Bobby Vinton

According to his autobiography, Bobby was inspired to record his music by the Elvis Presley movie "Jailhouse Rock." He formed his own record label, "Bobby Records," in October 1958. His first release was "Twilight Time," backed with "Hallelujah". Bobby sang on the B side of the 45 RPM release, making this his first commercially released vocal recording. This record did not chart. In March 1959, Bobby recorded for the Melody label out of Philadelphia, listed as "Bobby Vinton and his Orchestra" for the first time. His release of "Harlem Nocturne," backed with "Always in My Heart" with a vocal by Bobby, attracted attention in Pennsylvania. His "Young Man with a Big Band" style was established here and "Always In My Heart" would be a song he would return to. In August 1959, Bobby moved to another larger record company, Alpine Records. He released two self-written singles for Alpine, the first being "You'll Never Forget" backed by "First Impression." The second Alpine release was "A Freshman and a Sophomore," backed with the self-written "The Sheik;" this was released in February 1960. Both Alpine releases garnered Billboard magazine mentions.

After two years of service in the United States Army, where he served as a chaplain's assistant, Vinton was signed to Epic Records in 1960 as a bandleader: "A Young Man With a Big Band." The break for the Epic Records contract had come after Vinton and his band appeared on Guy Lombardo's TV Talent Scouts program.[1][9] On March 20, 1961, his first Epic Records single was released. Titled "Little Lonely One" and credited to "Bobby Vinton," it was backed with "Corrine Corrina," credited to "Bobby Vinton And His Orchestra." Despite the big label backing, the single was not successful and two albums, Bobby Vinton Dancing At The Hop and Bobby Vinton Plays for his Lil Darlin's did not sell well. With Epic ready to drop him from its roster, Vinton found his first hit single literally sitting in a reject pile.[3] The song was titled "Roses Are Red (My Love)."[10] Vinton had to do his own promotion for the song; he bought one thousand copies and hired a young woman to deliver a copy of the record and a dozen red roses to every local DJ.[1][11] It spent four weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was also a hit on the Country and R&B charts. The success of the song pushed Epic to renew Vinton's contract and change his status from bandleader to solo singer.[10]

Arguably, Vinton's most famous song is 1963's "Blue Velvet," originally a minor hit for Tony Bennett in 1951, that also spent three weeks at the number one positions in Billboard, Cash Box, and Record World Magazines. In 1986, 23 years later, David Lynch named his movie Blue Velvet after the song.[10] In 1990, "Blue Velvet" reached number 2 in the UK Singles Chart, after being featured in a Nivea commercial. The 1990 reissue also hit number 3 in the Irish Singles Chart and number 7 in Australia.

In 1964, Vinton had two number 1 hits, "There! I've Said It Again" (a number 1 hit in 1945 for Vaughn Monroe) and "Mr. Lonely." Vinton's version of "There! I've Said It Again" is noteworthy for being the last U.S. Billboard number-one single of the pre-Beatles era, deposed from the Hot 100's summit by "I Want to Hold Your Hand". Also noteworthy is the fact that Vinton continued to have big hit records during the British Invasion, scoring 16 top-ten hits, while Connie Francis, Ricky Nelson, the Shirelles, and other major artists of the early 1960s struggled to reach even the Top 40.

Vinton wrote and composed "Mr. Lonely" during his chaplain's assistant service in the U.S. Army in the late 1950s. The song was recorded during the same 1962 session that produced "Roses Are Red (My Love)," and the two songs launched Vinton's singing career. It was released as an album track on the 1962 Roses Are Red (and other songs for the young & sentimental) LP. Despite pressure from Vinton to release it as a single, Epic instead had Buddy Greco release it and it flopped. Two years and millions of records sold later, Bobby prevailed on Epic to include "Mr. Lonely" on his Bobby Vinton's Greatest Hits LP. Soon DJs picked up on the song and airplay resulted in demand for a single release. "Mr. Lonely" shot up the charts in the late fall of 1964 to reach number 1 on the Hot 100 on 12 December 1964. Epic then released the LP Bobby Vinton Mr. Lonely, giving the song a unique claim to fame since it now appeared on three Bobby Vinton albums released within two years. The song continued to spin gold for Vinton, its author-composer, in the 45 years to date since reaching number 1; Harmony Korine named his 2007 film Mister Lonely after the latter and features the song in the film's opening, and it was also the basis for Akon's 2005 hit, "Lonely."

