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Kenny Vance and the Planotones | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Brooklyn, New York, United States |
| Genres | Rock |
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Labels | United Artists |
| Members | Kenny Vance Johnny Gale Kurt "Frenchy" Yahjian Jimmy Bense Chip Degaard Tony Gallino |
| Past members | Godfrey Townsend |
| Website | planotones.com/ |
Kenny Vance and the Planotones is an American musical group led by Kenny Vance, formerly of Jay and the Americans.
Kenny Vance and the Planotones first came to be as a fictional band appearing in the 1978 film American Hot Wax. The band consisted of Kenny Vance, Joe Esposito, Bruce Sudano and Ed Hokenson. They were just a combination of Vance with the musical group Brooklyn Dreams. In the film they were portrayed as a very popular group with many hits and sang songs that were actually by artists like Danny & the Juniors and The Del-Vikings. [1]
After leaving Jay and the Americans, Vance formed Kenny Vance and the Planotones in 1992. The band currently includes Johnny Gale, Kurt "Frenchy" Yahjian, Jimmy Bense, Chip Degaard and Tony Gallino as his band and they began touring. The group plays doo wop songs of the 1950s and 1960s and their original material is strongly influenced by it. [2] They have released four albums to date which include both original material and covers. [3] In 1996 they had some success with the song "Looking For An Echo."
Donna Adrian Gaines, known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the "Queen of Disco", while her music gained a global following.
Jay and the Americans are an American rock group who formed in the late 1950s. Their initial line-up consisted of John "Jay" Traynor, Howie Kane, Kenny Vance and Sandy Deanne, though their greatest success on the charts came after Traynor had been replaced as lead singer by Jay Black and Marty Sanders were added to the line-up. They were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2002.
The Tokens were an American doo-wop band and record production company group from Brooklyn, New York City. The group has had four top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, all in the 1960s, their biggest being the chart-topping 1961 hit single "The Lion Sleeps Tonight". "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" borrowed heavily from the 1939 song "Mbube" by South African singer Solomon Linda. They are also known for having Neil Sedaka as an original member, before he pursued a solo career.
The Brooklyn Bridge is an American musical group, best known for their million-selling rendition of Jimmy Webb's "Worst That Could Happen" (1968).
Marc Wallace Jordan is an American-born Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer, session musician, and actor. Covering a wide variety of genres, he has written songs for a number of well-known artists, including Diana Ross, Rod Stewart, Cher, Bette Midler, Chicago, and Josh Groban. He was named best producer with Steven MacKinnon at the Juno Awards in 1994 for "Waiting for a Miracle" from Reckless Valentine. In early 2014, Jordan was named Chair of Slaight Family Music Lab at Norman Jewison's Canadian Film Centre.
Eddie and the Cruisers is a 1983 American musical drama film directed by Martin Davidson with the screenplay written by the director and Arlene Davidson, based on the novel by P. F. Kluge. The sequel Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives! followed in 1989.
Live and More is the first live album recorded by American singer-songwriter Donna Summer, and it was her second double album, released on August 28, 1978 by Casablanca Records. The live concert featured on the first three sides of this double album was recorded in the Universal Amphitheater, Los Angeles, California in 1978.
American Hot Wax is a 1978 biographical film directed by Floyd Mutrux with a screenplay by John Kaye from a story by John Kaye and Art Linson. The film tells the story of pioneering disc jockey Alan Freed, who in the 1950s helped introduce and popularize rock and roll, and is often credited with coining the term "rock 'n' roll". The film starred Tim McIntire, Fran Drescher, Jay Leno, Laraine Newman, Jeff Altman, and Moosie Drier. It also featured musical performances by Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Frankie Ford, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, and Brooklyn Dreams as "Professor La Plano and The Planotones". The film was not a box-office success.
