Vic Damone
Vic Damone (born
June 12,
1928 in
Brooklyn,
New York) is an American
singer. He was born
Vito Rocco Farinola.
He inherited his musical interests from his parents: His father, an
electrician by trade, sang and played the
guitar; his mother taught
piano. At an early age he decided to imitate his favorite singer,
Frank Sinatra, and began taking voice lessons. After his father became injured at work, he had to drop out of school, and he took a job as an usher and elevator operator in a movie theater, the Paramount, in
Manhattan.
One day,
Perry Como visited the theater and Vic took Como to his dressing room to perform for him. Como liked the performance enough to take him under his wing, and referred him to a local bandleader. At this time, he took the name of Damone, his mother's maiden name. He entered the talent search on
Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts and won the competition in April,
1947.
Winning that contest led to his getting a regular role on Godfrey's show (a step that figured in the careers of many other
Talent Scouts winners). One day he ran into
Milton Berle at the station and Berle got him a chance to do regular shows at two night clubs. By the middle of 1947, he had a contract with
Mercury Records.
His first release, "
I Have But One Heart" (August 30) reached #7 on the
Billboard chart. "
You Do" (released November 1) reached the same peak. These were followed by a number of other hits. In
1948 he got his own weekly
radio show,
Saturday Night Serenade.In
1951 he played in two
movies:
The Strip and
Rich, Young, and Pretty. From 1951 to
1953 he served in the
United States Army, but before going into the service he recorded a number of songs which were released during that time. After leaving the service, he married an
American actress,
Pier Angeli, and in
1954 made two more movies:
Deep In My Heart and
Athena. He also made some guest appearances on Milton Berle's
television show in 1954.
1955 was a poor year for Damone. He only had one song on the charts, "Por Favor," which did not make it above #73. However, he did have a major role in the movie musical, "Kismet" in 1955. In early
1956, he was dropped by Mercury, but was able to sign with
Columbia Records and had some success on that label with hits like "On the Street Where You Live" (from
My Fair Lady) and "An Affair to Remember" (from
the movie of the same name).
His marriage to Pier Angeli ended in 1958. In
1960 he starred in the movie
Hell to Eternity, which would prove to be his last movie. In
1961 he was released by Columbia, moving over to
Capitol Records, where he filled in the gap left by
Frank Sinatra's leaving to help found
Reprise Records. He lasted at Capitol only until
1965, however, but he recorded some of his most highly-regarded albums there, including two which made the
Billboard chart,
Linger Awhile With Vic Damone and
The Lively Ones, the latter with arrangements by the great
Billy May, who also arranged another of Damone's best
Capitol albums,
Strange Enchantment. Damone moved next to
Warner Brothers' record label. On Warners he had one chart hit: "You Were Only Fooling (While I Was Falling In Love)." The next year he moved again, to
RCA Records, but in 1968 he released what would be his final record for a long time.
in
1971 he started touring
Las Vegas casinos as a performer, and although he had to declare bankruptcy in the early 1970s, he earned enough as a casino performer to clear up his financial difficulties. He extended his geographical range, touring through the United States and the
United Kingdom, and as a result of his popularity decided to record some albums again, releasing them on RCA's label.
Damone was married from
1987 to
1996 to an
American entertainer,
Diahann Carroll. She was his fourth wife. Damone has married five times, divorced four. He has three daughters from his second marriage to Judith Rawlins and one son from his first union to Pier Angeli. In 1998 the singer married Rena Rowan, designer.
His final album was released in 1992.
Sinatra famously said that Damone had "the best set of pipes in the business".
The following songs recorded by Damone made the
Billboard charts:
*"
An Affair To Remember" (#16) (
1957)
*"
Again" (#6) (
1949) (bigger hit for
Doris Day, but a gold record for Damone)
*"
April In Portugal" (#10) (
1953)
*"
Calla Calla" (#13) (
1951)
*"
Can Anyone Explain? (No! No! No!)" (#25) (
1950) (bigger hit for
The Ames Brothers)
*"
Cincinnati Dancing Pig" (#11) (
1950)
*"
Do I Love You (Because You're Beautiful)" (#62) (
1957)
*"
Ebb Tide" (#10) (
1953)
*"
Eternally (The Song From Limelight)" (#12) (
1953)
*"
Four Winds And Seven Seas" (#16) (
1949)
*"
Gigi" (#88) (
1958)
*"
God's Country" (#27) (
1950)
*"
Here in My Heart" (#8) (
1952) (bigger hit for
Al Martino)
*"
If" (#28) (
1951) (bigger hit for
Perry Como)
*"
I Have But One Heart" (#7) (
1947)
*"
It's Magic" (#24) (
1948) (bigger hit for
Doris Day)
*"
Jump Through The Ring" (#22) (
1952)
*"
Just Say I Love Her" (#13) (
1950)
*"
Longing For You" (#12) (
1951)
*"
Music By The Angels" (#18) (
1950)
*"
My Bolero" (#10) (
1949)
*"
My Heart Cries for You" (#4) (
1950) (bigger hit for
Guy Mitchell)
*"
My Truly, Truly Fair" (#4) (
1951) (bigger hit for
Guy Mitchell)
*"
On The Street Where You Live" (#4) (
1956)
*"
Por Favor" (#73) (
1955)
*"
Rosanne" (#23) (
1952)
*"
Say Something Sweet To Your Sweetheart" (#23) (
1948) (duet with
Patti Page)
*"
Sugar" (#13) (
1953)
*"
Sitting By The Window" (#29) (
1950)
*"
Take My Heart" (#30) (
1952)
*"
Tell Me You Love Me" (#21) (1951 in music|1951]])
*"
Tzena, Tzena, Tzena" (#7) (
1950) (bigger hit for
The Weavers)
*"
Vagabond Shoes" (#17) (
1950)
*"
War And Peace" (#59) (
1956)
*"
Why Was I Born?" (#20) (
1949)
*"
Wonder Why" (#21) (
1951)
*"
You Do" (#7) (
1947)
*"
You're Breaking My Heart" (#1) (
1949) (Damone's 2nd gold record and his biggest hit)
*"
You Were Only Fooling (While I Was Falling In Love)" (#30) (
1965)
*
VH1 page on Vic Damone
*
Songwriters' Hall of Fame page on Vic Damone
*
Epinions page on Vic Damone
