By
the time my column goes out online, the news will be known that, hooray,
and we are going to be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame –
2009 ceremony. What a birthday gift. I turned 68 on Jan. 8th
and we received a call that day to confirm our induction. Then, Clarence
and I next did an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine’s Assistant
Editor, Andy Greene to discuss our reaction. This is just incredible! 
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LONG AND WINDING ROAD
Thank you all who have a vote in the HOF. Voting for us like you did is an honor in itself. To be honored by your peers is something you strive for in show business, especially at the last few years of your career. Clarence and I figure that Little Anthony & The Imperials can continue for another 5 years. It will be some of the best concerts we’ve ever performed and we, as a group, are more pumped now than ever. For Clarence Collins, the founder of The Imperials, Ernest Wright, (retired) Sammy Strain and (current) Harold Jenkins, it has been a long winding road. It’s coming to a final ending and, it is an exciting new beginning for Little Anthony & The Imperials. That doesn’t happen in show business all that often and when “a new life” does happen, you enjoy every nano-second. We are so appreciative and sort of, at a loss for words. What a year so far with the Beach (Lifetime) Award, performing with Paul Simon (at the Brooklyn Academy of Music), a song dedication by Billy Joel during his “Last Play At Shea” concerts, the Letterman performance, (this month) a CBS Sunday Morning interview, Rolling Stone, whew! Then, the CD we did, “You’ll Never Know” gets released on the Imperials Plus label and distributed by Sony Red -- all in one year’s time. Little Anthony & The Imperials are so honored and thankful. To our one-of-kind band, thank you for your loyalty and your belief. You stayed with us even as we jetted back and forth to dates on both coasts covering the continent in all directions. To our publicist, George Dassinger, very special thanks for forging a game plan – the 50th Anniversary – that helped propel us to this day. Then, we would like to thank Paul Shaffer, who presented LA&TIs on Letterman with such class and dignity, especially in regards to me. Then, Paul’s Late Night band (and ancillary musicians/vocalists) and to everyone involved with the Letterman show for producing one of the greatest TV performances in its history. There is magic for us every time we hit the Ed Sullivan stage and it continued. We would like to also thank Paul Simon, Billy Joel, Otis Williams (of The Temptations), Lorrie Lynch/USA Today Weekend, Mike Starr/NY Post, columnist Cindy Adams, Mike McCann/CBS Radio, Phil Roura/Daily News and Clarence Waldron/Jet Magazine -- a great big “Imperial thank you”. MORE HALL OF FAME INDUCTION THOUGHTS Sometimes we can be so happy and content with our lives. We go through a lot during certain periods and in many instances, we succeed in our goals. For example, Little Anthony & The Imperials getting into the HOF is a fulfilling achievement for us. Saying we are grateful doesn’t quite cover it. You see, we’re happy like never before. As a group (and a solo performer), we made lots of career mistakes and some really bad business decisions. Now, 2009 has just started and we know this will be record year for us. Everything could not be better. We
have always considered ourselves a “people’s group” and we are
“entertainers”. Our fans are important to us and when you receive an
industry accolade like the HOF or a Grammy, it doesn’t get better than
this. THEN, THE WORLD CHANGES Right while we were reveling in the joy of the HOF induction, we received some news regarding a dear friend of ours lost his two children and everything he owned in a fire in his home. Clarence and I tracked him down. We called him and I talked to him one-to-one about losing a child. Six years ago I lost my son and the grief was unbearable. To lose two children though, I could not fathom that. I did the best I could to console him. This guy is a living example of what a good friend is. He is a quality person, who did not deserve this heartache in his life. Karma went wrong here. He worked his way out of the hood by becoming a musician, producer and studio jack of all trades. He didn’t take the gangster route like many do. He lived for his dignity and he kept his hopes alive. Now, the only thing left is his car and literally, the clothes on his back. He doesn’t know I’m writing about him and I’m thinking about asking for help from anyone. Contributions of any and all kinds will help. I hope this is not inappropriate but I don’t know what else to do. I would like to introduce you to Howard Gutter, our friend and someone whose world changed tragically. For further information please write (me):
You can email me here at
littleanthony@ FANS AND PEERS 2009
I’ve been learning how to do “search online” lately. It’s an amazing
source of information and for example, if you do a Yahoo search on
“littleanthonyandtheimperials” I came across an article interviewing Henry Paul of The Outlaws and Blackhawk. He is quoted as saying, “Little Anthony & The Imperials were my favorites. I remember being enamored by Little Anthony’s voice.” Whoa, dude what a complement. I hope Henry stops backstage at the Grand Ole Opry when we play Nashville on Valentine’s Day so I can thank him personally! Remember too how The Zombies’ bio notes that Little Anthony & The Imperials were an “influence” to their music. I mentioned our following previously in an earlier column but it continues to blow me away that we have such fans, both artist and audience -- more than I ever realized (until lately, that is). Jackie Gleason used to say, “how sweet it is” and I could not agree more. ADDED DATES Our new agent, Steve Green/AIM – Boca Raton, FL. has been hard at work and he is adding dates to our existing tour schedule weekly. We would like to be one of the hardest working groups in show business. Performing is what we do best and what a year to do it, too – it’s worth 50 years dues. The new dates are: March 20 Columbus, GA. April 17 Westhampton (LI) PAC 18th at Harrah’s – Atlantic City, NJ
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