Little Anthony & The Imperials have accomplished many goals in our career. Starting as teen singers to the Rock ‘N Roll Hall of Fame induction, performing
live on the Letterman show, working with Paul Simon and Paul Shaffer, meeting one of my favorite singers, Dolly Parton at the Songwriters HOF dinner in ’07, hanging with Elvis Presley, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Sammy Davis Jr., Bob Marley and on and on.. Many of the things we accomplished are too numerous to explain here.

I intend to write a book. A book about my life and the evolution of this thing we call rock ‘n roll. It is no coincidence that the 50 years of rock ‘n roll is also a history of Little Anthony & The Imperials. Our lives/career personified it all and we’re still thriving.  

With that said, I would like to talk about our 21^st century “wish list”. Vince Lombardi once said, “Winning isn’t everything, but wanting to win is” and he is right on all counts. The Imperials and I are on a winning streak and here are some goals and projections we are hoping to achieve: 

1. Oprah Winfrey – I would like to meet her and have The Imperials and I perform live. When I saw “The Color Purple” I fell in love with her performance. She became the character and that is the essence of a true actor. I’ve followed her career, like most of us, and she has such a great sense of insight, which is God-given in my book. Being on her show, I could share my thoughts and dreams with her audience and mark my words, they would not look upon LA&TIs the same after that. Little Anthony & The Imperials did it all: mistakes, bad choices, successes, hits, living fast, low points, rehab, death in the family, the break-up of the group, a reunion, honors now, CBS-TV, a weekly online column, etc. We are on a roll now, and Oprah would love our story.

Lincoln Center – The Imperials and I would love to perform at Lincoln Center one more time. Notice, I said one more time. That is because we did a charity performance there in ’68 with Dionne Warwick and Burt Bacharach as her conductor. We had Teddy Randazzo as our conductor directing the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. LA&TIs with an orchestra is a thing of beauty. To perform our own show at Lincoln Center again, priceless.

We are looking to see if we can win a Grammy award. The process has changed. It’s gone retro. Now, the “contemporary hit” dominates radio airplay and it is all “a download business”. The “album configuration” or the CD, is taking a huge popularity plunge. Despite that, we think we can achieve, at the least, a Grammy nomination. We want to win for our audience, our fans and the legacy of the group.

Legacy – This is also a part of us wanting to win. The lack of history for today’s contemporary hit music is frightening. Radio stations today play hits but you have to go on their site to see the name of the song played 4 minutes ago. There is a musical lack to the depth of information. We trying to set the record straight. It’s a darn shame but that’s how it is today. The Imperials and I are on a campaign to “tell it like it was”. We were there, in person. We have so many stories and we’ve lived to tell about ‘em. Our 50 year history is one of the most enduring ones in show business.  

Free Concerts – we do a number of free concerts every year but this year, I think, they will hold more significance than ever before. With people out of work, struggling, a family, bunch of friends or a couple, a comfortable summer night, the problems go away for awhile. A little relief. It may not change the fans’ bank account but our performances in the park will be something special this year.

WHEN YOU WISH UPON A STAR 

Someone once said, ‘show business is my life’ and that applies to me, too. When we were teen singing sensations, they said we would have hits, stage shows, meet dignitaries, travel, perks, money, girls, etc. I knew some of it would happen but if they told me that I would be writing a weekly column online, I would have said, ‘man you’re crazy’. Here I am though – Little Anthony columnist and I loving it. 

So much has happened in the last year that it is making my head spin. I’m talking about good positive stuff like performing with Paul Simon at the Brooklyn Academy of Music for 6 shows last April, our induction into the HOF, the CBS Sunday Morning interview with Jeff Greenfield and Charles Osgood, doing “Hurt So Bad” again on the Ed Sullivan stage thanks to Letterman (that performance being the largest music production ever undertaken by the show), the support of Paul Shaffer, Billy Joel, Otis Williams and friends to many to mention is just incredible. What a way to celebrate our 50^th anniversary! I guess you could call that a blessing, right? 

Our new CD, “You’ll Never Know” is also a blessing and not just because we were able to do our own record for a change. The industry was passing us by and tagging us with “doo wop” and “oldies” but we don’t feel that way. Our new CD, “You’ll Never Know” is out on our own label, Imperials Plus and for us, an example of the American dream come true.  

Clarence Collins and I decided that Mohammad needed to go the Mountain, “if you know what I’m sayin’”? The industry cast us off but our audiences didn’t. We knew our worldwide audience was still there. We started our own record company, our own organization and produced ourselves. “You’ll Never Know” lays down a new Little Anthony & The Imperials groundwork. We are selling hundreds of “You’ll Never Know” each week and we have a major distributor in Sony Red. To have our own structure and organization was “wish come true”. For a group of guys from Brooklyn, we think we’re doin’ it right. 
 

GREAT SINGERS LIVE ON RECORD 

You’ll recall that in previous columns I talked about the great singing groups that have influenced me and the guys. One of the greatest tenors who ever sang a hit is Mr. Johnny Carter. We just found out that Johnny’s cancer is in remission and that is heartfelt news to hear. Johnny sings with The Dells, who are, like us, all original – 100%.  

The Dells were an inspiration to me and The Imperials. As were The Flamingos, The Moonglows, The Heartbeats, The Harptones, etc. Their influence lives on every time we time we hit the stage or step into a recording studio. I was thrilled that during the CBS Sunday Morning segment, Jeff Greenfield heralded the contributions of those groups. Man that Greenfield guy knows his music history. LA&TIs are campaigning for groups like that to receive the R&B recognition they earned -- on record and in concert. We are trying to set the record straight. 

Today they call it “doo wop” but it was so much more. It was historic R&B which defined a sound a couple of years before Motown came into the picture. The guys and I call them the “architects of rock ‘n roll”. I intend to keep writing about these ‘ground-breaking artists’ and improve the history of rock ‘n roll whenever I can. Their contribution was not only beautiful but it gave other artists an eye-opening musical life. They wanted to “perform like the originals” and The Beatles, The Stones, The Zombies, Paul Simon, the Motown artists, Teddy Pendergrass, Hall & Oates, Tom Jones, Elvis, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen to name a few, responded. The music evolved.  

I heard that ZZ Top said they are “interpreters of the blues” with songs like “Sharp Dressed Man”. Well, I feel, Little Anthony & The Imperials are “interpreters of R&B” and like ZZ Top, LA&TIs will continue to talk about the originators. The originators shouldn’t be lost due to lack of the facts now available.  

Great singers live on record but if you don’t know they existed, that dusty scratched record is a “cold case file”. The Imperials and I intend to make sure the inventors of R&B have a legacy still -- like I said, just getting the record straight.  

50^TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR CONTINUES 

Saturday, Feb. 14^th                  Grand Ole Opry                  Nashville, TN. 

Sunday, Feb. 15^th                     Proctor’s Theater              Schenectady, NY 

Saturday, March 7^th                  Ruth Eckerd Hall                Clearwater, FL. 

Sunday, March 8^th                     Broward Center                Ft. Lauderdale, FL.