Biography
Jazz crooner Frankie Randall entered the world as Frank Lisbona in Clifton, NJ. Classical piano lessons began for him at seven, yet by his teenage years he had gravitated toward jazz, which earned him a music scholarship at Fairleigh Dickinson University. Following graduation, he took the stage at New York City’s celebrated nightclub Jilly’s, the venue operated by Jilly Rizzo, a close associate of Frank Sinatra. Sinatra soon attended one of Randall’s performances, and the warm endorsement that followed secured him a contract with RCA. His debut album, the 1964 release Frankie Randall Sings and Swings, featured arrangements by Marty Paich; the partnership extended into the following year on the second LP, Frankie Randall at It Again! After his first screen appearance in the 1965 feature Wild on the Beach, Randall changed direction once more, enlisting Billy May to arrange his fourth album, 1966’s Going the Frankie Randall Way! Subsequent records such as I Remember You and The Mods and the Pops appeared in due course, while throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s he became a regular presence on television talk programs. More than ten years of worldwide casino engagements preceded his 1982 move to an indefinite residency at Atlantic City’s Golden Nugget. One year later, owner Steve Wynn appointed him the casino’s entertainment director; Randall remained in that post for nine years before resuming his performing career in 1991 with the album Frankie Randall Sings Steve Allen. In 1997 Sinatra formally granted Randall his signature charts, an act that prompted the launch of the enduring stage production “Tribute to Sinatra.”
Albums