3/18/14
Hi Everyone,
Seem’s things are moving quickly with tickets and Meet and Greets, I hope everyone is getting the seats they want, are going with the people they want and most importantly getting those coveted Meet and Greet tickets. Those tickets seem very elusive this year.
We want again to extend our condolences to Ignazio and his family and Thank Myron for sending flowers!!
Piero and Gianluca, from their tweets seem to be enjoying themselves with family, friends and food!!
I’m sure most of you remember Julius La Rosa, that handsome,Italain America singer who started his career on the Arthur Godfrey Show. I remember!!
DID YOU KNOW??? 
Julius La Rosa (born January 2, 1930) is an American traditional popular music singer who worked in both radio and television beginning in the 1950s.
La Rosa was born in Brooklyn, New York. In 1947, at age 17, he joined the United States Navy after finishing high school, becoming a radioman. He sang in a Navy choir, at the offi
The young sailor’s Navy buddies managed to promote him to Arthur Godfrey – at the time one of America’s leading radio and television personalities, and himself a Naval Reserve officer, whom the Navy often accommodated as a nod to the good publicity he gave the service. The Navy buddy most instrumental in this was George “Bud” Andrews, from Omaha, Nebraska, the seaman mechanic on Godfrey’s airplane. While working on Godfrey’s plane, Andrews struck up a conversation with Godfrey and told him that he really should hear his buddy sing. They arranged a time for LaRosa to audition in Pensacola, Florida, where LaRosa was stationed. Godfrey was impressed, offering La Rosa a job. Godfrey had LaRosa flown to New York to appear on his television show, with Godfrey ending the spot by saying, “When Julie gets out of the Navy he’ll come back to see us.”
La Rosa was on Godfrey’s shows from November 19, 1951 to October 19, 1953. When Archie Bleyer, Godfrey’s bandleader, formed Cadence Records in 1952, the first performer signed was La Rosa. Cadence’s first single, which was also La Rosa’s first recording, was “Anywhere I Wander.” It reached the top 30 on the charts, and his next recording, “My Lady Loves To Dance”, was a moderate success. As with the other “Little Godfreys”, as the cast members were known, Godfrey had discouraged La Rosa from hiring a manager or booking agent, preferring to have his staff coordinate and negotiate on La Rosa’s behalf. 
After La Rosa’s third recording, and a dispute with Godfrey over his failure to attend a Godfrey-mandated dance class required of all cast members, La Rosa hired his own agent and manager: Tommy Rockwell.
With hit recordings and his appearances on Godfrey’s shows, La Rosa’s popularity grew exponentially. At one point, La Rosa’s fan mail eclipsed Godfrey’s. A year after La Rosa was hired, he was receiving 7,000 fan letters a week. Godfrey did not react well to LaRosa hiring Rockwell as his manager. After consulting with CBS President Frank Stanton, on the morning of October 19, 1953 (in a segment of the show broadcast on radio only), after La Rosa finished singing “Manhattan” on Arthur Godfrey Time, Godfrey fired La Rosa on the air, announcing, “that was Julie’s swan song with us.” La Rosa tearfully met with Godfrey after the broadcast and thanked him for giving him his “break”. La Rosa was then met at Godfrey’s offices by his lawyer, manager and some reporters. Tommy Rockwell was highly critical of Godfrey’s behavior, angrily citing La Rosa’s public humiliation.
Comedians began working the phrase “no humility” into their routines. Singer Ruth Wallis, known for her raunchy double entendre novelties, recorded “Dear Mr. Godfrey,” a biting satire on the matter, which made it to #25 on the Billboard charts in November 1953. Days after firing La Rosa, Godfrey also fired bandleader Archie Bleyer, owner of La Rosa’s label Cadence Records, for producing spoken word records for Cadence featuring Chicago-based talk host Don McNeill, whose Don McNeill’s Breakfast Club on ABC Radio opposite Godfrey’s morning show was considered a direct competitor.
The firing did not hurt La Rosa’s career in the short run. Ed Sullivan immediately signed La Rosa for appearances on his CBS Toast of the Town TV variety show, which sparked a feud between him and Godfrey. La Rosa’s first appearance on Toast of the Town following the firing got a 47.9 Trendex rating, and La Rosa would appear 12 more times on Sullivan’s show that year.
Shortly after he left Godfrey, La Rosa’s third recording, “Eh, Cumpari”, hit #1 on the Cash Box chart and #2 on the Billboard chart, and La Rosa got an award as the best new male vocalist of 1953. “Eh, Cumpari” was followed by another major hit, “Domani.”For thirteen weeks during the summer of 1955, La Rosa had a three-times-a-week television series, The Julius La Rosa Show, featuring Russ Case and his Orchestra. The Julius La Rosa Show aired in an hour-long format in the summers of 1956 and 1957 at 8 p.m. Eastern on Saturdays on NBC as a seasonal replacement for The Perry Como Show.
