Thursday, March 17, 2011

Happy St. Pat & St. Joe Day

In honor of St. Pat’s/St. Joe’s Day a little recognition to a few great Irish, Italian and Polish-American artists. Their music and talent said it all. Bet you can remember every word and verse to so many of their great hits!

Danny Hutton - One of the three lead vocalists in the band, Three Dog Night.
Their first "Top Ten" hit was "One," 1969, and, "Mama Told Me (Not to Come)," reached #1 a year later.

"Joy to the World" became the group's biggest hit, in 1971, and their final #1, "Black and White," was in 1972.
Their final "Top Ten" song was in 1974, "The Show Must Go On." They had 21 hit singles, including 11 "Top Ten" hits, also 12 consecutive gold albums, from 1969 to 1975.

The Mc Guire Sisters - Biggest selling female vocal group of the 50's.
In 1957 they recorded "Sugartime" with Steve Allen at the piano and it became their signature song. The word "sugar" appears twenty eight times in the song’s two and one half minutes.

Phyllis retired in 1986. She is a Las Vegas’s leading hostess and its unofficial ambassador entertaining royalty, social and the business elite in her 50, 00 square foot French Provincial estate home. It is filled with expensive artwork and priceless memorabilia that span over four decades of her work in the world of entertainment.

Christine enjoys an active social life in Las Vegas and is an avid golfer.

Dorothy and her husband of forty years, Lowell Williamson, live in Scottsdale, Arizona, where they are also active in community affairs and philanthropic activities.



Jim Morrison, singer/songwriter of The Doors, reportedly had an I.Q. of 149.
Morrison was ranked number 47 on Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Singers of All Time"[ and is widely regarded as one of the most iconic frontmen in rock music history.


Mariah Carey
is the world’s best-selling recording artist of the 1990s and the best-selling female artist of the millenum. Over 63 million albums and counting.

In 2008, Carey earned her eighteenth number one single on the Hot 100, the most by any solo artist.] We Belong Together was awarded with the Song of the decade by Billboard . She earned five Grammy Awards and is known for her five-octave vocal range.



Rosemary Clooney"Come On-a My House" made her a star. A household name; she became known simply as "Rosie."

"Botch-a-Me" (a cover version of the Italian song Ba-Ba-Baciami Piccina ), "Mambo Italiano", "Tenderly", "Half as Much", "Hey There" , "This Ole House", and of course her famous movie “White Christmas” and later on to success as a jazz vocalist.
She battled demons all her life with bouts of depression and alcoholism especially after hearing about the death of her friend, Robert Kennedy, while campaigning for him.


Bing Crosby - the 20th century's first multi-media entertainer: a star on radio, in movies and in chart-topping recordings.

He had 38 No. 1 singles, which surpassed even Elvis Presley and The Beatles.

According to the Guinness Book of Records, his "White Christmas" has sold over 100 million copies around the world, with at least 50 million sales as singles.

Crosby played an important role in the post-war recording industry.In 1947, he invested $50,000 in the Ampex company, which built North America's first commercial reel-to-reel tape recorder. Became the first to pre-record his radio shows and master his commercial recordings onto magnetic tape.
He gave one of the first Ampex Model 200 recorders to his friend, musician Les Paul, and Paul invented multitrack recording method. Along with Frank Sinatra, Crosby was one of the principal backers behind the famous United Western Recorders studio complex in Los Angeles.





Judy Garland received a Juvenile Academy Award, won a Golden Globe Award, as well as Grammy Awards and a Special Tony Award and at 39, was the youngest recipient of the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement in the motion picture industry.
In 1997, Garland was posthumously awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Several of her recordings have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
In 1999, the American Film Institute placed her among the ten greatest female stars in the history of American cinema. America's sweetheart is remembered for teaming with Mickey Rooney in numerous 1940's movies, The Wizard of Oz and her great TV shows of the '60's. Se was never comfortable with her appearance and hid insecurities behind pills and alcohol til her last curtain call - an overdose.


