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Frankie Avalon

 
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One of the more talented members of the "Philadelphia school" of rock-n-rollers, Frankie Avalon was the reigning teen singing idol from 1958 through 1960. Devotees of American Bandstand will hold affectionate memories of such Avalon top-tenners as "Gingerbread" and "Venus." Avalon made a gradual transition from singer to actor beginning in 1957. He successfully essayed supporting roles in such films as Guns of the Timberland (1960) and The Alamo (1960) before starring in a string of inexpensive but moneymaking "Beach Party" flicks for American-International. As his film stardom eclipsed in the early 1970s, Avalon returned to singing, briefly starring in the 1976 nostalgia-oriented TV variety series Easy Does It. In 1987, Frankie Avalon was reteamed with his "Beach Party" leading lady Annette Funicello in the retro film musical Back to the Beach (1987), which he also co-produced. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
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Singer, actor

Perhaps best known for his roles in a series of 1960s musical films about young people on the beach, pop singer Frankie Avalon was also an important part of the Philadelphia sound of the late 1950s and early 1960s. He had hits like "Dede Dinah" and his smash "Venus" during this period; later Avalon concentrated more on film and television, appearing in the 1978 film musical Grease, and guesting on shows like Fantasy Island. In 1987, he reunited with his beach movie partner Annette Funicello to make the comedy musical Back to the Beach.

Avalon was born Frank Avallone on September 18, 1940, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He became interested in music during his childhood, and was taking lessons on the trumpet while still in grade school. The boy began playing professionally when he was almost thirteen years old, playing with a teenage group in Atlantic City, New Jersey. In this way, Avalon became something of a local celebrity, and he was soon playing on Paul Whiteman’s television show in Philadelphia. Within a few years, he had gone on to nationally-broadcast programs, including Jackie Gleason’s.

Meanwhile, Avalon had also developed a good singing voice. He was discovered by songwriters Bob Marcucci and Peter de Angelis, who, in addition to their creative activities, also owned Chancellor Records. They signed Avalon to a contract; his first recordings were released in 1957. These singles enjoyed a small measure of success, but Avalon’s 1958 release, "Dede Dinah," became a nationwide hit. The young singer had his best year as a recording artist, however, in 1959. Avalon scored with "Just Ask Your Heart," which was quite popular, and then followed it up with the musical plea to the Roman goddess of love, "Venus." The latter tune climbed to the Number 1 spot on the charts. In 1960, Avalon had another hit, "Why."

But Avalon had been exploring a career as an actor concurrent with his one as a vocalist. Even before "Dede Dinah" made him a celebrity throughout the United States, he had won his first screen role, making his debut in the motion picture Disc Jockey Jamboree. Avalon also made films such as Guns of the Timberland and The Carpetbaggers during the early 1960s before settling into the series of beach movies he starred in with Funicello. The first of these low-budget fun-fests, which always featured Avalon’s vocal talents as well, was simply titled Beach Party, and it was released in 1963. In the next two years he starred in four more such motion pictures—Muscle Beach Party, Bikini Beach, Beach Blanket Bingo, and How to Stuff a Wild Bikini.

Though Avalon continued to be interested in his singing career—like many other popular artists of the late 1950s and early 1960s—the demand for his talents

was drastically reduced with the advent of the British Invasion. He still performed in small clubs, though he admitted to Eric Sherman in the Ladies’ Home Journal that "sometimes there wouldn’t be more than forty people in the audience." Avalon supplemented his income with guest appearances on television shows, including Love, American Style and Fantasy Island. For almost a decade he did not record, but in 1975 he cut a disco version of his old hit "Venus" that made it into the Top 40. In 1978, Avalon made a winning cameo appearance in the musical film Grease, performing the song "Beauty School Drop Out."

