FAMILY MATTERS AND LOSSES 

I was home here in Vegas between dates and I had to run an errand or two. As I was heading out the door with Walmart on “my to-do list”, when my wife said she would like to show me something. She turned on our VCR and played a very old tape of my four children doing a commercial. The commercial was sent over by a theatrical agency that represented them at the time. There they were acting out all their parts. The commercial was aimed at why kids should have agency representation. 

It was so beautiful to watch and they did a great job acting out their respective parts. They were so talented and I was motivated to have my kids sign with this particular agent. What was I thinking? They are already signed – the commercial hit home. 

We were living in LA at the time, mid ‘80s and as I watched Damon, Casey, Daniel and Sarah, I realized this isn’t today, it was yesterday and it was over. The video caught my kids in a time-freeze and it was heart-warming and sad, in a way to watch them act. As the camera passed onto my son Casey – he was 7 or 8 at the time – my oldest from my marriage to Linda (we’ve been married 32 years now), I treasured the moment. Casey was so young, coherent and untouched by the world that would later take his life. We lost Casey 18 years later. Casey died on March 3, 2003. 

As I watched the video, it was so joyful to see how cute and talented they all were. As the tape ended, I looked at Linda and said we are blessed to have children like that. Even losing Casey, we had quality years filled with laughter, closeness and then, sadness. That’s life in a nutshell. Pulling out of the driveway though, I started cry and cried all the way to Walmart. My tears though were ones of joy and happiness, not sorrow as you may think. That taped moment in time was bittersweet and I was always treasure it. 

For parents who have lost a child, my deepest empathy. I hope you have a “tape” like Linda and I because it will provide a special moment in time no can take away ever.  

Little Anthony & the Imperials BLACK HISTORY MONTH 50^th CONCERT 

I am very proud of my heritage and when I learned that our special 50^th anniversary concert was now going to be in February, I was thrilled. Although Little Anthony & the Imperials' first hit was in late 1958, we did not really start to enjoy our success until February 1959. The concert will be filmed as a DVD at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. We wanted to have this show on the East Coast because we started there. Tom Cantone, VP of Mohegan Sun stepped to the plate and suggested we do it at Mohegan Sun’s arena. 

The promoter of the show, Richard Flanzer/Safe Concerts (based in Scarsdale, NY), is organizing the event along with Tom Cantone. Richard promoted the landmark shows in ‘80s at Belmont Racetrack and the “Daltrey Salutes Townsend” concert at Carnegie Hall years ago -- details to follow.

YOU’LL NEVER KNOW - 50 TIMES OVER 

I went on the rollingstone.com site recently and I was so happy to see our new CD was listed in the “Little Anthony & The Imperials discography”. It took us a year to get this record out and considering it is on our own label, Imperials Plus, we are for the first time in our career, are in charge of our own product and songs.  

We recently did an interview with our old friend Bruce Morrow on Sirius satellite radio. When we told Bruce that we had our own label, he was so impressed. Bruce’s response and praise made me realize that we have come full circle in our career. The business side of the music business was always distant but now we are in the driver’s seat. As Little Anthony & the Imperials move into our final chapter career-wise, we have reached a new peak that would have never happened in the early days of rock ‘n roll.  

One of the reasons we named the CD “You’ll Never Know” was because very few people know what we had to do to get to this point. Most performing artists don’t reach a 50 year milestone. Little Anthony & the Imperials have and for the next few years, we are scheduling concerts that are not only meaningful, but an expanse of our performance, like the Letterman show in August. 
 

ROCK AND ROLL HOF MUSEUM DONATION 

Little Anthony & the Imperials are so indebted to the Rock And Roll HOF for a number of reasons. Our possible induction into the HOF (we will not know until January for sure) was complement enough but now, we have donated “our rose-colored suits” to their museum curator. In case you are not familiar with these suits, here is the background: Sammy Strain, an original Imperial, created the suits based on outfits we wore back in the ‘70s. The suits he designed were rose, outlandish, effective and looked great on stage.  

We originally wore the “rose suits” first at a date we did at Mohegan Sun in 2002 and we wore them several times thereafter. In 2004, after we did the first PBS concert, Sammy announced his retirement from the group. We were saddened he was leaving us but his mind was made up. To honor Sammy, we “retired those suits” that day as well. 

I understand that the HOF is planning to exhibit the “rose suits” at the soon-to-open annex in New York City. No pun intended that is a “fitting place” for those suits to be and when that happens we’ll be there as well. Everything started in New York for us and those “rose suits sure will catch your eye”. Thank you HOF. 

Little Anthony & the Imperials are so honored to even be considered for induction and like I said before, we waited our whole career for such an honor. To the 600 voting members of the HOF, vote “yes” for Little Anthony & the Imperials and we’ll be there with bells on at the induction ceremony in early April.

NATIONAL SALUTE TO HOSPITALIZED VETERANS FEBRUARY 2009 

Little Anthony & the Imperials are the “founding group” to work with this terrific volunteer group and we helped the group launch their “National Salute To Hospitalized Veterans” earlier this year at a concert we did in Prescott, AZ. last Valentine’s Day. The success of the concert led us to working with the organization further. On February 12^th and 13^th of 2009, we are doing additional concerts for them. The show on the 13^th will be at a “Valentines For Veterans Concert” at the Rock And Roll HOF concert hall in Cleveland. 

The HOF will proclaim at the Rock Hall in Cleveland, “National Salute To Hospitalized Veterans Day” at the HOF – once again Valentine’s Day. That day, every veteran and member of the military in the community will be admitted free. 

Also on the 12^th of February, 2009, we will be doing a free concert in Tampa, FL. The free concert will be held at the Florida State Fair’s Ford Amphitheater and they are calling it “Valentines For Veterans Concert”. I believe The Spinners will be doing the show with us. 

I feel that this is a new and better designation for Valentine’s Day. The “old send your sweetheart a card aspect” is OK but dedicating the day to veterans is more than appropriate. Join us in paying tribute to our veterans. We owe them so much and Little Anthony & the Imperials will give them a concert they will not long forget.  

For more information on these concerts and the volunteer group, contact Frank Cimorelli (Prescott, AZ.) at 928-776-6013 – a great guy and great organization. 

And how this for irony, Little Anthony & the Imperials press guy’s mom is one of the many volunteers working at the hospital in Prescott and she was recently presented with an award citing her for hundreds and hundreds hours of volunteer service. Hedy Dassinger is also a former Marine.  

When Valentine’s Day rolls around, remember our veterans and those volunteers who provide care and comfort for all of our “hospitalized vets” nationwide. Little Anthony & the Imperials salute you.