Vinton performing on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1969

In 1965, Vinton continued his "Lonely" success streak with the self-written "L-O-N-E-L-Y." "Long Lonely Nights" peaked at number 12 and spawned an album, Bobby Vinton Sings for Lonely Nights. Vinton's self-written 1966 hit "Coming Home Soldier" hit #11 on the Hot 100 and was a favorite on request shows on the American Forces Network during the Cold War and Vietnam era, often called in by soldiers about to board the Freedom Bird that would take them back to the "Land of the Round Doorknobs." Vinton's lush 1967 remake of "Please Love Me Forever", which reached number 6 and sold over a million copies, began his string of twelve consecutive hits, all remakes, over a little less than five and a half years to reach the Hot 100.[10] His 1968 hit "I Love How You Love Me" surged to number 9, sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold record by the RIAA.[12]

In the 1970s Bobby Vinton continued to hit the Top 40, notably with "Ev'ry Day of My Life," a #2 Adult Contemporary hit also awarded the Jukebox single of the year award which was produced by Jimmy Bowen and CBS recording engineer Jim Reeves, which peaked at number 24 on 29 April 1972, and "Sealed With a Kiss" hitting number 19 on 19–26 August 1972.[5] Despite the success of the two hits, Epic Records decided to drop Vinton from his contract the next year, claiming that his days of selling records were over.

Undeterred, Vinton spent $50,000 of his own money on "My Melody of Love," partially self-written and partially sung in Polish.[10] The suggestion for the song came from Vinton's mother.[2][5] After six major labels turned Vinton down, ABC Records bought Vinton's idea, and the result was a multi-million-selling single of simple lyrics that hit number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 2 on the Cashbox Top 100 chart, and number 1 on the AC chart in 1974.[2][13] A gold album, Melodies of Love, followed as well as one final Top 40 pop hit (the traditional "Beer Barrel Polka," also sung partially in Polish, b/w "Dick And Jane" in 1975). Vinton would go on to record an additional 4 albums for ABC records, three of which hit the Billboard Hot 200 albums chart. Epic Records rediscovered Vinton in the wake of his newfound success releasing two albums of previously recorded material both of which hit the top albums charts. In addition, in a throwback to his career start in the '50s, he self-produced two albums on his own Rexford label. Both were best sellers and one, Party Music, went Platinum. In 1975, Vinton exploded onto televisions across the United States and Canada with a successful half-hour variety show, The Bobby Vinton Show, which aired from 1975 to 1978 and which used "My Melody of Love" as its theme song; ABC Records subsequently released an album of songs performed on the show.[14]
In 1978 Vinton wrote his autobiography, titled The Polish Prince, which became a best seller. In the same year, CBS-TV aired Bobby Vinton's Rock N' Rollers, a one-hour special that achieved top ratings.

In the early '90s Vinton found himself booked as a guest star at The Roy Clark theatre in Branson, MO. Bobby was unsure of his ability to draw at what was then a country western themed resort and was shocked at the massive turnout for his concerts there. He was so impresssed with the Branson model that he invested millions in building the Bobby Vinton Blue Velvet Theatre and enjoyed ten successful years there Branson, Missouri until 2002, when the theater was sold to David King, creator and producer of Spirit of the Dance.[9][11] Vinton returned to Branson periodically for limited engagements at the theater.

Billboard Magazine called Bobby Vinton "the all-time most successful love singer of the 'Rock-Era.'" From 1962 to 1972, Vinton had had more Billboard number 1 hits than any other male vocalist, including Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra. In recognition of his recording career, Vinton was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located at 6916 Hollywood Blvd.

Vinton's alma mater, Duquesne University, awarded him an honorary doctorate in music in 1978.[4][14]

In 2011, Grammy Award winner Jimmy Sturr and His Orchestra recorded the "Polish Prince" song, a tip of the hat to Vinton, and included it on their Grammy-nominated Not Just Another Polka CD. The song was written by Johnny Prill and was based on the 1978 autobiography The Polish Prince – Bobby Vinton.

Vinton performing in 2004