Tony Orlando and Dawn were AM Radio Gold in the early to mid 1970’s.

But there’s more to Tony than his radio friendly hits. As you’ll hear in the podcast, he can trace his success back to advice given to him by his grandfather, and, believe it or not, comedian Groucho Marx.

Tony’s career started in a doo-wop group called The Five Gents in the late 1950’s. His demos grabbed the ear of Don Kirshner who offered Tony a job as a songwriter. Tony would work alongside some truly great songwriters: Carole King, Gerry Goffin, Cynthia Weil, Barry Mann, and Neil Sedaka. He’d also record demos of songs they wrote that would be pitched to artists to record.

When he was 16, his smooth, velvety singing voice landed him a record deal. In 1961, Tony recorded Halfway to Paradise, a song written by King/Goffin. It would reach #39 on Billboard. Locally, on CHUM radio in Toronto, it reached #3 in June of 1961. The follow up, Bless You, written by Mann/Weil, reached #15 in October of 1961. In Toronto, it peaked at #5.

The British Invasion of the mid 1960’s derailed many singing careers, including Tony’s. Clive Davis hired him to be the general manager of April-Blackwood Music, the publishing arm of Columbia Records. While there, he worked with artists such as Barry Manilow, The Grateful Dead, Laura Nyro, and Blood, Sweat and Tears.

His career with the group Dawn started out as a favour for a old friend. In 1970, Hank Medress (The Tokens) needed someone to re-record the vocals on a song he was working on for Bell Records. Tony agreed to record the song for Medress – as long as he wasn’t listed as the singer as Tony was still working for Clive Davis at April-Blackwood. He was afraid he’d lose his job.

That song was Candida.

The rest – as they say – is history. Dawn would have 15 Top 40 records on Billboard between 1970-1976.

They also hosted a weekly variety show from 1973-1977. It was the first variety show on U.S. Network TV that featured a multi-racial singing group. Tony was also the first Latino to host a network variety series.

When I spoke with Tony, he had five stops left on his retirement tour – including one at Fallsview Casino. His last show is on March 22 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut. After that, he will officially retire from touring, but not from music or his other creative endeavours. Among them, he’ll also continue his Saturday night radio show on 77 WABC Radio in New York.

He is a great storyteller. We packed many memories in our 30 minute chat. This interview was originally heard on Oldies Without Borders.

Enjoy!

Copyright Peter J. Maurin, The Vinyl Professor. Published under Creative Commons License: Attribution/Non-Commercial Use.