Tim McGraw, American singer (both parents have Irish ancestry)
Eleven consecutive albums debut at Number One on the Billboard albums charts.
Over 40 million in album sales.
Twenty-one singles hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country 100 chart.
Three singles became the No. 1 country song of the year ("It's Your Love", "Just To See You Smile", and "Live Like You Were Dying"), 3 Grammys, 14 Academy of Country Music awards, 11 Country Music Association (CMA) awards, 10 American Music Awards, and 3 People's Choice Awards. His Soul2Soul II Tour with Faith Hill is the highest grossing tour in country music history, and one of the top five among all genres of music.

Frankie Valli, (Francis Stephen Castelluccio), lead singer of The Four Seasons, one of the biggest music acts of the 1960s and carried on to the ‘70’s Disco period til today.

Valli scored 29 Top 40 hits with The 4 Seasons, one Top 40 hit under The 4 Seasons' alias 'The Wonder Who?', and nine Top 40 hits as a solo artist. As a member of group
Valli's number one hits included "Sherry", "Big Girls Don't Cry", "Walk Like a Man", "Rag Doll" and "December 1963 (Oh, What A Night)".
As a solo artist, Valli’s number one hits with the songs "My Eyes Adored You" and "Grease". "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" reached number two in 1967.
"You're Ready Now," a Valli solo recording from 1966, became a surprise hit in Great Britain as part of the Northern soul scene and hit number eleven on the British pop charts in December 1970.
Valli is a supporter of heritage-related causes, particularly the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF). In 2006, he received the NIAF Lifetime Achievement Award at the Foundation's Anniversary Gala. In 2008, NIAF presented a scholarship in his name to an Italian American music student during the Foundation's East Coast Gala.

Perry Como - recorded many albums of songs exclusively for the RCA Victor label between 1952 and 1987, and is credited with numerous gold records. Como had so many recordings achieve gold-record status that he refused to have many of them certified.

Between 1944 and 1958, Perry Como had 48 hits on Billboard's charts
Fourteen songs treached #1 on at least one of the three Billboard charts (sales, disc-jockeys, jukeboxes): "Till The End Of Time" (1945); "Prisoner of Love" (1946); "Surrender" (1946); "Chi-Baba, Chi-Baba" (1947); "A - You're Adorable" (1949); "Some Enchanted Evening" (1949); "Hoop-De-Doo" (1950); "If" (1951); "Don't Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes" (1952); "No Other Love" (1953); "Wanted" (1954); "Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom)" (1956); "Round And Round" (1957); and "Catch a Falling Star" (1957).

His famous recording of “Ave Maria” was produced in a church. Perry wanted it to be truly authentic religious experience for his listeners and asked the parish priest be present during recording to insure every word of the song was a true prayer. During concert tours he was frequently asked to sing it, but out of respect to the virgin Mary would always say “this is not the time nor the place”.

Dean Martin (Dino Paul Crocetti,) singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "Mambo Italiano", "Sway", "Volare" and smash hit "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?".
Nicknamed the "King of Cool",he was one of the members of the "Rat Pack" and a major star in four areas of show business: concert stage/night clubs, recordings, motion pictures, and television.
Dean didn’t think motion pictures were his best format. He loved entertaining a live audience both in Vegas and on TV and fostered a great and sometimes skeptical reputation of making the song sound better with the help of a drink.
Audiences agreed with his style, the look of an angel, with a touch of the devil and a scotch.



Pat Benatar (Patricia Mae Andrzejewski ) singer and four time Grammy winner. During the 1980s, Benatar had two RIAA-certified Multi-Platinum albums, five RIAA-certified Platinum albums, three RIAA-certified Gold albums and 19 Top 40 singles, including "Love Is A Battlefield", "Hit Me With Your Best Shot", and "We Belong". Benatar was one of the most heavily played artists in the early days of MTV.

Peter Paul Cetera, singer, songwriter, bassist, producer of "Chicago”

After leaving the group, his first single, "Glory of Love" (the theme to the movie The Karate Kid, Part II), was a US No. 1 hit in 1986. It went on to win an ASCAP Award for Most Performed Songs from Motion Pictures.

