Vic Damone

Vic Damone exemplified the classic Italian-American crooner whose rich, velvety baritone propelled him to widespread pop success in the 1940s and 1950s. At the start of his professional path, his vocal tone and phrasing reflected clear influence from Frank Sinatra, who once described him as “the best set of pipes in the business.” His overall manner proved gentler than Sinatra’s and drew less from jazz flexibility, largely because he performed independently without first gaining experience in a swing band. As a leading romantic figure of his era, he concentrated on tender ballads yet occasionally added playful popular numbers or Italian folk pieces. Alongside his recordings, he built a secondary path in motion pictures and later as a television variety host, continuing nightclub appearances for many years after his chart presence faded.

Born Vito Rocca Farinola in Brooklyn, New York, on June 12, 1928, Damone grew up with a mother who taught piano and a father who worked as an electrician while also singing and playing guitar. Sinatra supplied his earliest musical inspiration, prompting him to begin formal voice study. His initial public appearances occurred in a youth choir and at school functions. After his father suffered a severe workplace injury, the young Damone left school to contribute to the household income, securing employment at the Paramount Theater in Manhattan as an usher and elevator operator. One evening he performed spontaneously for Perry Como while escorting the singer to his dressing room, prompting Como to offer encouragement, introduce him to a local bandleader, and serve as an informal mentor.

Adopting his mother’s maiden name, Damone captured first prize on Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts in 1947, which quickly yielded steady radio work in New York. While appearing on the program he met Milton Berle, who arranged bookings at the prominent nightclubs La Martinique and the Aquarium. The resulting exposure soon secured the nineteen-year-old a recording contract with Mercury. His debut single, “I Have But One Heart,” achieved solid sales, and subsequent releases “You Do” and the Patti Page duet “Say Something Sweet to Your Sweetheart” also performed well. He launched his own radio program, Saturday Night Serenade, and performed at major New York venues including the Copa and the Paramount, where he had previously worked.

In 1949 Damone scored his breakthrough hit with “Again,” which he followed with the equally successful “You’re Breaking My Heart”; both singles surpassed one million copies. A consistent series of recordings appeared through 1950, among the strongest “Vagabond Shoes,” the Top Ten “Tzena, Tzena, Tzena” (a cover of the Weavers’ adaptation of an Israeli folk song), “Cincinnati Dancing Pig,” and the Top Five “My Heart Cries for You.” The next year he signed a film contract with MGM and appeared in The Strip and the musical Rich, Young and Pretty. He returned to the Top Five with a version of Guy Mitchell’s “My Truly, Truly Fair.” Late in 1951 he entered military service, remaining on duty through 1953. Mercury continued issuing previously recorded material during his absence, yielding Top Ten entries with “Here in My Heart” (a cover of Al Martino’s debut hit), Les Baxter’s “April in Portugal,” and “Ebb Tide,” along with further success for the Charlie Chaplin composition “Eternally.”

Upon returning from service, Damone resumed film work and married actress Pier Angeli; over the following two years he appeared in Athena, Deep in My Heart, Kismet, and Hit the Deck while also guesting on Berle’s television program. His sequence of hit singles nevertheless began to taper, and after Mercury released him he followed his former A&R executive Mitch Miller to Columbia. In 1956 he achieved a number-four pop hit with the My Fair Lady selection “On the Street Where You Live,” bypassing the rise of rock & roll. That same year he issued his first full-length twelve-inch LP, That Towering Feeling!, which reached the Top 20 after earlier albums had been ten-inch discs or film soundtracks. He also appeared in Meet Me in Las Vegas and began hosting variety programs, with the initial series The Vic Damone Show running from 1956 to 1957. His marriage to Angeli ended in 1958.

Although he initially avoided the impact of rock & roll, his commercial momentum soon diminished. He secured only one additional Top 20 single, 1957’s “An Affair to Remember (Our Love Affair),” and gradually shifted focus toward album-oriented work and adult interpretive singing. Album quality improved, highlighted by 1961’s On the Swingin’ Side, yet Columbia allowed him to move to Capitol. Hoping to offset the departure of Sinatra, Capitol encouraged some of Damone’s strongest LPs, including 1962’s Linger Awhile with Vic Damone and The Lively Ones; both reached the Top 100 but did not match the later Sinatra audience. He recorded a single album for Warner Bros., You Were Only Fooling, in 1965, whose title track provided a final singles-chart appearance.

Damone next recorded briefly for RCA in the late 1960s, though by then he functioned chiefly as a television personality and variety-show guest. A major Las Vegas concert in 1971 established him as a regular on the casino circuit, helping resolve financial difficulties that had included a brief bankruptcy in the early 1970s. He maintained steady nightclub and casino tours nationwide and enjoyed renewed popularity in the United Kingdom during the early 1980s, leading to extensive performances there and several new RCA albums in the first half of the decade. In 1987 he married actress Diahann Carroll, his fourth wife; the union lasted until 1996. He continued occasional recordings in addition to live performances. Vic Damone died in February 2018 at the age of 89.