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Ron Dante | |
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_(cropped).jpg) Dante performing in 2017 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Carmine John Granito |
| Also known as | Ronnie Dante, C. G. Rose, Bo Cooper, Ronnie And The Dirt Riders, Dante's Inferno |
| Born | (1945-08-22)August 22, 1945 (age 79) Staten Island, New York, United States |
| Genres | Pop |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, record producer |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar |
| Years active | 1960s–present |
Ron Dante (bornCarmine John Granito; August 22, 1945) is an Americansinger,songwriter,session vocalist, andrecord producer. Dante is best known as the real life lead singer of the fictional cartoon bandthe Archies; he was also the voice ofthe Cuff Links and co-producedBarry Manilow's first nine albums.
Carmine John Granito was born on August 22, 1945, to an Italian-American family inStaten Island, New York, United States.[1][2]
Dante was a member of the parody groupthe Detergents around 1965. The group recorded a novelty song called "Leader of the Laundromat", although Dante was not on that recording.[1]
He became lead singer of the fictional cartoon band The Archies, whose single "Sugar, Sugar", written and composed by producerJeff Barry withAndy Kim, was the number-one selling record of 1969 in the United States. Concurrent with his work on the Archies project, Dante was also employed as a session singer and performed many television and commercial jingles.[1]
In 1969, Dante recorded an album under the group name ofthe Cuff Links – a collaboration with Detergents songwriter-producersPaul Vance andLee Pockriss. He provided both lead and background vocals throughoverdubbing, as he did with most of the male Archies vocals. For three weeks in October 1969, Dante had two hits in the Top Ten ofBillboard's Hot 100: both the Cuff Links' "Tracy" and, on its way down from number one, the Archies' "Sugar, Sugar", though neither single's label credited the anonymous studio singer.[1] Dante's extensive vocal range includesfalsetto, as used in "Jingle Jangle", the Archies' Top Ten follow-up to "Sugar, Sugar".[3]
Dante's first album release under his own name, which he recorded onDon Kirshner's label, wasRon Dante Brings You Up in 1970.[1] In 1972, also under the supervision of Kirshner, Dante became lead vocalist for another cartoon group,The Chan Clan. He provided lead vocals for a number of songs on the 1972 album,Spiderman : From Beyond the Grave, A Rockcomic credited to the Webspinners.[4] Dante appeared on a 1975 CBS TV pilot show calledHip Patches. He is interviewed by a group of young musicians in a band named Silvermoon who were meant to be the stars of the show. On that show, he is introduced as the voice of "all five Archies" and explains to the audience what it takes to be a successful band.
In 1979, he recorded a disco album under the nameDante's Inferno for theInfinity Records label, and in 1981 his second solo albumStreet Angel was released.[1] Also in 1979, Dante performed the theme to the NBC television series$weepstake$: "Don't Be Afraid To Dream", whose lyrics were written byNorman Gimbel with music composed byCharles Fox.
From 1973 to 1981, Dante was the record producer for singerBarry Manilow,[1] and often sang backup on Manilow's recordings, including his 1974 No. 1 single "Mandy". Dante continued to record sporadically during those years; in 1975, with Manilow as the producer, Dante released a dance version of "Sugar, Sugar" under his own name. And that same year, under the moniker "Bo Cooper", he released "Don't Call it Love". Then in 1976, as Ronnie and the Dirt Riders, he released the Manilow-produced single "Yellow Van", which peaked at 111[5] on the Cashbox singles chart. In 1978, Dante produced theTony Award-winning musicalrevue,Ain't Misbehavin', onBroadway. During this period, Dante, who was aManhattan neighbor ofGeorge Plimpton, was invited to serve as the publisher of theParis Review, as whose publisher he served from 1978 to 1985.[6]
In 1982, Dante sang the theme song for the NBC sitcomSilver Spoons, "Together".
An album,Favorites, was released in 1999, and another CD,Saturday Night Blast, was issued in 2004. Theextended playCalifornia Weekend CD was released in 2006.
Dante appeared with theCBS Orchestra on theLate Show with David Letterman on July 28, 2010.
In mid-2018, Dante joined the Happy Together tour, filling in forthe Turtles'Howard Kaylan, who was sidelined due to health issues.[7]
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