Has there ever been anyone more simultaneously famous — and unknown — than Ron Dante?
For those of a certain vintage, Dante was truly a voice of a generation. In 1969, he sang (uncredited) lead on two of the year’s biggest hits, “Tracy,” by The Cufflinks and, even more famously, “Sugar, Sugar” by The Archies, a fictional, animated band based on the popular comic books about a group of “typical” American teens in a typical American town.
In addition, he provided the lead vocals for a number of the most ubiquitous TV jingles of the 1960s and ’70s, including those for McDonald’s, Coppertone suntan lotion and Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Dr. Pepper. Yet he has remained relatively anonymous for six decades. When asked why he never broke through as a solo artist — especially in the wake of the phenomenal success of “Sugar, Sugar” (1969’s top hit according to Billboard magazine), the 81-year-old Dante was philosophical.
“At the time, I was doing background vocals for other producers, like Bob Crewe [of The Four Seasons fame],” explained Dante during a recent phone call occasioned by his June 12 appearance at Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City. He’s part of the Happy Together tour headlined by The Association (“Cherish,” “Windy”) and featuring, among others, Gary Puckett (“Young Girl”), The Troggs (“Wild Thing”), The Vogues (“Five O’Clock World”) and The Cowsills (“The Rain, The Park & Other Things”).
“I’d sing for the Four Seasons, or Jay & The Americans. And I did tons of commercials at the time. Jingles. And so, when I went in to do The Archies, they said, ‘You’re gonna be anonymous.’ But I said, ‘That’s fine; I’ll get a solo career out of this.’ But it didn’t happen.
“[Famed music-industry titan] Don Kirshner did promise me that he’d get me a solo album on his label and promote it like crazy. And he did just that for me. But people seemed to want The Archies; they wanted that sound. And that’s the way it turned out.
“But I was fine with what happened. Everything happens for a reason.”
Another path to success
But failure to become a pop-music superstar has hardly defined what ultimately became a fabulous, multi-faceted, behind-the-scenes
For starters, the Staten Island native born Carmine John Granito produced Barry Manilow’s first nine albums, which means he was the studio brains behind such chart-toppers as “Mandy,” “Copacabana,” “I Write the Songs” and “Looks Like We Made It.”
So how did he wind up being such an integral part of Manilow’s success?
“I was hired in the early Seventies to work with this guy, Barry Manilow, who was just starting out,” he recalled. “I remember he wrote this [jingle] for Pepsi or something. I was one of the background singers booked along with — get this — Melissa Manchester and Valerie Simpson from Ashford & Simpson.
“So, it was the four of us. Manilow, Simpson, Manchester and me singing background. And I remember it was a great original little song for a minute. [Manilow] really knew how to write. And I loved the way he sang.
“After the session, he said, ‘Oh, yeah, Ron Dante, you’ve had a couple hit records. I wanna be a solo artist. I’m working with this girl, Bette Midler, and we are gonna have a hit album, but I really want to be a solo guy. Would you like to listen to some of my songs?’
“To which I said, ‘Absolutely.’ So that’s the way I met him. I saw him a few days later, and he played me three or four of his songs; one of them was called ‘Could It Be Magic?’ And that became a legendary song. And about a year, year-and-a-half later, we had ‘Mandy’ and we did nine albums together, all through the ’70s and right into 1980.”
But wait, there’s more
Dante’s musical resume would be enough for anyone, but he has also found success in two other arenas: Broadway and publishing.
As for the former, he has been a producer of plays including the Fats Waller tribute, “Ain’t Misbehavin’” and the Tony-award-winning drama, “Children of a Lesser God.”
His initial foray into the realm of theater was as a composer of “Billy,” a 1969 musical based on the Herman Melville novel, “Billy Budd.” It wasn’t a hit, but it put him in the Broadway world and allowed him to meet folks like James Lipton, who went on to host the popular cable-TV series, “Inside the Actors Studio,” and Emanuel Azenberg whose producer credits include the Neil Simon hits “Laughter On the 23rd Floor” and “Lost in Yonkers.” The three partnered on both “Ain’t Misbehavin’” and “Children of a Lesser God.”
A literary left turn
Without question, the sharpest career left turn Dante ever made occurred in 1978, when he assumed the title of publisher of The Paris Review, the prestigious literary journal founded by author George Plimpton.
“I actually lived next to George and we became close friends,” said Dante. “And one day he asked me if I wanted to become the publisher and support it for the next [several] years. I loved the magazine. It had great interviews and great writers and great artwork. And that’s how I ended up being publisher.”
The job perks, he noted, included hobnobbing with the literary lights of the day.
“I met everybody who came to George’s parties,” he offered, “even Kurt Vonnegut. It was interesting for a guy from Staten Island [for whom most people had low expectations].”
Sharing advice
According to Dante, his fascinating life’s journey holds valuable lessons for others.
“It’s never too late,” he reasoned when asked to offer advice based on his own experiences “When I was about 38, I thought, ‘Gee, my career is over.’ And all of a sudden, opportunities popped up [in phone calls], or I’d bump into somebody and my course changed. So, I always feel it’s never too late. It doesn’t matter what age you are.
And at the beginning, be very aware that opportunity will knock and you’ve gotta be ready for it. It’s really important to work and rehearse and hone your skills so that when the opportunity [arises], you are ready. Then you can walk into a situation and produce something and do it well.”
He added that often, the best advice is that which is ignored.
“I said ‘Yes’ to a lot of projects that were crazy. My friends would say, ‘Well, you don’t want to do that; that’s not gonna work.’ And when your friends say, ‘It’s not gonna work, do it!”
For tickets to the “Happy Together” concert, go to ticketmaster.com.
Chuck Darrow has spent more than 40 years writing about Atlantic City casinos.
