Spotlight Central: And how did you become a member of The Detergents? So I did have a couple of releases before The Detergents’ record came out and became a big hit. I had a record out about a year earlier on Musicor Records called “Don’t Stand Up in a Canoe,” which was written by the same guys who wrote “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini” - it was kind of like an answer song to that. Ron Dante: Actually, I had recorded as a soloist a couple of times before that.
SONG SUGAR SUGAR ARCHIES YEAR WRITTEN PROFESSIONAL
Was that your first professional recording? The group recorded a novelty song called “Leader of the Laundromat,” which was sort of a “Leader of the Pack” parody. Spotlight Central: And from there, you went on to have a hit record with a group called The Detergents. I thought we were going to have to cancel, but I said, “No, no! Just put the cast on and I’ll go on stage with the cast!” and that was the first performance of The Persuaders - with me in a cast. We booked a show one Saturday night at a CYO center on the East Coast - a Catholic Youth Organization center - and we were going to play there, but a couple of days before, I busted my leg. I helped form it, and it was just three of us - there’s a picture of us on the internet somewhere of us wearing formal jackets and stuff - and I was the lead singer. Spotlight Central: As a young man, you were in a group called The Persuaders. After that came guys like Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Fats Domino, and The Everly Brothers were a huge vocal influence on my life, as well. Elvis was the first major artist who got me to want to play the guitar, actually - I loved his hit records they were magic to me.Īnd, of course, my dad played a lot of great acts on our family record player like The Platters, Frankie Laine, and Johnnie Ray, so all those early ’50s artists were an influence on me. I was only ten or eleven years old when Elvis exploded on the scene and changed everything with his guitar, his songs, and his excitement. Ron Dante: The biggest influence on me had to be Elvis Presley. Spotlight Central: As you were growing up, who were some of your early musical influences? My dad was so proud of me when I finally snagged a Robert Hall commercial which, as I recall, was a Christmas commercial. Ron Dante: It’s so funny, I used to sing Robert Hall commercials. Spotlight Central: When you mention stores like Robert Hall, you bring back fond memories of the ‘60s. So I grew up around music, but no one in my family was in the music business.Īdvertise with New Jersey Stage for $50-$100 per month, click here for info But growing up in a big Italian family - my dad had seven brothers and my mom had four sisters - everybody sang. My dad owned a shop that made car coats - winter coats - for children, which Robert Hall and other companies would sell. Spotlight Central: You were born in Staten Island. Spotlight Central recently had a chance to chat with Dante about his musical background his time with The Archies, Barry Manilow, and The Happy Together Tour and, also, about what he’s currently working on during the current suspension of live concerts. More recently, however, Dante has toured the country with the Happy Together Tour as a member of The Turtles.
In addition to writing songs for a variety of artists, Dante came to prominence as a record producer, most notably with Barry Manilow. In 1969, his vocals helped catapult The Archies’ hit, “Sugar, Sugar,” to the top of the charts where it became the #1 single of the year. Ron Dante has had a long and distinguished career in the music industry as a singer, songwriter, and producer.
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