The Mystics are an American rock and roll group that began in Brooklyn, New York, United States, in the late 1950s. The group was known as The Overons, a quintet that, when signed to Laurie Records, consisted of Phil Cracolici, Albee Cracolici, George Galfo, Bob Ferrante, and Al Contrera. Under the direction of their manager, Jim Gribble, The Overons became The Mystics when each group member wrote a name they liked on a slip of paper and placed the papers in a hat; Contrera's choice was drawn.
Brooklyn Sudano is an American actress and director. She starred as Vanessa Scott in the ABC comedy series My Wife and Kids and later played the leading role in the 2006 drama film Rain. Sudano has appeared in films such as Alone in the Dark II (2008), Turn the Beat Around (2010) and With This Ring (2015), and starred in the NBC action series, Taken (2017).
Joe "Bean" Esposito is an American singer-songwriter whose career spans from the 1970s to the present day. Esposito is known for creating songs that have appeared in film soundtracks, such as those of American Hot Wax, Staying Alive, Scarface, The Karate Kid, and Coming to America. Several of his songs have also been recorded by Donna Summer, Aretha Franklin, Patti LaBelle, and Stephen Stills, among others.
I'm a Rainbow is the ninth studio album recorded by American singer-songwriter Donna Summer. The album was recorded in 1981 and scheduled to be released on October 5 of that year but was shelved. It was not released until fifteen years later, on August 20, 1996 by Casablanca and Mercury Records. There was no promotion for the album. No singles or music videos were released. AllMusic gave the album a positive review, naming it her most personal record.
The Donna Summer Anthology is a double CD compilation album by the American singer Donna Summer, released by Polygram Records in 1993. The compilation featured the majority of Summer's best known songs right from the start of her success to the then present day. Summer had originally made her name during the disco era in the 1970s and in the decade that followed had experimented with different styles. Most of the tracks on this compilation are the original album versions of the songs, which were sometimes edited down for their release as a single. Included for the first time are two remixed tracks from her then unreleased album I'm a Rainbow, which had been recorded in 1981 but was shelved by her record company. The album also featured the Giorgio Moroder-penned and produced song "Carry On"', marking the first time Summer and Moroder had worked together since 1981. Summer and Moroder, together with Pete Bellotte had written the vast majority of her 1970s disco hits. Four years later, "Carry On" would be remixed and become a big dance hit. It also won Summer a Grammy for Best Dance Recording, her first win since 1984 and her fifth win in total.
Brooklyn Dreams were an American singing group of the late 1970s, mixing R&B harmonies with contemporary dance/disco music and best known for a number of collaborations with singer Donna Summer. The band consisted of Joe "Bean" Esposito, Eddie Hokenson and Bruce Sudano. Esposito provided lead vocals for the band and played guitar, while Sudano played keyboards and Hokenson played drums and occasionally sang lead vocals.
Bruce Charles Sudano is an American musician and songwriter noted for creating songs for artists such as Michael Jackson, Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, and his late wife, the Grammy Award-winning singer Donna Summer. Sudano is the founder of indie record label Purple Heart Recording Company.
"Heaven Knows" is a song by American singer Donna Summer, with guest vocals from Brooklyn Dreams. It is a single from Summer's Live and More album. The song became a number 4 hit for Summer in the US the week of March 17, 1979, and held there for three weeks. It features the group Brooklyn Dreams with vocals by Joe "Bean" Esposito.
Treated and Released is the third studio solo album by Joe "Bean" Esposito, the lead singer for the Brooklyn Dreams. They scored a Billboard # 2 hit with "Heaven Knows", a duet with Donna Summer.
Kenny Vance is an American singer, songwriter, and music producer who was a founding member of Jay and the Americans. His career spans from the 1950s to today, with projects ranging from starting doo-wop groups to music supervising to creating solo albums.
Kurt "Frenchy" Yaghjian is an Armenian-American actor and singer best known for his appearance as Annas in the 1973 film Jesus Christ Superstar.
Richard Reicheg was an American television, stage, and film actor, musician and a Grammy-nominated songwriter. His career spanned a period of over sixty years.