Perry Como

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BIOGRAPHY Perry Como was born Pierino Ronald Como in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania on May 18, 1912, the son of Pietro Como, a mill hand, and Lucia Travaglini Como, immigrants from Palena, Italy. The seventh of thirteen children, Perry Como earned a few cents a day working after school in a local barbershop in Canonsburg. Later, while attending high school, he operated his own barbershop. Como, performing at wedding receptions and other functions, gained local recognition for his singing ability. One of the few vocalists of his generation to read music, he played both organ and baritone horn. Vacationing in Cleveland in 1933, Como auditioned for Freddie Carlone's band and was hired at twenty-five dollars a week. That same year Como married his high school sweetheart, Roselle Belline, the daughter of French immigrants; they had three children, whom they sheltered from the celebrity world of show business. "Roselle always stood by me," Como remarked. She died in August 1998, two weeks after celebrating their sixty-fifth wedding anniversary. Como's popularity skyrocketed in the late 1930s after he became the featured vocalist with the Ted Weems orchestra. When the Weems band broke up in the early 1940s, NBC offered him a contract to share star billing with singer Jo Stafford on the Chesterfield Supper Club, a radio show broadcast Mondays through Fridays. Como usually sang romantic ballads during each broadcast. When that show came to Friday night television in the late 1940s Como continued to be a featured vocalist, supported by the Mitchell Ayres Orchestra and the Fontane Sisters. A smorgasbord of comedy routines, dancing, and singing, the show gave him the opportunity to reveal a captivating personality. His neckties and business suits, however, did not complement his casual style and in later shows he wore cardigan sweaters, dubbed Perry Como sweaters by his fans. The program was soon moved to a half-hour slot on Sundays, competing with Ed Sullivan's Toast of the Town. Meanwhile, Como was also performing before enthusiastic and often frenetic audiences at the Paramount Theater in New York City and the Steel Pier in Atlantic City. "Perry Como was the heartthrob of the ladies at that time," remarked David Hamid, Jr., part owner of the Steel Pier. Hollywood filmmakers lured Como to the silver screen, but his career in the motion picture industry was brief and unrewarding. Three of his movies, Something for the Boys (1944), Doll Face (1945) and If I'm Lucky (1946), remain memorable because they featured Carmen Miranda . "I was wasting their time and they were wasting mine," Como admitted. Television, however, seemed made for his singing style and personality. His baritone voice, intimate and personal, complemented his affability and sincerity. Television viewers liked his friendliness. On 14 May 2001 the Washington Post noted in retrospect: "What Perry Como did week after week on his TV shows was not so much sing to his fans as have a continuing conversation with them, a conversation in song." In 1950 Como signed with CBS, hosting his own program for five seasons. In 1955 he went back to NBC, starring in the weekly Perry Como Show, later titled The Kraft Music Hall. He remained with NBC until 1963. From the late 1940s through the early 1960s Como was a pioneer in the television variety show genre. His singing style evolved into the popular musical form called easy listening, influencing a generation of lounge singers. Beginning with his first, on Christmas Eve 1948, Como's Christmas specials on ABC-TV became an integral part of the holiday season. These annual events were accompanied by his three Christmas albums (1946-1948) for the RCA Victor label. A fourth Christmas album, recorded for Como's 1993-1994 Irish Christmas television special, was his only non-RCA recording in half a century. When ABC decided to cancel Como's annual Christmas special in 1987, the Dallas Morning News mounted a "Save Perry" letter-writing campaign. A fan wrote: "If Perry Como is removed from Christmas, can Santa Claus be far behind?" Wearing a cardigan sweater and showing a winning smile on television, he appeared so relaxed that his critics believed he lacked ambition. However, his career spanned more than six decades and made him wealthy. "People have always thought that I wasn't ambitious," he said. "They judged by appearances and were fooled. I was competitive. I wanted success and was willing to work for it." In New Statesman, 14 May 2001, a music critic wrote, "nobody else was so intensely relaxed." Como was one of the most successful performers of the twentieth century. Along with nonsense tunes like "Hot Diggity Dog Ziggity Boom," lighthearted songs like "Papa Loves Mambo," and even a rock-and-roll number, "Juke Box Baby," he left an enduring legacy as an interpreter of the romantic ballad. In 1943 in the midst of a strike by the American Federation of Musicians, Como recorded with only vocal accompaniment "Goodbye Sue" for the RCA Victor label. Among his most popular romantic ballads are "Dream Along with Me," "Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes," "Temptation," "Because," "Till the End of Time," "Prisoner of Love," "And I Love You So," and "It's Impossible." Often accompanied by the Mitchell Ayres Orchestra and the Ray Charles Singers, Como sold more than one hundred million records and had fourteen tunes that were ranked number one musical hits. In 1946 he was named top-selling male singer by Billboard. As late as 1973 he received a Grammy award nomination as best male pop vocalist for "And I Love You So." His achievements during the rock-and-roll era, when ballad crooners were falling by the wayside, were particularly remarkable. During the final years of his long life Como spent most of his time at his home in Jupiter Inlet Beach Colony near Palm Beach, Florida, golfing, fishing, and taking long walks with his wife. Near the time of his death he had become a great-grandfather. He devoted himself to various charities, including his annual golf benefits at Duke University in North Carolina, and even found time to visit radio stations that carried Weekend with Perry, a weekly program syndicated throughout the United States. Combining a gentle voice with a pleasant personality, Como celebrated in life and in song romantic love and lifelong fidelity. He parlayed these values and his ability to express them in song into one of the most successful careers in twentieth-century popular entertainment. Perry Como died in his sleep on May 12, 2001 --a national treasure was lost.

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Perry Como

Mambo

an't Help Falling In Love

There's Always Room At Our House

Over The Rainbow

Desafinado

Nearer, My God To Thee

A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes

Manh de Carnaval

I Cross My Fingers

Did Anyone Ever Tell You, Mrs. Murphy ?

If

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A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes

A Dreamer's Holiday

A Fellow Needs A Girl

A Garden In The Rain

A Hatchet, A Hammer, A Bucket of Nails

A Hubba-Hubba-Hubba (Dig You Later)

A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square

A Portrait Of My Love

A Still Small Voice

Abide With Me

Accentuate The Positive

Adeste Fidelis ( O, Come All Ye Faithful )

Ain't Misbehavin'

All By Myself

All I Do Is Dream Of You

All Through The Day

All Through The Night

Almost Like Being In Love

an't Help Falling In Love

And I Love You So

And Roses And Roses

Anema E Core ( With All My Heart and Soul )

Angry

As My Love For You

As Time Goes By

Aubrey

Ave Maria

Bai

Bali Hai

Beats There A Heart So True

Beautiful Noise

Because

Begin The Beguine

Behind Closed Doors

Best of Times

Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea

Beyond Tomorrow

Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo (The Magic Song)

Black Moonlight

Bless The Beasts And The Children

Blue Skies

Blue Skies ( 1946 Version )

Breezin Along With The Breeze

Bridge Over Troubled Water

Bummin' Around

Buongiorno Teresa

But Beautiful

Butterfly (I'll Set You Free)

By The Way

C-h-r-i-s-t-m-a-s

Cara Cara Bella Bella

Carnival ( Manha de Carnaval )

Carol Medley

Carolina Moon

Catch a Falling Star

Caterina

Chi-Baba, Chi-Baba (My Bambino Go To Sleep)

Childhood Is A Meadow

Chincherinchee

Christ Is Born

Christmas Eve

Close To You

Cold, Cold Heart

Come Rain Or Come Shine

Complete Medley

Coo Coo Roo Coo Coo Paloma

Dance Only With Me