he became ill when the group began playing one-night stands in early 1947.
Embarking on a solo career in the summer of 1947, Dale remained off the road, using radio and television as mediums for his music. His second solo single, "Oh Marie," sold close to a million copies. Hosting his own radio show on the Dumont network, Dale was lured away to be star of CBS Radio's musical quiz show Sing It Again in the spring of 1948, and within a few months was simultaneously hosting his own show on the Mutual Radio Network. He went on to host a television show, airing five nights a week, the following year. Paramount Pictures even sent a scout to determine if they should sign him to appear in a film.
Just when it looked as though his future was secure, Dale fainted on live television. Rushed to the hospital with a bleeding ulcer, he underwent abdominal surgery and spent much of 1951 in and out of the hospital. During his recovery, his career lost its early momentum. Mitch Miller had taken over production at Columbia and was focusing on novelty and singalong records. In Dale's absence, his television slot had been inherited by Perry Como, and Sing It Again folded after a three-year run. Signing with the Decca label when his contract with Columbia expired in November 1951, Dale aimed to recapture his earlier glory, and reunited with producer Bob Thiele of Decca subsidiary Coral, who had, along with talent agent Lou Perry and Ed Sullivan Show conductor and future music director of Sing It Again Ray Bloch, delivered such robust-voiced hits as "My Thrill (My Paloma)" and "I'm Sorry."
Dale's problems persisted, however. Leaving after a benefit concert in May 1958, he was thrown down a flight of stairs into a Plexiglas window. The October 1958 issue of Confidential Magazine claimed that he had been "black-listed." Thiele, in his 1995 autobiography What a Wonderful World: A Lifetime of Recordings, suggested that Dale's staunch resistance to the Mafia's desire to become involved in his career was a possible reason for the assault.
Inexplicably kept off The Ed Sullivan Show for 11 years, Dale returned on Sunday, January 17, 1960, as a guest of Jackie Gleason, who had agreed to fill in as host after Sullivan had suffered a bleeding ulcer during rehearsals and was rushed to the hospital. Dale continued to perform in New York in relative obscurity until he passed away in 2002, at the age of 76. ~ Craig Harris, Rovi
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Alan Dale (singer)
| Alan Dale | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Aldo Sigismondi |
| Born | July 9, 1925 |
| Origin | New York City, New York |
| Died | April 20, 2002 (aged 76) |
| Genres | Traditional pop music, rock and roll |
| Occupations | Singer |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 1943–2002 |
| Labels | Signature, Columbia, Decca, Coral, ABC, MGM, United Artists |
| Website | http://frasuer.tripod.com/index.html |
Alan Dale (July 9, 1925 – April 20, 2002) was an American singer of traditional popular and rock and roll music.
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Early life
He was born Aldo Sigismondi in the Brooklyn borough of New York. His father, Aristide Sigismondi, immigrated to the United States from Abruzzi, Italy in 1904 at the age of 21, and became a comedian in Italian language theater, with a radio program of his own. His mother, Agata "Kate" Sigismondi, was born in Messina, Sicily, and was 15 years younger than Aristide.
At the age of nine, Aldo got his first chance to perform publicly when his father was running short on his program and called on Aldo to sing. Though Aldo fainted immediately upon completing his song, he was good enough that he became a regular on his father's program.
Dale's intention was originally not to be a singer, but to go into journalism. However, he quit school after an argument with a teacher and ended up going from one job to another, until one day in 1943 he and a friend passed by a casino in Coney Island and the friend suggested he try out for a singing job. He was told to come back in the evening, and when he came back prepared to sing two songs, was called back for seven encores. He was immediately hired. In 1944, he joined the Carmen Cavallaro Orchestra as featured vocalist, and at Cavallaro's insistence got a new name. The name was taken from Alan-a-Dale. In 1944 and 1945, Dale sang for George Paxton's Orchestra and became increasingly popular on the East Coast performing at the Roseland Ballroom in New York and recording for Majestic Records.
Musical career
In 1947 he was encouraged by Bob Thiele, a record producer, to sign up as a solo artist with Signature Records. He premiered as a soloist on Columbia records in a December 1947 film short featuring the Elliot Lawrence Orchestra. The next year he got his own television show, The Alan Dale Show, on the DuMont Television Network and later on CBS.
In the early 1950s, he shuttled around from one record label to another, going from Columbia to Decca before settling with Coral, the label on which he had his major hits: "(The Gang that Sang) Heart of My Heart" (together with Johnny Desmond and Don Cornell), which reached #10 on Billboard in 1953, a vocal version of "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White" which reached #14 in 1955, and "Sweet and Gentle," which also charted in 1955, at #10. The latter two recordings sold over one million copies each, and were awarded a gold discs.[1]
He became a friend of Alan Freed, and as a result got a chance to play a role as a rock and roll singer in the 1956 film, Don't Knock the Rock. In this movie, he played alongside Freed, Bill Haley & His Comets, Little Richard, and The Treniers. He sang the title song, which he also recorded as a single.
In 1957 he resumed his shuttling from one record label to another, going to ABC, MGM, and United Artists. In 1958, while in a nightclub in New York, Dale was attacked.
Career decline and death
At the end of the 1950s, Dale found television hosts such as Ed Sullivan were refusing to have him on their shows, causing his career to go into decline. This was not helped by his authorship of a 1965 autobiography, The Spider and the Marionettes, in which he listed names of people who were trying to affect his career adversely, with descriptions of their activities toward this end.
He died in New York in 2002, at the age of 76.
References
- ^ Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 81. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
External links
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