Vic Damone
(born June 12, 1928 in Brooklyn, New York)
Copyright ©: October 18, 2000
New York City, NY
VIC DAMONE's name is woven in the American vocabulary as one of the most gifted and celebrated vocalists in history and as he crowns his 52nd anniversary as a performer, Vic Damone stands at the very top. He even popped up in one of 1997's biggest hits comedies, the film Money Talks. The hilarious plot has Chris Tucker's character posing as Vic's son. Last November Vic headlined a three day academic conference at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York on the life of Frank Sinatra. The only singer to perform during the conference, Damone was awarded the distinguished Hofstra President's Medal following his concert. In 1997 Vic was accorded one of the highest honors a singer can receive when he was inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame in New York City. Vic Damone is America's preeminent romantic singer who is at the pinnacle of his career and his craft. He has reordered over 2,000 songs including "An Affair to Remember", "On The Street Where You Live", "Gigi", "Ebb Tibe" "Why Was I Born", and "You're Breaking My Heart". Vic Damone was born Vito Farinola in Brooklyn, New York on June 12, 1928. He took his mother's maiden name, Damone, when he entered the entertainment profession. From his earliest childhood Vic was surrounded by the love of music. His mother Mamie was a piano teacher and his father played the guitar. He learned to sing "You're Driving Me Crazy" at the age of two, singing to his father's accompaniment. When his electrician father was sidelined by an on the job injury, Vic dropped out of high school in his junior year to help support his family, which included four sisters. In 1997, 52 years later Damone returned to Lafayette High School in Brooklyn to receive his high school diploma. Clad in cap and gown, Damone led his 64 fellow graduates, from the Class of '97, into the auditorium. Speaking from the stage, Damone exhorted young people, "Finish your education! I finally got my diploma, now I can go to college". Damone's first job out of high school was an usher at the famous Paramount Theatre in New York, the mecca of the hottest big bands and singing stars of the day. Vic dreamed of the time when he, too, would sing on stage. "Perry Como was starring there one night," says Damone, "and I was taking him back to the dressing room on the fifth floor. He had just finished a show. I said 'I' am a great fan of yours. Can I ask your advice?' 'What is it kid?' replied Perry Como. 'My mom thinks I can sing. We really can't afford $1 a week for a lesson. Would you listen and tell me if I have any talent?" "I stopped the elevator between floors. The song was "There Must Be A Way", I sang four bars and stopped". "Perry says, 'Go ahead,"' "I sang another four bars and stopped". '"Just finish the song'"! "I sang the whole song. And Perry says, "You've really got something kid. Don't stop singing"'. Then on March 9, 1947 Vic stepped up to the microphone at radio station WHN in New York City for a guest appearance on the Gloom Dodgers radio show hosted by Morey Amsterdam. This marked Vic's professional debut into show business. Life held many surprises for Vic and the element of fate has played an important role in his career. Shortly before his 18th birthday, he was the acclaimed winner of the popular Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts program on CBS. Backstage comedian Milton Berle was so impressed with the young man than he arranged for Vic to play the famed New York nightclub La Martinique. He was so well received at La Martinique, that he was signed to his own radio serried on WHN in New York. Within a matter of months, Vic was back at the New York Paramount, but this time as the singing star of the show backed by Stan Kenton's orchestra. His next step up the entertainment ladder was recording for Mercury Records. His first record, I Have But One Heart, was an instant hit. Then came the silver screen with a starring role in Rich, Young, and Pretty. More movies followed in rapid succession: Hell to Eternity, Athena, and Deep in Your Heart. Then, just as he was slated to star in three more pictures, Uncle Sam called Damone for duty in the US Army where he served for two years. Upon his honorable discharge from military service overseas, Vic was back on the big screen with Kismet, Crash Boat, and Hit the Deck. Be he missed singing to a live audience. And the audiences certainly missed him. Vic began touring from coast to coast in concert halls and nightclubs, a practice which continues to this day. In the 1960's and 1970's Vic hosted The Vic Damone Show on NBC and co-hosted with Judy Garland and Dean Martin their own variety shows. Vic has performed in many of the great concert halls - New York's Carnegie Hall, Dallas' Meyerson Symphony Hall, Palm Beach's Kravis Center and many more. With the 1990's, Vic has found a new audience, Generation X, who buy his CDs and attend his concerts. Vic, an avid golfer, resides in Palm Beach, Florida with his wife Rena and is the proud father of three daughters, Victoria, Andrea, and Daniella, a son, Perry, and the grandfather of five.
http://www.vicdamone.com/biography.html
An Affair To Remember Lyrics
Vic Damone
AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER (Our Love Affair)
Nat King Cole
- words by Harold Adamson and Leo McCarey, music by Harry Warren
Our love affair is a wondrous thing
That we'll rejoice in remembering
Our love was born with our first embrace
And a page was torn out of time and space
Our love affair, may it always be
A flame to burn through eternity
So take my hand with a fervent prayer
That we may live and we may share
A love affair to remember
Tee-heee..I got Letty of the lyrics in a quandry
... 
OWWW 
...That's what I'm talkin' 'bout! Go Boo..Go Boo..
Ahem.....What I mean is thank you Diane, Thank you Angel. ( I not a computor whiz, just yet, but you guys got me pointed in that direction. :wink: )
