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Eddie Rambeau | |
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 Eddie Rambeau in 1965 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Edward Cletus Fluri |
| Born | June 30, 1943 Hazleton, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Genres | Pop |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, actor |
| Years active | 1961–present |
| Labels | Swan, DynoVoice |
Eddie Rambeau (born Edward Cletus Fluri; June 30, 1943) [1] is an American singer, songwriter, and actor.
While performing in a high-school musical he had written, Rambeau met songwriter and musician Bud Rehak, who went on to become his manager.
With Rehak playing the piano, Rambeau sang at record hops and the like, where he impressed deejays with his talent. One of the deejays, Jim Ward from Plymouth, Pennsylvania, set up an audition for Rambeau at Swan Records. He was signed to the label and released his first single, "Skin Divin'", under his new name, Eddie Rambeau, on graduation day in June 1961. [1] Now eighteen, Rambeau moved to Philadelphia, where Swan Records was based.
The following year, 1962, Rambeau recorded two more singles, "My Four Leaf Clover Love" and "Summertime Guy". Just minutes before he was about to debut the latter song on American Bandstand , he was informed by deejay Dick Biondi that, due to a potential conflict of interest, he would have to perform the B side of the record instead. "Summertime Guy" was written by Chuck Barris, who had also composed "Palisades Park" for Freddy Cannon earlier in the year.
Since Barris was employed by ABC at the time, and Bandstand aired on the same network, it was felt that Rambeau's performance of the song might create problems with the FCC. On top of that, the song was pulled from all ABC affiliates nationwide, both radio and television (Barris would later revamp the song as an instrumental to use for his television show The Newlywed Game ). In December 1962, "The Push and Kick", written by Rambeau with Frank Slay Jr. and Bud Rehak, became a Top 40 hit for Mark Valentino.
During 1963, Rambeau began writing songs with Bob Crewe, who was also affiliated with Swan Records. Later in the year, Crewe needed a fourth song for a recording session he had scheduled with a new female singer he had recently discovered, Diane Renay. [1] "Navy Blue", which was written by Rambeau, Rehak, and Crewe, became Renay's first and biggest hit record early in 1964, hitting the Top Ten on the Billboard Hot 100. [1] A few months later, Rambeau and Rehak composed her follow-up single, "Kiss Me, Sailor", which made the Top 40. Rambeau relocated from Pennsylvania to New York City that year, to work with Crewe's organization as a staff songwriter and singer.
In addition to Mark Valentino and Diane Renay, other artists who have recorded songs written by Rambeau include Shirley Matthews ("Stop the Clock"), Dee Dee Sharp ("Push and Kick"), The Four Seasons ("Only Yesterday"), Engelbert Humperdinck ("If I Were You"), Shepherd Sisters ("If I Were You"), and Frank Sinatra Jr. ("Shadows on a Foggy Day"). [1]
In 1965, Rambeau heard a single called "Concrete and Clay" that Bob Crewe had brought back from a visit to the UK, where it had been recorded by a group called Unit 4 + 2, with vocals by its composers Tommy Moeller and Brian Parker. Rambeau recorded the song on DynoVoice Records, and his cover version came out about a week before the original Unit 4 + 2 version was released as a single by another label in the U.S. [1] Both versions of "Concrete and Clay" made the United States Top 40, running about neck and neck as they jockeyed for position on the charts.
Rambeau subsequently released an LP entitled Eddie Rambeau Sings Concrete and Clay, [1] and he appeared on several musical variety shows that year, most notably Shindig! (twice), American Bandstand , and Where the Action Is . His follow-up singles, "My Name Is Mud" and "The Train", did not match the national success of "Concrete and Clay", which remains his biggest hit. [1]
Rambeau recorded a few more singles for DynoVoice, including "Good Morning, Starshine" in 1968, which was released under the name Eddie Hazelton (as a nod to Rambeau's hometown of Hazleton). Coincidentally, a few years later Rambeau would appear in the Broadway production of Hair , the musical which spawned "Starshine" among other songs that went on to become hit records.
By the early 1970s, Rambeau had turned his attention to acting, [1] and in addition to Hair, he was also a cast member of Jesus Christ, Superstar , Heathen!, and Tubstrip . He made a guest appearance on the television show The Secret Storm . In 1976, Rambeau produced the single "The Big Hurt" by The Front Runners, on Tom Cat Records.
During the 1980s and 1990s, Rambeau (now going by the name Ed Rambeau) broadened his repertoire to include the easy-listening genre and Broadway show tunes, and he resumed his live performing, mainly on cruises. In recent years, he also added photography and painting to his artistic portfolio. In the early 1990s, he began recording and marketing his own albums on cassette and CD. Today Rambeau continues to record and to keep in contact with his fan base by way of personal appearances, interviews, and the internet.
Ray Edward Cochran was an American rock and roll musician. Cochran's songs, such as "Twenty Flight Rock", "Summertime Blues", "C'mon Everybody" and "Somethin' Else", captured teenage frustration and desire in the mid-1950s and early 1960s. He experimented with multitrack recording, distortion techniques, and overdubbing even on his earliest singles. Cochran played the guitar, piano, bass, and drums. His image as a sharply dressed and attractive young man with a rebellious attitude epitomized the stance of the 1950s rocker, and in death he achieved iconic status.
