- Album list
- Singer Intro
Tony Orlando and Dawn is an American pop music group that was popular in the 1970s. Their signature hits include 'Candida', 'Knock Three Times', 'Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree', and 'He Don't Love You (Like I Love You)'.
Early history
Tony Orlando was born Michael Anthony Orlando Cassavitis on 3 April 1944. After almost a decade of singing and with only three Top 40 hits, two in 1961 and another in 1969 as the lead singer for the studio group Wind, he had not had any further success. He stopped singing, and by 1970 he was a retired demo singer. He began publishing music for April-Blackwood Music, a division of Columbia Records, instead.
Then Orlando received 'Candida,' a song other producers and singers had turned down. Originally, Orlando could not lend his name to the song, as he was working for April-Blackwood and recording under his name would be a professional conflict of interest. After producer Hank Medress insisted Orlando dub his voice over the male vocals on the original track, Bell Records released the single as being performed by the band 'Dawn' to protect Orlando's position.
The background singers on the track were Cynthia Weil, Linda November, Jay Siegel, and Toni Wine, who co-wrote the song. Phil Margo played drums on the original session, and the arranger was Norman Bergen. After the single hit No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 (No.1 on the Cashbox Top 100), Orlando wanted to perform again. The ensemble then recorded the follow-up song 'Knock Three Times', which topped the Hot 100 on 23 January - 6 February 1971.
Bell Records was desperate to have a real-life act to promote Dawn's records. Orlando asked former Motown/Stax backing vocalists Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent Wilson to become Dawn. The threesome then went on the road after 'Candida' and 'Knock Three Times'. After a tour of Europe, Hopkins and Vincent assumed background vocal duties in the studio. They were joined in the studio by Vincent's sister Pamela Vincent, who sang and arranged the backing vocals. Touring commitments with Aretha Franklin prevented Vincent from appearing with Dawn on tour. The first single with their voices in the background was 'Runaway/Happy Together' in 1972.
The group (now billed as 'Dawn featuring Tony Orlando') released another single in 1973, and it became their next No. 1 single — 'Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'Round the Ole Oak Tree.' In terms of sales, this single was the most successful in the group's career, starting a string of seven consecutive Hot 100 appearances with long titles by the group.
Later career
They re-formed in 1988 for a five-week tour that wound up lasting into 1993, with Pamela Vincent finally becoming a visible Dawn member, stepping in whenever Hopkins was fulfilling her acting/television obligations.
Orlando is still a popular appearance performer on tour regularly with the Lefty Brothers and Toni Wine. Hopkins made a very successful acting career for herself in series such as Bosom Buddies, Gimme a Break, Family Matters, Half and Half, and Are We There Yet. The Vincent Sisters continue a prolific career as session singers. A DVD compilation from the variety series was released in 2005 along with the group's catalog of albums on CD. Tony Orlando & Dawn released A Christmas Reunion that same year. Publicity events for those releases marked the first time Hopkins, and both Vincent Sisters appeared onstage together. Toni Wine also participated in those shows. The group was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2008. Tony Orlando & Dawn occasionally reunites for television and benefit performances. In 2009 Joyce Vincent joined Scherrie Payne and Lynda Laurence's Former Ladies of the Supremes' group. She continues to tour and perform to audiences all over the world. Tony Orlando, Telma Hopkins, and Joyce Vincent reunited again in 2015 for the sold-out 'Tony Orlando and Dawn: To Be with You Again' tour and appeared at Chiller Theatre in Parsippany, NJ.
Discography
Candida (1970)
Dawn Featuring Tony Orlando (1971)
Tie a Yellow Ribbon (1973)
Tuneweaving (1973)
Dawn's New Ragtime Follies (1973)
Prime Time (1974)
Candida & Knock Three Times (1974)
Tony Orlando & Dawn II (1974)
Golden Ribbons (1974)
Greatest Hits (1975)
He Don't Love You (Like I Love You) (1975)
Skybird (1975)
To Be With You (1976)
The World of Tony Orlando & Dawn (1976)
The Definitive Collection (1998)
Christmas Reunion (2005)
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