Tony Dallara

Tony Dallara, born Antonio Lardera and frequently likened to the Platters’ Tony Williams, ranked among Italy’s leading vocalists during the closing years of the 1950s and the opening years of the 1960s. Among his successes were the Neapolitan standards “I Diro” and “Come Prima” in 1958, “Julia” and “Ghiaccio Bollente” the following year, “Romantica” in 1960, and “Bambina Bambina” in 1961.

A personal acquaintance of Louis Armstrong, Dallara traveled with him to Sanremo and Mine for what became Armstrong’s final public performances. Even with that connection and Dallara’s own attempts at wider exposure, international audiences remained out of reach; while Domenico Modugno’s “Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu” prompted worldwide renditions of Italian lyrics, Dallara slipped from view.