Sunday 30 June 2013

June Valli born 30 June 1928


June Valli (June 30, 1928 – March 12, 1993), the stage name of June Foglia, was an American singer and television personality.

Born in Bronx County, New York, june took to music from an early age, she appeared on the famous Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts show and won the evening. This was a springboard for her in the music business and she soon had a recording contract with RCA
Victor Records and also was signed on as a featured vocalist on the pop music television shows such as Jerry Lester's "Saturday Night Review," "Stop the Music" and "Your Hit Parade."

"Your Hit Parade" which was popular in the early 1950s featured the Raymond Scott Orchestra. Her first "Hit" to make the charts was "Strange Sensations" in 1952 which made the top 25, and later that year "A shoulder to cry on" also broke the top 25. At the start of the 1953–1954 season, she was replaced by singer Gisele MacKenzie.

Donald Swerdlow and his 12-year-old Bronx friends, students at Public School 6 were asked by June's manager to start a fan club for her. They did this and paraded in front of a TV studio carrying "picket signs" promoting her recordings of "Now Now Now" (an American version of the Israeli favorite, Hava Nagile, and the record's flip-side, "Always Always."
 

                             

She appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show broadcast from the deck of the Battleship USS Wisconsin (BB-64) on May 22, 1955. Valli recorded a number of hit songs, including "Strange Sensation" (1952), "A Shoulder to Cry On", "Crying in the Chapel", "Why Don't You Believe Me?" and "Unchained Melody".  In the summer of 1957, she began a long association with United Fruit Company as the singing voice for the Chiquita Bananna and also co-hosted "the Andy Williams & June Valli Show" during that year.

In the early 60s, Valli recorded three LPs: "Boy Meets Girl" with Mel Torme; "June Valli Today" for Audio Fidelity; and the "Do It Yourself Wedding Album" with violinist Florian Zabach for Mercury. Valli continued to perform in concerts throughout the country and the world and continued work in commercials.

June Valli met her second husband, Jimmy Merchant, in 1966 and they remained fast in love for 27 years. She had previously married Howard Miller, a Chicago disc jockey known as "the voice of the
Chicago Bears," but that marriage was short-lived.

Throughout her career, she performed with and for such other notables as Dick Clark, Dion & the Belmonts, Mel Torme and Fats Domino. Her last hit, "Apple Green", recorded on Mercury Records, broke the top 30 on the charts in 1960. She was also a guest on "The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson in June, 1970. In the 1980's, she was a frequent guest on nostalgia shows.

The nostalgia boom in the 1980s kept June busy at big band concerts and company conventions for Ford and General Motors,
where she was a popular draw. In 1988, June even appeared at a pre-Super Bowl party held by then-NFL Commissioner Pete Roselle.

Sadly, in late 1991, June was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. At first, treatment seemed positive and June began making plans to perform again. But it was not to be, the cancer returned. She was only 64 when she died at her home in Fort Lee, New Jersey. March 12, 1993. Her husband Jimmy, said June kept singing until nearly the end.
(Info edited from numerous sources) 

2 comments:

boppinbob said...

For June Valli's 1955 album The Torch
Go here: https://mega.co.nz/#fm4wYUCBrZ

01 – One For My Baby
02 – I Got It Bad And That Ain’t Good
03 – My Man
04 – Stormy Weather
05 – You’ve Got Me Crying Again
06 – Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man
07 – But Not For Me
08 – Bill
09 – All Alone
10 – I Get Along Without You Very Well
11 – Body And Soul
12 – Don’t Take Your Love From Me

Sorry for no artwork but a try Google image search.


Unknown said...

My mother just died Linda folia .June Valli was her cousin. She loved crying in the chapel.