But the 1980s nostalgia for the music of the 1950s and 1960s brought an upswing in Avalon’s fortune. The audiences for his concerts grew way beyond forty people; in fact, according to Sherman, the performances were often sellouts. From this, Avalon got the idea to make another beach movie. At first, screen producers were skeptical about the film’s appeal, but television people were interested. But Avalon told Jeff Yarbrough in People: "I didn’t want to do a movie of the week that would be on one night and be over." Eventually, however, he got the backing of film producer Frank Mancuso Jr., famed for the Friday the Thirteenth series of horror films, and Back to the Beach was made in 1987. The musical motion picture took a look at the Avalon and Funicello characters of the old beach movies as middle-aged adults with children of their own. According to Yarbrough, Avalon and Funicello have considered doing a sequel to Back to the Beach.

Selected discography

Single releases
"Dede Dinah," Chancellor, 1958.
"Just Ask Your Heart," Chancellor, 1959.
"Venus," Chancellor, 1959.
"Why," Chancellor, 1960.
"Venus," (disco version), De-Lite Records, 1975.

LPs
Hits of Frankie Avalon, United Artists, 1964.

Sources
Ladies’ Home Journal, July 1987.
Maclean’s, August 17, 1987.
People, August 10, 1987.
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Frankie Avalon

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Biography

Discussing Frankie Avalon's career as a mover and shaker in 1950s rock & roll with anyone who takes their rock & roll even halfway seriously is to court derision. Avalon was the first of the manufactured teen idols, before Fabian and Bobby Rydell and the myriad of other pretenders to the throne who worked the turf with tight black pants and red, red sweaters to the fore while Elvis cooled his heels in Germany. In the late '50s and early '60s, post-Twist and pre-Beatles, these generally untalented pretty boys were the cardboard no-threat remnants of a post-Elvis age. But Avalon had a real musical background to go with the pretty boy looks, and was no drugstore teenager waiting to be discovered.

Born in South Philadelphia in 1939 as Francis Thomas Avallone, he broke into show business as a child prodigy trumpet player, good enough to win talent contests, get on the Jackie Gleason Show, and make records for RCA Victor's subsidiary, X Records. But as childhood gave way to teendom, Avalon found himself playing backup trumpet in a local band called Rocco & the Saints. When queried by local impresario Bob Marcucci if there might be some local rock & roll singers who would be good enough to record some of his songs, Frankie suggested he check out the group's lead singer, blond-haired-and-blue-eyed Andy Martin. Marcucci came to the gig, but was unimpressed with Martin, feeling that blond-haired singers didn't have the right "look" to connect with females. But once he heard Avalon belt out a couple of tunes, Marcucci knew he had found what he was looking for, and a management contract was inked immediately. It was another six to eight months before Avalon's first single, "Cupid," came out on Marcucci's Chancellor label, and it wasn't until his third release, "Dede Dinah," that he had his first Top Ten hit. From there, it was an unprecedented run of hits, starting with his first number one in 1959, "Venus," placing no less than six more records in the Top 40 in that year alone. Marcucci worked the formula, easing Avalon away from rockers into more "adult," sap-oriented fare like a true pro, and was able to produce similar results with the far less talented but also very pretty Fabian.

By 1962, Avalon's four-year domination of the charts was coming to an end, but his career wasn't. He teamed up with Annette Funicello and reinvented himself as a clean-cut, pretty-boy surfer in a wildly successful batch of Beach Party movies that got him through the '60s in far better shape than most of his colleagues. The series was big enough to bring himself and Funicello back for an update in the '80s, Back to the Beach. Ever the musician, Avalon insisted surf legend (and original cast member) Dick Dale be in this revival. Today, Avalon divides his time between hawking pain medicine on home shopping networks and appearing on the Golden Boys of Rock'n'Roll oldies show with Bobby Rydell and Fabian, looking handsome as ever. ~ Cub Koda, Rovi
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Frankie Avalon

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Frankie Avalon

Avalon in 1976.
Born Francis Thomas Avallone
September 18, 1940 (1940-09-18) (age 71)[1]
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Occupation Singer, actor
Years active 1951–present
Spouse Kathryn Diebel (m. 1963) «start: (1963)»"Marriage: Kathryn Diebel to Frankie Avalon" Location: (linkback://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankie_Avalon)

Frankie Avalon (born September 18, 1940)[1] is an American actor, singer, playwright, and former teen idol.

