January '09 Entertainment—Little Anthony Column

THANKING VEGASCOMMUNITYONLINE.COM

Featured Artists

for the Month of February

First of all, on behalf of The Imperials and myself, I want to thank vegascommunityonline.com for bestowing on us the honor of being the February 2009 “Artist Of The Month”. I can’t tell you how nice it is to get that kind of recognition from our “hometown web site”.

When Marleen Marino first approached me to write a weekly column, I was a bit reluctant until our pr guy, George Dassinger, discussed the idea with me. I decided to take the plunge. I’m a very opinionated person and sometimes, you have to shut me up when I do an interview. I have a lot to talk about but to write a weekly column is daunting work and at times, demanding. I love doing it and now after months of columns, I am getting more experienced and seasoned.

This is a great forum for me and by now you know my biggest complaint is about labeling Little Anthony and The Imperials “doo wop”. I don’t intend to belabor the “doo wop point” yet my column has given me an internet journalistic floor to comment openly.

Back to the vegascommunityonline biography page: sure it lists us as “doo wop” but gleefully, the page also lists our other hits, our longevity and decades-long impact we’ve had on rock ‘n roll as we know it. It also states that The Imperials (along with The Dells) are the only all original members of any “doo wop group” still touring. I would be remiss if I didn’t try to set the record straight when I can: The Dells and The Imperials are not “doo wop groups” really. We are contemporary R&B artists plain and simple.

You see, “doo wop” started originally in New York City and you have to include all the boroughs: Bronx, Staten Island, Queens, Brooklyn Manhattan, etc. You have to throw in Jersey, too and it all goes back to singing on the street corner in the mid to late ‘50s. Today, you go to a recording studio but back then, it was all about “organic street echo”. So, you sang on a street corner at night and then, during the day, the school rest room. It was about sound and it was about style. It was labeled “doo wop” because the songs were glued together by phrases like “doo wop, ooh-ooh-aw”, “boop-boop-boop ah-ah-ah” etc.

The “street song-matic irony” is that the white groups wanted to sing like the black groups. It was difficult for them to emulate the sound the black street groups had developed on the corner and in school. So, the white groups created their own sound and their own style which became what we know today as “doo wop”. I was there as this musical transition happened, I know it is accurate.

“Doo wop” does represent the earliest stages of East Coast rock ‘n roll today and although Little Anthony and The Imperials started there, making the transition to R&B truly defines us. I don’t want to beat it into the ground but I try to carry on the songs of Teddy Randazzo and the orchestration of Don Costa in their memory. If you want proof, go on YouTube and watch the Letterman performance again and feel “Hurt So Bad”.

HOME SWEET HOME LAS VEGAS

Back in 2003, my wife Linda and I decided to make Las Vegas our new home. However, did you know that I also lived here in Vegas back in 1973-75? It’s true. In fact, the first time I sang in Vegas was in 1965 and we ran with the greatest names in show business like Elvis, Redd Foxx, Sammy Davis Jr. to name a few. Even though Clarence (Collins) and I are from Brooklyn’s Ft. Greene, Vegas adopted us. We were here when The Rat Pack ruled and the casinos had The Checkmates, Jimmy Durante, Louis Prima, Red Skelton, etc. bolded on marquee after casino marquee. Even back then, Vegas became a second home for us.

I am so proud to be associated with Vegas and now with this column, I can put it in print no less. I’ve lived in Summerlin on the west-side and Centennial Place on the north-side. If you know Vegas, there is a big difference between the two. Before my wife and I moved recently, everyone was telling us that the north was growing by leaps and bounds. But, the economy tightened and it went south.

Excuse me for parting words but the economic boom here came to halt. It changed Vegas. As you get away from Vegas’ hotel strip and the casinos, you encounter real neighbors, real people. It’s not glitz and not like West Vegas which is more affluent than say the North part.

The neighborhood Linda and I moved to reminds me of the Old West. They pitch in and help. It’s kind of frontier kinship, I guess with backyards and modest homes. Thank God for the real Vegas people man because they make life interesting and worth living every day. Back in 1965, Vegas was more show and today, it is community and home.

“YOU’LL NEVER KNOW” – THE OTHER SIDE OF THE POND

A friend of ours in England sent us a review that appeared on the “Soulchoonz” (soulchoonz.com) site in the UK. They reviewed our “You’ll Never Know” CD and we could not be more in awe as to what a rave review it is. The Imperials and I are very proud of the first record on our own label but when you get a review like this, you are, as they say in England, “over the moon”. Here is some of the review paraphrased:

“This wonderful album has blown me away. I did not expect Little Anthony and The Imperials to release a NEW album and alone anything of this high standard……the production quality and style is up there with the best, and if you adored the quality of major label sounds of the late ‘80s – lush instrumentation and strong melodies then you, too will be very much in love with this album. Anthony Gourdine may be in his 60s but he not only looks fantastic, his vocals have IMPROVED! Hearing albums like this really makes me feel warm inside….Anthony has returned to his classics ‘60s Teddy Randazzo songbook…..Clarence Collins has done a phenomenal job…..their remake of “Hurt So Bad” is a KILLER”.

SETTING ANOTHER RECORD STRAIGHT

The littleanthonyandtheimperials.net is the one and only official site and not the earlier.com site. Recently the .com site posted that the company behind it was responsible for everything good that has happened to Little Anthony & The Imperials of late. Wrong.

I don’t want to bring needless attention to the company behind the .com page if I can help it. They are based in Rhode Island and they prove the old adage that “when success happens, people come out of the woodwork”. You get some people who are “honey-bees” and others who are “termites”. The people behind our old “.com site” are termites in my book. Enough said.