Stanley Robert Vinton was born on April 16, 1935 in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, in a musical family; his father was a bandleader. That was such an influence on him that he started his own band while in high school. He later toured as the leader of the "house Band" for Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars in 1960, which he left to begin a singing career.
He recorded several sides for Epic Records, but nothing charted and was about to be dropped from the label when, as a last ditch effort, he recorded a song written by Paul Evens (Happy Go Lucky Me, Seven Little Girls Sitting In The Back Seat). That song turned out to become a career saver and launcher, his first hit single, first Gold record and his first number one song,
. And in this case, the expression "and the rest is history" is very apt indeed.
Throughout his recording career, he charted an astounding 47 records on the Billboard chart between 1962 and 1980. During that time he attained four Number One hits, three Gold records, and 10 Top Ten hits. He even had his own musical variety series on television from 1975-78.
Treasure Island Oldies presents Bobby Vinton with two of his many hits. Cast your vote at the Voice Your Choice page for either Mr. Lonely or Roses Are Red (My Love). I'll play the winner on next week's show.