Contents

Career

By the time he was 12, Avalon was on U.S. television playing his trumpet. As a teenager he played with Bobby Rydell in Rocco and the Saints. In 1959, "Venus" (5 weeks #1) and "Why" went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100. "Why" was the last #1 of the 1950s. Avalon had 31 charted U.S. Billboard singles from 1958 to late 1962, including "Just Ask Your Heart" (U.S. #7), "I'll Wait For You" (U.S. #15), "Bobby Sox to Stockings" (U.S. #8), and "A Boy Without a Girl" (U.S. #10). Most of his hits were written and/or produced by Bob Marcucci, head of Chancellor Records.

Teamed frequently with Annette Funicello, Avalon starred in a number of popular "beach" comedy movies during the 1960s. The wholesome and romantic coupling of "Frankie and Annette" in summer movies such as Beach Party and Beach Blanket Bingo became iconic figures in American films during that era.

Avalon also had straight dramatic parts in the John Wayne historical western film The Alamo, as well as the science-fiction story Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961) with Barbara Eden.[2]

Materializing as a character called Teen Angel, his performance of "Beauty School Dropout" in the hit 1978 film of the musical Grease introduced Avalon to a new generation of viewers.

Avalon appeared in nearly two dozen TV episodes, including ABC's The Bing Crosby Show and The Patty Duke Show, appearing often as himself. Later, he became a national television spokesperson for Sonic Drive-In.In 1965 he appeared in the Combat! episode "Brother, Brother" as a childhood friend of Pfc.Kirby, played by Jack Hogan.

The 1980 film The Idolmaker, written by Ed Di Lorenzo and directed by Taylor Hackford, was a thinly-disguised biography of Avalon ("Tommy Dee" in the film) as well as 1950s teenage star Fabian (called "Caesare" in the film), along with songwriter/producer Bob Marcucci (called "Vinnie Vacarri"). In the movie, Dee clashes with the record producer and younger singer Caesare, who he feels threatens his career. Eventually, Dee and Caesare quit the label, but their record careers collapse just as the British Invasion begins. The real Fabian threatened a lawsuit, despite the filmmakers' insistence that the film presented only fictional characters (though Marcucci was a paid consultant). Avalon denied most of the movie's events.

Avalon married Kathryn Diebel on January 19, 1963. She was a former beauty pageant winner, and Avalon met her while playing cards at a friend's house. He told his friend that Kay was the girl he was going to marry. His agent warned Avalon that marriage would spoil his teen idol mystique. Still together, they have eight children - Frankie Jr., Tony, Dina, Laura, Joseph, Nicolas, Kathryn and Carla. They have 10 grandchildren. Frankie Jr. is a drummer and Tony, the second oldest son, plays guitar and teaches at the Rock Nation School. Both sons play on tour with their father.

In 1987 Avalon and Annette Funicello returned to movies with Back to the Beach. In 1989 they also appeared as themselves in cameo roles out jogging the streets in Troop Beverly Hills. Not long afterwards, Funicello was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and retired.

Afterwards, Avalon turned to marketing and created Frankie Avalon Products, a line of health and cosmetic aids. Avalon promotes his products on the Home Shopping Network with host Bob Circosta.

He made a cameo appearance as himself with Robert DeNiro in the 1995 film, Casino.

In recent years, Avalon has starred in stage productions of Grease in the role of Teen Angel and Tony n' Tina's Wedding as a caricature of himself. Additionally, in 2007, he performed "Beauty School Dropout" with the four remaining female contenders (Kathleen Monteleone, Allie Schulz, Ashley Spencer, and winner Laura Osnes) for the role of Sandy on the NBC television reality show Grease: You're the One that I Want!

On April 8, 2009, he performed on American Idol.

