Alan Dale (July 9, 1925 – April 20, 2002) was an American
baritone crooner from the 1940s who later flirted with rock 'n' roll.
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
theatre, 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.
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 gold discs. Also in 1955 the singles "I'm
Sincere" (the flip of "Cherry Pink") and "Rockin The
Cha-Cha" reached the Music Vendor top 40.
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, suffering cuts and a serious hand injury when
he crashed into a plate glass window after having fallen down a set of stairs.
Dale recovered from his injuries, but the assailant who knocked him down the
stairs was never identified.
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. Despite this, Dale was able to maintain a lower-profile
version of his singing career over the ensuing decades, performing at
nightclubs, dinner theatres and concert appearances.
He died in New York after a long illness in 2002, at the
age of 76. (Info Wikipedia)
For “Alan Dale – Sings” go here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www81.zippyshare.com/v/4DHe0Y4C/file.html
01 - Waiting for the Robert E.Lee
02 - Oh Marie
03 – Judy
04 - Mean to Me
05 - Poinciana (Song of the Tree)
06 - Rainbow Gal
07 - I'm Late
08 - Here in My Heart
09 - My Thrill
10 - In Old Sorrento
11 - Gioia Mia ( Joy Of My Life )
12 - Moonlight and Roses
13 - Cherry Pink ( And Apple Blommom White )
14 - I'm Sorry
15 - Sweet and Gentle (Me Lo Dijo Adela
16 - Learn to Croon
17 - Lisbon Antigua (In Old Lisbon)
18 - Dance On
19 - I'm Sincere
20 - Rockin' The Cha-Cha
21 - Wham! ( There I Go In Love Again)
22 - Robin Hood
23 - The Birds and the Bee
24 - Your Love Is My Love
25 - Don't Knock the Rock
26 - The Girl Can't Help It
27 - Lonesome Road