 |
Ralph F. Palladino (born April 1938), known as Ralph Dino, and John Anthony Sembello (February 22, 1945 - May 1, 2013), were an American singing and songwriting duo in the early 1970s. They recorded one album together, which included the original version of the song "Pearl's a Singer", co-written with leading songwriters and record producers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, and later a hit in the UK for Elkie Brooks.
Dino and Sembello, both from Philadelphia, co-wrote three tracks on The Lovin' Spoonful's 1969 album Revelation: Revolution '69 and wrote together for The Turtles, Sergio Mendes and Tim Hardin. They first recorded together in 1970, releasing the single "See the Light" on the Date label, a subsidiary of Columbia Records. [1]
In 1974, they worked with Leiber and Stoller, and released the album Dino & Sembello on the A&M label. All the songs were jointly credited to Dino, Sembello, Leiber and Stoller, and were produced by Leiber and Stoller. The songs included the singles "Dancin' Jones" / "Jump the Canyon" and "The Best Thing" / "Pearl's a Singer". "The Best Thing" was recorded by Peggy Lee, [2] and became a minor R&B hit for Billy Eckstine in 1976. The following year "Pearl's a Singer" was recorded by English singer Elkie Brooks, also produced by Leiber and Stoller, and reached no.8 on the UK singles chart. [3] [4] Both "Pearl's a Singer" and another song from the album, "Neighborhood", featured in the musical revue of Leiber and Stoller's songs, Smokey Joe's Cafe . [5]
From 1979, Ralph Dino worked as a performer and songwriter with pianist Larry DiTommaso. [6] They wrote "She's Over Me", recorded by Teddy Pendergrass in 1981,[ citation needed ] and in 1985 wrote Jermaine Jackson's hit "Do What You Do", which reached no.13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and no.6 on the UK singles chart. [7] The recording won a gold record, and was recognized by ASCAP as one of the most performed songs of 1985. The pair reunited to perform in 2014. [6] Today, Dino is also the President of RaRaLa Music. [8]
John Sembello was the brother of musicians Michael and Danny Sembello. He later co-wrote the song "Eye to Eye" with his two brothers and Don Freeman. Included on Chaka Khan's 1984 album I Feel for You , the song reached no. 16 on the UK singles chart in 1985. [9] [10] John Sembello died in 2013 at the age of 68. [11]
The Coasters are an American rhythm and blues/rock and roll vocal group who had a string of hits in the late 1950s. With hits including "Searchin'", "Young Blood", "Poison Ivy", and "Yakety Yak", their most memorable songs were written by the songwriting and producing team of Leiber and Stoller. Although the Coasters originated outside of mainstream doo-wop, their records were so frequently imitated that they became an important part of the doo-wop legacy through the 1960s. In 1987, they were the first group inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Leiber and Stoller were an American Grammy award-winning songwriting and record production duo, consisting of lyricist Jerry Leiber and composer Mike Stoller. As well as many R&B and pop hits, they wrote numerous standards for Broadway.
Elkie Brooks is an English rock, blues and jazz singer. She was a vocalist with the bands Dada and Vinegar Joe, and later became a solo artist. She gained her biggest success in the late 1970s and 1980s, releasing 13 UK Top 75 singles, and reached the top ten with "Pearl's a Singer", "Sunshine After the Rain" and "No More the Fool" (1986). She has been nominated twice for the Brit Awards.
"On Broadway" is a song written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil in collaboration with the team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.
Eleanor Louise Greenwich was an American pop music singer, songwriter, and record producer. She wrote or co-wrote "Da Doo Ron Ron", "Be My Baby", "Maybe I Know", "Then He Kissed Me", "Do Wah Diddy Diddy", "Christmas ", "Hanky Panky", "Chapel of Love", "Leader of the Pack", and "River Deep – Mountain High", among others.
"Young Blood" is a song written by Doc Pomus along with the songwriting team Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller that first became a hit by The Coasters in 1957.
"Kansas City" is a rhythm and blues song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller in 1952. First recorded by Little Willie Littlefield the same year, as "K. C. Loving", the song later became a chart-topping hit when it was recorded by Wilbert Harrison in 1959. "Kansas City" is one of Leiber and Stoller's "most recorded tunes, with more than three hundred versions", with several appearing in the R&B and pop record charts.
Corky Hale is an American jazz harpist, pianist, flutist, and vocalist. She has been a theater producer, political activist, restaurateur, and the owner of the Corky Hale women's clothing store in Los Angeles, California.
Two Days Away is an album by Elkie Brooks, released in 1977.
Live and Learn is an album by Elkie Brooks, released in 1979.
Pearls is an album by English singer Elkie Brooks, released in 1981. It is in part a compilation album, featuring earlier singles by Brooks mixed with newly recorded material. It went on to become a major hit in the United Kingdom – the biggest of her career.
Circles is an album by Elkie Brooks.
The Pearls Concert is an album by Elkie Brooks, recorded in 1997 and released on CD and cassette in 1997 by Artful Records.
"Pearl's a Singer" is a song made famous by the British singer Elkie Brooks, as taken from her 1977 album Two Days Away which was produced by the song's co-writers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. The original version of "Pearl's a Singer" had been introduced by the duo Dino and Sembello – also the song's co-writers – on their 1974 self-titled album which Leiber and Stoller had produced.
"Is That All There Is?", a song written by American songwriting team Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller during the 1960s, became a hit for American singer Peggy Lee and an award winner from her album of the same title in November 1969. The song was originally performed by Georgia Brown in May 1967 for a television special. It was first recorded by disc jockey Dan Daniel in March 1968, but this was an unauthorized recording that, while played on Daniel's own radio show, went unissued at the songwriters' request. The first authorized recording was by Leslie Uggams in August 1968. Then came the hit Peggy Lee version in August 1969, followed by Guy Lombardo in 1969 and Tony Bennett on 22 December 1969.
William L. Griffin is an American singer and songwriter. He is best known for replacing Smokey Robinson as lead singer of The Miracles in 1972.
"D.W. Washburn" is a song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, recorded by both the Coasters and the Monkees. It was also included in the musical Smokey Joe's Cafe (revue).
"Fool (If You Think It's Over)" is a popular song originally released in 1978 by the British singer-songwriter Chris Rea. Rea also wrote the lyrics and composed the music of the song, which appears on his 1978 debut album, Whatever Happened to Benny Santini?. It peaked number 12 in the US, becoming his highest charting single there. The single's charting success in the US earned him a Grammy nomination as Best New Artist in 1979.
"Saved" is a gospel and R&B-flavored song written by Leiber and Stoller and first recorded by Rock and Roll Hall of Famer LaVern Baker in 1960. The tongue-in-cheek song is written from the perspective of someone who had lived a fast, loose life but is then "saved" and is now standing on a corner preaching to the passers-by.
"One Kiss Led to Another" is a song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and performed by The Coasters. The song reached #11 on the R&B chart and #73 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1956. The song appeared on their 1957 album, The Coasters.
| Authority control databases: Artists |
|---|
