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Ron Dante


John P

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Eric, I was browsing on Ron Dante's website on he mentions web links to some of his friends and your one of them. Where do you know each other from and have you ever done any sort of collaboration with Ron? I understand that your bombarded with questions from many who visit this site and don't have enough time to get to everyone's questions but would appreaciate it. All the best. John

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Tiggsherby said:

I saw Ron Dante a couple of years ago and he still sounded pretty good. What else did he do besides the "Archies"?

He was also the voice behind the Cuff Links ("Tracy") & Detergents ("Leader of the Laundromat"). He's also known for his work as a producer, most notably with Barry Manilow.

We were lucky enough to meet him a few years ago. He and Andy Kim were giving a free concert in our neighborhood. The weather was inclement and only about a dozen people showed up. We talked with him after the show and he is the nicest guy. He got a kick out of it when we told him that a friend of ours said Martha Wash (Weather Girls, C+C Factory) was the Ron Dante of the 90's. We also mentioned we were bummed that he didn't sing "Leader of the Laundromat." He smiled very warmly and said "Wow! You guys really know my music!

Kim was very nice as well. Because there was such a small crowd, he went up to each personally individually to shake their hand and thank them for coming. Considering these guys usually perform before hundreds of people, we could only imagine their disappointment in the miniscule turnout. Yes, they're pros, but it was still a classy thing to do.

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Thanks..."Tracy" is a great song too!

When I saw Ron Dante a few years ago Andy Kim was also on the bill...it was an Oldies festival with Tommy James and the Shondells as the lead act. That's pretty sad....a free show could only draw a dozen or so people...must not have been promoted well?

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Tiggsherby said:

That's pretty sad....a free show could only draw a dozen or so people...must not have been promoted well?

The concerts are held outdoors. I think the only reason more people weren't there (usually these concerts attract a couple hundred) is that the weather was threatening. In fact, it did end up raining during the show.

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Ron Dante's a very cool guy (and majorly talented). A few years back, he was scheduled to play the release party for the book "Bubblegum Music is the Naked Truth," but ended up backing out at the last minute because of a sore throat. I was fortunate enough to be asked to play drums as a member of the backing band that night (we still played, even without Ron) and got the chance to play such pop classics as "Sugar Sugar," "Jingle Jangle," "Everything's Archie," "Feelin' So Good (S.K.O.O.B.Y. D.O.O.)."

For a big-time Archies fan like myself (really!), this was a major thrill. Midway through our set, Ron showed up, handed out some Archies trading cards and flashed us the thumbs up. Good times, good times...

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He really seems to be one of the people that "get" the genre they specialize in, to the point of becoming one of the genres masters. I think of Dante in a similar league with Curt Boettcher and Terry Melcher. Not sure why - he was much more bubblegum than the other 2. Maybe the other 2 really "got" the kind of music they did.

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I'm not a huge fan of bubblegum music, but having said that, I have to say that the Archies' "Jingle Jangle" is one of my favorite songs of all time...OK, it's not hard rock but it's a fabulous piece of fun music. And Toni Wine's voice on it is absolutely incredible.

Toni herself has had a pretty incredible career as a singer and songwriter.

As for Ron Dante, did he not also produce Barry Manilow?

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