Brooklyn-born Carmine Tilelli grew up in the close-knit, predominately Italian neighborhood of East Passyunk in Philadelphia. Just after his 18th birthday, tough Carmine turned to boxing. He made his professional debut in Atlantic City, New Jersey using the name “Joey Giardello,” supposedly a cousin’s name he used in an attempt to join the army before he …
She was a lovely lady, just like the song says.
I saw Sharon Jones and her band, The Dap Kings, at one of the last Appel Farm Music and Arts Festivals in Salem County, New Jersey. Despite blistering hot temperatures, Sharon and her nattily-dressed rhythm ensemble brought the crowd to its feet with its infectious funk. Sharon’s powerful and soulful voice soared and filled the stage …
I did my best, it wasn’t much I couldn’t feel, so I tried to touch I’ve told the truth, I didn’t come to fool you And even though it all went wrong I’ll stand before the Lord of Song With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah
What was that magical power Rex Harrison had over women? This is the third story I’ve presented about a woman who was obsessed with the late actor. Kay Kendall appeared in both comedies and dramas, including a Golden Globe-winning performance in 1957 musical Les Girls, opposite Gene Kelly. She had a lengthy romance with Charlie …
Lupe Velez got her show business start singing and dancing in Mexican vaudeville in the 1920s. She was recommended to American theater director Richard Bennett (father of actress Joan Bennett) by a friend who had seen her perform. Bennett needed an actress to play a Mexican cantina singer for a play he was staging and Lupe fit …
It was pretty apparent that Pete Burns was unique when, at 14, he was sent to the headmaster’s office for arriving at school one morning with no eyebrows, flaming red hair and one gigantic earring. While working as a clerk in a Liverpool record store, Pete formed his first band, the short-lived Mystery Girls. He then …
Lesley Goldstein was the voice of youth, decades before Kurt Cobain had the moniker thrust upon him by the “grunge” generation. At 16, the young, aspiring singer (now using the surname “Gore”) pored over hundred of demos with her novice producer, Quincy Jones. The pair finally agreed on a melancholy tune about a poor birthday girl …
For fifteen minutes, every Friday night, US soldiers fighting in World War II were comforted by the songs and stories of “Phyllis Jeanne, your Canteen Girl.” Broadcast on the NBC network from 1942 until the end of the war, Phyllis Creore was a friendly voice for homesick troops. She used the name “Phyllis Jeanne” because …
Dennis Wilson was the self-proclaimed “black sheep” of the Wilson family. At his mother’s insistence, he was admitted to his brother Brian’s fledgling surf band, The Beach Boys, in 1961. Ironically, Dennis was the only member who actually surfed. Playing on the strength of a few school-sanctioned drum lessons, he recognized his own musical limitations and …