Producing another No. 1 hit single, "The Next Time I Fall," a duet with Amy Grant, which was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group. In fact, Solitude/Solitaire outsold Chicago 18 (#35), the first Chicago album without him.
"One Good Woman" and "Save Me," the original opening theme for the television show Baywatch.
In 1992- "Restless Heart", as well as two other successful singles: "Even a Fool Can See" and a duet with Chaka Khan, "Feels Like Heaven."


John Curulewski , nicknamed "JC," was one of the original members of Styx.
The band is best known for the hit songs "Lady" 1975, "Come Sail Away" 1977, "Babe" 1979, "The Best of Times" 1981, "Too Much Time On My Hands" 1981, and "Mr. Roboto" , 1983. Other hits by the band include "Show Me the Way" , 1990, "Don't Let It End", 1983 and "Renegade", 1978. The band has four consecutive albums certified multi-platinum by the RIAA.



Julius Frank Anthony Kuczynski , known professionally as Pee Wee King, was an American country music songwriter and recording artist best known for co-writing "The Tennessee Waltz".
King's other songs included "Slow Poke" and "You Belong to Me". His songs introduced waltzes, polkas, and cowboy songs to country music.
King refused to change his band's sound at the Grand Ole Opry, over the years being the first to introduce drums, horns, the accordion, and electric instruments including the pedal steel guitar to country music. His band also introduced Nudie Cohn's customized 'rhinestone cowboy' outfits to the Opry which later became popular with Nashville and country musicians, including Elvis Presley.
He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1974.


Eugene Bertram Krupa , the youngest of nine children in the family of Bartlomiej Krupa and Anna (née Oslowski).
Krupa.was an influential American jazz and big band drummer and composer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style.
Many consider Krupa to be one of the most influential drummers of the 20th century.
One of his pupils was Kiss drummer Peter Criss
The 1937 recording of Louis Prima's "Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)" by Benny Goodman and His Orchestra featuring Gene Krupa on drums was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
In 1978, Gene Krupa became the first drummer inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame.



Wladziu Valentino Liberace , better known by only his last name Liberace , was a famous entertainer and pianist. During the 1950s–1970s he was the highest-paid entertainer in the world.
His New York City performance at Madison Square Garden in 1954, earned him a record $138,000 for one performance.
By 1955, he was making $50,000 per week at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and had over 200 official fan clubs with a quarter of a million member fans. An unheard of $1,000,000 per year from public appearances, and millions from television during his early career.


Raymond Daniel Manzarek, Jr., better known as Ray Manzarek,
musician, singer, producer, film director, writer, co-founder and keyboardist of The Doors from 1965 to 1973, and The Doors of the 21st Century (renamed Manzarek-Krieger) since 2001. He is the oldest former member of the Doors.

Although The Doors' active career ended in 1973, their popularity has persisted. According to the RIAA, they have sold over 32.5 million albums in the US alone. The band has sold 90 million albums worldwide.


Bobby Vinton
is an American pop music singer of Polish origin.
Billboard Magazine called Bobby Vinton "the all-time most successful love singer of the 'Rock-Era'". From 1962 through 1972, Vinton had more Billboard #1 hits than any other male vocalist, including Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra.

Vinton found his first hit single literally sitting in a reject pile. The song was titled "Roses Are Red (My Love)."
His most famous song is 1963's "Blue Velvet", followed by “There I’ve Said it Again”, “Mr. Lonely”, “L-O-N-E-L-Y Lonely Nights”, “Please Love Me Forever”, “I Love How You Love Me”.
The "Polish Prince" continued to hit the Top 40, notably with "Ev'ry Day of My Life", and “Sealed With a Kiss”
Vinton spent $50,000 of his own money on a self-written song sung partially in Polish: "My Melody of Love". After Vinton was turned down by seven major labels, ABC Records bought Vinton's idea, resulting in a multi-million selling single that hit #3 on the Hot 100, #2 on the Cashbox Top 100 chart, and #1 on the AC chart in 1974.

No comments: