Turning his behind-the-scenes efforts to the stage, he produced "Ain't Misbehavin'," "Children of a Lesser God," "Whose Life is it Anyway? and "Crimes of the Heart" on Broadway.Ībout 1 1/2 years ago, Dante, who published the Paris Review for two years, again took to the road. "We took extra special care to make sure they would last."ĭante also produced Cher, Pat Benatar, Ray Charles, John Denver and many others, while still doing jingles and recording his own music. It took two years, but when "Mandy" hit number one, Dante's investment was returned.ĭante said he was gratified when the greatest hits collection "Ultimate Manilow" debuted on the Billboard charts at No. "I decided to put my money into his career," Dante said. Dante knew Manilow's music did not fit the trend of the time, but he believed the songs would find an audience. They struck up a friendship and Manilow played some songs he had written. He did a jingle for a Tomboy soda ad in 1973 that proved to be career-changing, even though the drink was terrible and the ad probably never ran. "I did thousands of commercials," he said, including the "I'd like to teach the World to Sing" and "You Deserve a Break Today" ads for McDonald's, as well as spots for Kentucky Fried Chicken, Budweiser and American Airlines. He also produced the last Archies' records, and became a staple of jingle houses. The double-song success led to a new solo recording contract. "I wanted to sound like the Turtles or the Association," he said. While the bubblegum nugget "Sugar Sugar" was sweetening the charts, "Tracy," a ballad, crept up behind it, selling more than 1 million records.ĭante recorded his voice 16 to 18 times to make the harmonies on "Tracy." "It was the number one hit of 1969 and went number one internationally."
1 song for a month and sold 6, 7 million copies," he said, reached at his home in Los Angeles. "(Producer) Jeff Barry spent a lot of time on the track, getting the rhythm track right, and spent hours with me on the vocals, getting the right sound." "We knew it was special that night," he said of the Andy Kim-Jeff Barry composition. When "The Archies" hit television, rock impresario Don Kirshner tapped Dante to sing songs created for the show, and which were later released commercially.ĭante said he didn't anticipate the success of "Sugar Sugar," but felt there was something about it that was different from the dozens of other Archies songs he recorded at the time. The song was a parody of the Shangri-Las's "Leader of the Pack," and he ended up touring with the girl group on a Dick Clark Caravan of Stars tour. The New York City native had his first hit in 1964 with "Leader of the Laundromat" under the group name the Detergents.
When I got it, it was like God said, 'You're getting what you want, but not all of it.'"ĭante started released singles on his own in 1963. "I was completely anonymous," said Dante, who performs Wednesday at the Shoe Our Children benefit concert at Tiffany's in Brookfield. In 1969, Dante had two million-selling hits on the charts at the same time, the Archies' "Sugar Sugar" and the Cuff Links' "Tracy." If you're a regular patron of Broadway, you've probably seen one of the shows he produced.īut his name wouldn't ring a bell unless you're a devotee of the minutia of pop music.
You've heard the songs he sang on and produced, and commercial jingles he sang. Ron Dante is probably one of the most famous people you've never heard of. 'Anonymous' Dante comes out from music shadows
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