- 1950 - Vic
Damone
- 1950 - Christmas Favorites
- 1951 - Rich, Young and Pretty (Original
Soundtrack)
- 1952 - April In Paris
- 1952 - Vocals By Vic
- 1952 - Take Me In Your Arms
- 1955 - Deep In My Heart (Original
Soundtrack)
- 1956 - Voice Of Vic Damone
- 1956 - That Towering Feeling!
- 1956 - Stingiest Man In Town
(Original Soundtrack)
- 1957 - Affair To Remember
- 1957 - Yours For A Song
- 1958 - Gift Of Love (Original Soundtrack)
- 1959 - This Game
Of Love
- 1959 - Closer Than A Kiss
- 1959 - Angela Mia
- 1961 - On The Swingin' Side
- 1962 - Lively Ones
- 1962 - Strange Enchantment
- 1962 - Linger Awhile With Vic Damone
- 1963 - My Baby Loves
To Swing
- 1963 - Liveliest
- 1964 - On The Street Where You Live
- 1965 - You Were Only Fooling
- 1966 - Arriverderci Baby (Original
Soundtrack)
- 1968 - Why Can't I Walk Away
- 1976 - Stay With Me
- 1980 - Young And Lively
- 1981 - Make Someone Happy
- 1984 - Christmas With Vic Damone
- 1984 - Damone
Type Of Thin
- 1984 - On The South Side Of Chicago
- 1989
- Eternally
- 1991 - Let's Face The Music And Sing
- 1992 - Glory Of Love
- 1993 - Feelings
- 1995 - On The Street
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By JCMarion
The great baritone
singer we know as Vic Damone was born Vito Farinola in Brooklyn,
New York in June
of 1928.His nearest touch to the world of show business came as a teenager
when he served as an usher at
the New York Paramount Theater during the mid forties. While there he thought
that he might have what it
took to become a pop music vocalist and took voice lessons and learned how
to put over a song. Top comic
and soon to be "Mr. Television" Milton Berle was instrumental in giving young
Farinola his first break at
New York night clubs La Martinique and the Aquarium. At the age of nineteen
he had his own radio show
called the "Saturday Night Serenade" for the CBS network. That same year
of 1947 he signed a recording
contract with Mercury Records in Chicago which was trying to break into the
position of one of the major
labels along with Decca, Columbia, RCA Victor, and late comer Capitol. They
took a major step in this
direction by hiring Mitch Miller as top arranger and A & R man.
In August
of 1947 Damone enters the hit charts for the first time with "Ivy" / "I
Have But One Heart" on
#5053 which was a top ten seller, as was the follow up "You Do" (from the motion
picture "Mother Wore
Tights") on #5056. In 1948 Damone had four records that barely dented the top
seller lists - "Thoughtless"
on #5104, "My Fair Lady" on #5121, "It's Magic" (a popular song from the picture "Romance
On The High
Seas") on #5138, and a duet with new star Patti Page "Say Something Sweet To
Your Sweetheart" on
#5192. The following year, 1949 gave Damone his first national big hits.
First came "Again" on #5261
from the picture "Road House" which got as high as number six and remained
a hit for five months. This
was followed by a big number one smash "You're Breaking My Heart" on #5271
which spent a month at
the top spot and six and a half months on the best sellers list. "My Bolero" on
#5313 was a top ten hit, and a
Broadway show tune "Why Was I Born" (from "Sweet Adeline") was a top twenty
lister.
In 1950 Damone continued
as a top recording artist for Mercury Records with nine charted
hits during the
year. "Sitting By The Window" on #5343 and "God's Country" on #5374 barely
charted, while "Vagabond
Shoes" was a solid hit lasting more than three months on the hit parade. A
cover of The Weavers "Tzena
Tzena Tzena" on #5454 got as high as number six, while "Just Say I Love Her" and
a cover of the Ames
Brothers "Can Anyone Explain" on #5474 barely got on the charts. The oddly
named "Cincinnati Dancing
Pig" recorded with Ralph Marterie's Orchestra and The Meadowlarks on #5477
also had a short stay on the
hit charts. At the end of the year Damone hit it big again with "My Heart Cries
For You" on #5563 which
sold enough to get to the top five in America. The flip side "Music By The
Angels" sold well enough to
make the top twenty. Damone had a big appearance in Hollywood at the Mocambo
Club which led to a
shot at motion pictures in the early fifties including "Young, Rich, and Pretty" and "The
Strip" both in 1951
That same year "Tell
Me You Love Me" on #5572, and a cover of the Perry Como hit "If" on
#5565 did not
do much but the next release for Mercury "My Truly Truly Fair" a
cover of Guy Mitchell's hit on #5646 got
into the top five once again. "Longing For You" was a solid hit on #5655, while "Calla
Calla" on #5698
barely charts. In 1952 Damone's biggest hit was again a cover record - this
time from Al Martino on "Here
In My Heart" a top ten seller. Others that year were "Jump Through The Ring" on
#5785, and Roseann" on
#5877 both briefly in the top twenty five. Through most of 1952 and all of
1953 Damone was in military
service and Mercury kept the backlog of recordings issued on a regular basis.
"Sugar" on #70054
did little but "April In Portugal" ( a big hit for Les Baxter
for Capitol) on #70128 was a
top ten seller, "Eternally" (#70186) written by Charlie Chaplin was a moderate
hit and "Ebb Tide" (an
instrumental top hit for Frank Chacksfield on London) was another top ten
seller on #70216. "A Village In
Peru" on #70269 which barely charted, closed out the year on record for Damone.
After his time was over
with Uncle Sam, Vic Damone appeared in the film "Athena" and did many guest
spots on the rapidly
disappearing medium of network radio. In 1954 at the birth of the rock 'n
roll era "The Breeze And I" on
#70287 and "The Sparrow Sings" on #70326 made the top twenty five on the
best seller list.
In 1955 "Foolishly" on
#70546, "My Symphony" on #70577, "Don't Keep It A Secret" / "A
Man Doesn't
Know" on #70624, and "Por Favor" on #70699, were all rather
unsuccessful releases for Mercury. However
Vic Damone was certainly busy in Hollywood appearing in the
motion pictures "Deep
In My Heart",
"Kismet" and "Hit The Deck". Because the hits stopped coming Mercury Records
did not renew Vic's
contract and soon he was signed to Columbia where he rejoined A & R man
Mitch Miller who had moved
there in 1950 and made the label the top of the industry during the pop years
of the fifties. Damone had one
more surprise hit waiting in 1956 with a song from the incomparable score
from the stage show "My Fair
Lady". The song was "On The Street Where You Live" on Columbia #40654 and Damone
carried it to the
number four position bucking the rock trend during the year of Elvis. "Street" remained
for a solid four
months on the top sellers charts during the summer of 1956. During the year
he had a best selling LP called
"That Towering Feeling" for Columbia (#900) and also hosted his own television
show into 1957.
Damone entered the
charts twice more briefly - "An Affair To Remember" on Columbia
#40945, and as
late as 1965 with the standard "You Were Only Fooling" on Warner
#5616. He recorded for many labels in
the ensuing years such as United Artists, RCA Victor, MGM,
and Capitol. Damone has continued to be the
consummate pop music pro through the years including years of special appearances
with his then wife,
Diahann Carroll. He has taken his place along with the vocalists that entertained
a generation that has
included Sinatra, Como, and Bennett. Vic Damone owns one of the voices that
has defined the Interlude
Era.
©2000 JC Marion
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