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| Singing the praises of Vic Damone, recording and MGM star, who has passed away at 89 | |
| Last Edit: WaymanWong 05:26 pm EST 02/12/18 | |
| Posted by: WaymanWong 05:21 pm EST 02/12/18 | |
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| Vic Damone, whom Frank Sinatra once raved, ''has the best pipes in the business,'' died Sunday at age 89 in Miami Beach. Damone, born Vito Farinola in Brooklyn, starred in 1950s MGM musicals, such as ''Hit the Deck'' and ''Athena'' (with Jane Powell and Debbie Reynolds), and played the Caliph in ''Kismet,'' with Howard Keel and Dolores Gray. But it was his recording career from the late '40s through the '60s, which included ''You're Breaking My Heart'' and ''An Affair to Remember,'' that earned him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1946, Sinatra was listening to the radio at a friend's Manhattan apartment. Suddenly, he heard one of his hits, ''Night and Day,'' and was astonished to find out it was being sung by Vic Damone, live in the studio. Sinatra called the station and told Damone: ''I am Frank Sinatra, and I want you to stop singing my songs.'' Damone, thinking he was being pranked, said: ''Yeah, if you're Frank Sinatra, I'm the Pope.'' Months later, Sinatra would introduce Damone at Madison Square Garden and say: ''This kid's a really great singer. He's got stardust on his shoulders.'' In 1995, I got to see Damone, then 67, headline at Rainbow & Stars, above Rockefeller Center, and he still sounded great. He told a story about how he had to choose between recording one of two songs from ''My Fair Lady.'' One of them was ''I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face,'' but the one he picked became one of his biggest hits ever: ''On the Street Where You Live.'' At the time of Rainbow & Stars, I was covering cabaret for the N.Y. Daily News, so I gave him a glowing review. Much to my surprise, he phoned the News and thanked me for what I wrote. What a class act! |
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| Link | Vic Damone: 'On the Street Where You Live' |
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| Plus wasn't Vic Damone's cover of "On the Street Where You LIve" the big top 40 hit? | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 12:40 pm EST 02/13/18 | |
| In reply to: Singing the praises of Vic Damone, recording and MGM star, who has passed away at 89 - WaymanWong 05:21 pm EST 02/12/18 | |
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| I'm sure everyone under the sun did that song back then, but Damone's (plus the OCR) were the ones most people were mostly likely familiar with. | |
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| Damone had top 10 hit with 'Street' & did lotsa variety shows; was on 'Judy Garland' 3 times | |
| Last Edit: WaymanWong 06:45 pm EST 02/13/18 | |
| Posted by: WaymanWong 06:39 pm EST 02/13/18 | |
| In reply to: Plus wasn't Vic Damone's cover of "On the Street Where You LIve" the big top 40 hit? - PlayWiz 12:40 pm EST 02/13/18 | |
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| Damone appeared multiple times on ''Ed Sullivan'' and ''The Tonight Show,'' plus hosted a couple of his own series. Damone also sang with Judy and did wonderful medleys of ''West Side Story,'' ''Kismet'' and ''Porgy and Bess.'' |
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| Link | Vic Damone and Judy Garland: 'West Side Story' medley |
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| re: Singing the praises of Vic Damone - beautiful voice | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 01:53 am EST 02/13/18 | |
| In reply to: Singing the praises of Vic Damone, recording and MGM star, who has passed away at 89 - WaymanWong 05:21 pm EST 02/12/18 | |
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| I especially love his recording of "Our Love Affair", the theme song of the film "An Affair to Remember". He was a class act, and a wonderful singer. RIP | |
| Link | Vic Damone - "Our Love Affair" from "An Affair to Remember" |
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| re: Singing the praises of Vic Damone - beautiful voice | |
| Posted by: TheHarveyBoy 07:02 am EST 02/13/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Singing the praises of Vic Damone - beautiful voice - PlayWiz 01:53 am EST 02/13/18 | |
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| I first became aware of Vic Damone as a child (me, not him) in the early 60s. There were radio commercials featuring Vic Damone for Coppertone Suntan Lotion. These opened with an announcer stating, "Here's Vic Damone for Coppertone". You would then hear his voice singing "Make the most of moments in the sun, Coppertone makes living in the sun-time fun!" It would end with Damone singing, "Tan, don't burn. Get a Coppertone tan." | |
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| re: Singing the praises of Vic Damone - beautiful voice | |
| Posted by: mamaleh 02:43 pm EST 02/13/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Singing the praises of Vic Damone - beautiful voice - TheHarveyBoy 07:02 am EST 02/13/18 | |
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| Probably my all-time favorite singer. Clear, pristine, oh-so-pleasant pipes. Even the Coppertone commercials from my childhood, too. Hubby and I once traveled to Atlantic City to hear Damone in person, but unfortunately he had to cancel, so I never got to hear him sing live. What a voice. May he rest in peace. | |
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| But, does ANYONE remember... | |
| Posted by: clothedboysinging 11:48 am EST 02/13/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Singing the praises of Vic Damone - beautiful voice - TheHarveyBoy 07:02 am EST 02/13/18 | |
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| Vic Damone frozen pizzas; sold in supermarkets back in the '60's? That's how I, as a kid, became acquainted with him; with his picture on the label. That, and the gorgeous color photo of him on the front of the cover of the Kismet soundtrack LP. |
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