AS TIME GOES BY  

If I sound as though I am a little somber, you are not only correct but perceptive. This is the six year anniversary of my son, Casey’s death. My wife Linda and I miss him very much and he was our first born. We have 3 other children – Damon, Daniel and Sarah – and all of us have dealt with Casey’s death differently. In order to cope with our loss and the grief, we try to find a way to handle it day by day. However, there are no clear-cut ways to that.  

I also have 4 other children from various marriages and they too mourn for Casey. It affected us all and we are still deeply moved by our loss. He exited our family early and like I said, we all dealt with his death differently. Yet in some ways, we dealt with it the same, too. Our faith has been a bond and we all feel that his soul is at rest now.  

This doesn’t mean that my family and I still don’t grieve in his absence. We know that Casey, in our souls, is at peace with God. I also don’t try to profess my faith. Some people try to bring other people to their beliefs thinking that will give them comfort if they suffered a loss like my family has. You have to find your own way in grief. 

My wife Linda has had a rough time and on this sad anniversary, it hit her emotionally. This is one of the odd things about the grieving process. It works differently for every person. Casey was her first son and that makes it all the more difficult for her. I feel for her and my loss at the same time. I wish I could help her more than just being there and supportive. My collective family all helped comfort her and that is remarkable in itself.  

I would never lecture anyone on how to handle their loss or the accompanying grief. However, if you believe in God and you can be there when those low points hit, like my family does, well that comfort and assurance will aid the healing little by little. The pain never fully goes away but with that kind of help, it does get a bit better until another sorrowful anniversary comes along.  
 

SAYING GOODBYE TO DOO WOP REUNIONS IN 2009 

Noel Coward once said, “As one gets older, one discovers everything is going to be exactly the same with different hats on.” As Little Anthony & The Imperials finish this year of touring, 2009, we are bringing to an end performing at any “Doo Wop Reunion” shows. We are saying goodbye to these concerts because it is a time to move on. It has been a long-time coming and we are closing out a chapter in our career. 

We are enjoying our 50^th anniversary in show business and we thought it fitting to announce that after 2009, we will no longer be part of any planned “Doo Wop Reunion Concerts”. We are doing a number of them this year and we are billed as “special guests”. I for one never felt that this defined who Little Anthony & The Imperials are as you know from previous columns. We are as R&B as you can get. 

We started out singing on the street corners of Brooklyn 50 years ago and 10 years later, the term “doo wop” was coined. It has become a buzz expression for the period of music that evolved from the rock songs of the mid-to-late ‘50s. We have headlined numerous concerts over the years that were billed as “Doo Wop Reunions” but it is time to say goodbye to those gigs. As we close out our 2009 touring season, we will no longer be performing on shows billed as “doo wop reunions”. Our Imperial best is yet to come. 

Don’t get me wrong. As a group, we appreciate the genre that gave us our break but in the mid-‘60s, Little Anthony & The Imperials re-emerged as a classic R&B group. We have the Top 10 hits to verify that claim including: “Hurt So Bad”, “Take Me Back” and “Goin’ Out Of My Head”. We still intend to perform “Two People In The World” and “Tears On My Pillow” but we are planning to perform those hits backed by our own band, and at some shows, an orchestra. We want to stay true to our fans and ourselves and respect the vision that Teddy Randazzo, Richard Barrett and Don Costa believed in. 

With upcoming dates in the UK, the April 4^th Rock HOF induction (Fuse TV) and casino concerts, Little Anthony & The Imperials are setting a new concert performance program only a few can rival. 2009 could be deemed our “swansong to doo wop year”. Like I said, “Our Imperial best is yet to come”. Will it be the same, kind of – only now we will be wearing the hats of the R&B group we really are in our soul and in our heart-felt hits. 

“Doo wop shows” have been good to us but as we continue to evolve as a group, it is time to call it a “doo wop day”. We are going to shift our concert performances to be more on track with what truly defines us onstage and on record, R&B baby.

I don’t mean to sound like a know-it-all but there is another quote that fits well here. I don’t know who said it but it states, “All things are subject to change, and we change with them.” Little Anthony & The Imperials are 50 years old but we are not too old to change. We are old enough though to say who we are and from now on, we’ll let our songs do the talkin’ and not the “doo wop-in”.

MORE NEWS FROM THE ROCK HOF 

Paul Shaffer just called me. This is a great guy and he understands music, especially R&B, better than anyone I’ve met of late. His musical work on the Letterman show is so impressive and his idea to re-create “Hurt So Bad” (Aug. 26, 2008) with a full orchestra a la Teddy Randazzo, deserves an Emmy for its presentation alone.  

Well our paths are about to cross again since Paul is leading the orchestra/band that will be the backbone of the Rock HOF concert and TV broadcast on Fuse TV. You know, it’s like when Bogart says to Claude Rains in “Casablanca” – “this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship”. Well, Paul and I talked about how to make the show special. 

Paul called to tell me first, he is conducting the HOF orchestra and wanted to discuss how we could make this show musically memorable. He not only understands music mind you, he understands good television. He asked would we help close the show with a rousing rendition of a song I co-wrote with my friend, the late great Sam Cooke entitled “I’m Alright”.  

If you go on YouTube (or above,) you can see an old TV clip from the hit ‘60s show “Shindig”, where The Imperials and I did that song with “a split after split dance routine”. If you watch the clip, we all did numerous splits as we sang “I’m Alright”. It hurts me right in the “you-know-where” to watch that clip and I wish I could do a split like that again. But at 68, I would be hospitalized shortly thereafter and maybe never recover. Maybe, my voice though would be bit higher than it is – yuk, yuk, yuk. 

The clip from “Shindig” and there is another similar one posted from a Canadian TV show we did around the same time, shows us clapping, doing several splits and shouting with excitement as we sang “I’m Alright”. Well, Paul Shaffer saw it too and he thought it would be great for the Rock HOF show telecast. Not only would it have everyone dancing in the aisles, but it would make for great live television. It will close the show out on a rousing note, pun intended.  

Then Paul leaked out second, that we are going to be inducted by a good friend of ours. But I promised not to leak it further as yet. I would like to tip you off but, I pride myself on keeping my word. When I heard who it is, I was thrilled by the news. You will too. The Imperials and I are so honored by our HOF induction and now, knowing our presenter, we are doubly honored. 

I keep saying that it doesn’t get better than this and every time I say that, it does get better. April 4, 2009 will always be a red letter day for Little Anthony & The Imperials from this year on. All I can is “baby, baby it is gonna be a day to remember for LA&TIs and everyone who watches the Rock HOF Fuse TV concert special”.