Chart hits: 1958-1960

  • "Trumpet Sorrento" (1954 instrumental, X label)
  • "De De Dinah" (Chancellor 1011) #7 1958
  • "You Excite Me" (Chancellor 1016) #49 1958
  • "Gingerbread" (Chancellor 1021) #9 1958; #30 UK
  • "I'll Wait For You" (Chancellor 1026 #15 (B-side "What Little Girl" reached #79) 1958
  • "Venus" (Chancellor 1031) #1 1959; #16 UK
  • "Bobby Sox to Stockings" (Chancellor 1036) #8 (B-side "A Boy Without A Girl" reached #10) 1959
  • "Just Ask Your Heart" (Chancellor 1040) #7 (B-side "Two Fools" reached #54) 1959
  • "Why" (Chancellor 1045) #1 (B-side "Swingin' On A Rainbow" reached #39); 20 UK 1959
  • "Don't Throw Away All Those Teardrops" (Chancellor 1048) #22; #37 UK 1960
  • "Where Are You" (Chancellor 1052) #32 (B-side "Tuxedo Junction" reached #82) 1960
  • "Togetherness" (Chancellor 1056) #26 (B-side "Don't Let Love Pass Me By" reached #85) 1960
  • "A Perfect Love" (Chancellor 1065) #47 (B-side "The Puppet Song" reached #56) 1960[3]

In 1999, Frankie Avalon released a double compilation of various artists labeled Frankie Avalon's Good Guys.[4]

Legacy

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He was mentioned in the System of a Down song "Old School Hollywood". The song supposedly is about Daron Malakian's experience in a celebrity baseball game, where he and Avalon were both ignored.[citation needed]

Avalon is also mentioned in "It Takes Two", a song from the hit musical Hairspray, sung by the character Link Larkin, and in a song by the Wu Tang Clan called "The City" which refers to his experiences of being a big part of the beach party film genre ("Ride the wave like Frankie Avalon").

One of numerous obscure cultural references present in Midway's video game Mortal Kombat 3 was a lo-res image of Frankie Avalon's face that would dart up in the lower right-hand corner of the screen when Goro killed his opponent by knocking him into the spike pit on the Bridge level.

His song "Venus" was featured in Cranium Command (1989–2005), an attraction at Epcot's Wonders of Life Pavilion (now closed) at Walt Disney World. In the attraction, a 12-year-old boy named Bobby (Scott Curtis), tries to survive the pressures of life and falls in love with a beautiful girl named Annie (Natalie Gregory) at school.

He and his song "Venus" are mentioned in Wendy Wasserstein's 2005 play Third. The main character, English professor Laurie Jameson, watches a PBS reunion show featuring Avalon singing the song, and sings a line of it to her daughter. In stage productions of the show, part of the song is played and a portion of the supposed PBS special is screened as part of the scenery.

He is also mentioned in Adam Sandler's 2008 comedy, You Don't Mess with the Zohan, for his haircut, which the Zohan (Sandler's character) thinks is the latest hairdo.

He is also numerously referenced in the 1994 film, The Stöned Age, in which he makes an ending scene cameo appearance.

His song "Venus" additionally appeared in season 4 of the TV series Dexter in which John Lithgow's character, Arthur Mitchell, plays it to remember his deceased sister.

Filmography

References

  1. ^ a b Frankieavalon.com
  2. ^ "On the Set of The Alamo". Texas Archive of the Moving Image. http://www.texasarchive.org/library/index.php?title=On_the_Set_of_The_Alamo&gsearch=set%20of%20the%20alamo. Retrieved 4 August 2011. 
  3. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 34. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. 
  4. ^ "Good Guys CD". http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1066862/a/Good+Guys.htm. Retrieved 12-05-2010. 

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 
Related topics:
Chancellor Records Story, Vol. 1 (1997 Album by Various Artists)
Classic Masters (2003 Album by Frankie Avalon)
Golden Oldies NonStop Party Mix (1996 Album by Various Artists)

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Gale Musician Profiles. Contemporary Musicians © 1989-2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
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