The Four Seasons is an American rock and roll and doo-wop quartet formed in 1960 in Newark, New Jersey. Since 1970, they have also been known at times as Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. The band evolved out of a previous band called The Four Lovers, with Frankie Valli as the lead singer, Bob Gaudio on keyboards and tenor vocals, Tommy DeVito on lead guitar and baritone vocals, and Nick Massi on bass guitar and bass vocals. On nearly all of their 1960s hits, they were credited as The 4 Seasons. The band had two distinct lineups that achieved widespread success: the original featuring Valli, Gaudio, DeVito, and Massi that recorded hits throughout the 1960s, and a 1970s quintet consisting of Valli, Lee Shapiro, Gerry Polci, Don Ciccone and John Paiva, with Gaudio and Long providing studio support.
Charles Hirsch Barris was an American game show creator, producer, and host. Barris was known for hosting The Gong Show and creating The Dating Game and The Newlywed Game. He was also a songwriter who wrote "Palisades Park", recorded by Freddy Cannon and also recorded by Ramones. Barris wrote an autobiography titled Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, which was made into the film of the same name starring Sam Rockwell and directed by George Clooney.
Swan Records was a mid-20th century United States-based record label, founded in 1957 and based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It had a subsidiary label called Lawn Records.
Frederick Anthony Picariello, Jr., better known by his stage name Freddy Cannon, is an American rock and roll singer. His biggest international hits included "Tallahassee Lassie", "Way Down Yonder in New Orleans", and "Palisades Park".
Unit 4 + 2 were a British pop band, who had a number one hit on the UK Singles Chart in 1965 with the song "Concrete and Clay". The track topped the UK chart for one week.
William Oliver Swofford, known professionally as Oliver, was an American pop singer, best known for his 1969 song "Good Morning Starshine" from the musical Hair as well as "Jean".
Robert Stanley Crewe was an American songwriter, dancer, singer, manager, and record producer. Crewe co-wrote and produced a string of Top 10 singles with Bob Gaudio for the Four Seasons.
DynoVoice Records was an American record label, founded in 1965 by songwriter/producer Bob Crewe. The label started as Dyno-Vox, but was changed when the 5th single was issued. DynoVoice, along with its NewVoice Records subsidiary, was originally distributed by Bell Records, and later by Dot Records. The label existed until 1969 when it was merged into the Crewe Group of Companies (CGC) label. Some of the label's best-known releases include The Bob Crewe Generation's hit "Music to Watch Girls By", the soundtrack album for Dino de Laurentiis's camp sci-fi film Barbarella, and material by Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels.
"Summertime Guy" is a song recorded by Eddie Rambeau, issued by Swan Records, and written and composed by game show pioneer Chuck Barris. Archived 2008-05-09 at the Wayback Machine Originally, Rambeau was to debut the song on American Bandstand in 1962, but mere minutes before Rambeau was to perform, he was told the song could not be sung, due to Barris then being an ABC employee, owing to concerns of payola, which had become a major music industry scandal at the time. That was also the reason for the record not receiving airplay on any ABC-owned radio station, weighing the song down so it was not a hit. Archived 2008-05-09 at the Wayback Machine
"Ride a White Swan" is a song by English band T. Rex. It was released as a stand-alone single on 9 October 1970 by record label Fly, and was the first single credited under the band's new, shorter name. Like all of the band's songs, it was written by the group's singer, guitarist and founder Marc Bolan. The song was included on the US version of the 1970 album, T. Rex.
Diane Renay, born Renee Diane Kushner, is an American pop singer, best known for her 1964 hit song, "Navy Blue".
"Concrete and Clay" is a 1965 hit single recorded by the UK pop group Unit 4 + 2. It reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart in April 1965. The song was written by group members Tommy Moeller and Brian Parker. It was also a top 40 hit for Eddie Rambeau in 1965.
Tracey Dey is an American former pop singer in the girl group genre of the early and mid-1960s.
Billy & Lillie were an American pop vocal duo, composed of Billy Ford and Lillie Bryant.
"Jean" is a popular song from the 1969 movie The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. It was written by the American poet and composer Rod McKuen, who also recorded a version of the song.
"Good Morning Starshine" is a pop song from the musical Hair (1967). It was a No. 3 hit in the United States in July 1969, and a No. 6 hit in the United Kingdom in October 1969, for the singer Oliver.
"Navy Blue" is a song written by Bob Crewe, Bud Rehak and Eddie Rambeau. The song tells the story of a girl who was lonely for her steady boyfriend while he was away from home in the U.S. Navy and could hardly wait to see him again. The song's story is continued in "Kiss Me Sailor."
"Kiss Me Sailor" is a song by American recording artist Diane Renay, written by Eddie Rambeau and Bud Rehak. It was released as the fourth single from her debut album, "Navy Blue", and was intended as a sequel song to her previous hit, "Navy Blue".
"Summertime, Summertime" is a 1958 song by American singing group the Jamies. Written by Boston-based student Tom Jameson, the song became popular in the local music scene after the band promoted their demo to deejays in the area. The single became a nationwide hit in 1958 after being released by Epic Records and would again become a hit in 1962 upon re-release.
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