La Rosa tired of revisiting the Godfrey affair, in part because it had been rehashed so many times, but he was also known to declare publicly that Godfrey was, indeed, the individual who made his career, but always adding, “He wasn’t a very nice man.”
La Rosa eventually moved on to a long-time disk jockey position at New York’s WNEW and continued to sing and occasionally record. As late as 1999, LaRosa was a disc jockey on WNSW hosting “Make Believe Ballroom Time”. La Rosa, profiled by jazz critic and composer Gene Lees, has continued to work clubs and release records and compact discs. New York Times film critic Stephen Holden says: “His singing is very direct and unpretentious — he can wrap his voice tenaciously around a melody line and bring out the best in it.” He has also been a frequent contributor to comedian Jerry Lewis’s marathon annual Labor Day telethon programs for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, often hosting the New York outpost of the shows.
I saw Julius LaRosa last year on PBS on one of the “My Music” specials. He still at 82, has a darn good voice!!
From the tweets sent by Piero and Gianluca,The Guys are in Milan as of yesterday 3/17.
Il Volo is performing on April 1st in Moscow, wow they are traveling around this year, Love and Luck,Guys!!
*******BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR KELLY’S NEXT POST, AND SHE’LL TELL YOU ABOUT BADGES TO WEAR TO THE CONCERTS.********
LInda
Wow, Linda, that sure brought back memories. I was watching the Arthur Godfrey Show when he fired Julius La Rosa. I never again watched The Godfrey Show! And I remember Julius LaRosa singing “Eh, Compari” and “Domani” I was crazy about those songs and Julius LaRosa. As Bob Hope would say “Thanks for the memories” Linda..
Allene, my mother heard it while I was at school, she told me as soon as I got home. She never watched Godfrey again!!
Today is my second anniversary of my Il Volo discovery. Mama turned PBS on and the Takes Flight concert was playing. She thought I could use some cultural experience and called me over. It was in the middle of O Sole Mio, and I saw this guy with really big, red glasses, standing on a chair in the middle of the audience, holding the most beautiful note I’d ever heard. I’ve been of fan of Piero and Il Volo ever since. 😀
Miss Isabel, Happy Anniversary!
It’s amazing how each of us remember the exact moment we heard Their first glorious note.
Isn’t it? 🙂
Isobel:
Isn’t it amazing how they get you at the first notes? All three Boys have phenomenal voices that blend like no other voices I have ever heard. I’m with you! THE POWER AND CLARITY OF PIERO’S HIGH NOTES ARE NOT-TO-BE-BELIEVED!! Once you’ve heard them it’s impossible to forget them, and all you want is to hear more, More, MORE!!!
Helen
I’ve heard those notes more than 100 times and I still don’t believe it!
Me too, Me too, Me too! Only I had heard their music fiirst sight unseen and fell in love with the music. Seeing them perform I then fell hard for Mr,.Red Glasses with the thunderous voice
Glad to see your name is back! Piero really does have sensational voice and I am continually grateful that I discovered them when I did. I listened to my copy the concert to celebrate and it is amazing to hear how much their voices have grown in such a short amount of time.
I’m now a little worried – you mentioned “elusive” meet-and-greet tickets, but l took the plunge just today and secured one without any problem. It’s separate from my concert ticket and is from the site promoted by Il Volo. They say it’s at the will-call window for pick-up that night, with the event set for 6:45pm. Are there different levels of M&G? Does it influence your seat? Do l have the “real” M&G? I’m so new to all this…
Carol, call the number at the bottom of the screen where you purchased the Meet & Greet. Probably that 6:45 is NOT the time of the M & G–I called and it turned out that number was the time left to complete the purchase of the tickets! The M & G is after the show. They told me they would send me an email with all the information on it. so check it out!
Thank you.
I am as new to this as you are! The first time I looked at the M & G tickets it said 7:39 and I said to myself “HUH? How can the M & G be at 7:39 when the show starts at 8:00??? When I actually purchased the tickets it said 6:43. Now I was really confused! So I called the number and they were really nice. The young lady explained that was the time left to buy a ticket–not the time of the M & G, and not the time to pick up the ticket–which is the second thing I thought it might be. Mine are Will Call–but she said you don’t have to pick up anything–the email she sends and photo ID all you need.
So call them up and clarify. Some venues are mailing the tickets.
I had the pleasure of meeting Julius LaRosa in Vegas during the MDA Telethon. He was THE nicest man and so much fun. Thank you for the bio on him.
Linda:
How well I remember Julius LaRosa!! My kids were just toddlers, and I was more or less housebound, so I listened to the radio quite a lot while I did housework and played with the kiddos. (No TV in those days!!!) I loved Julius… He had that wonderful Sinatra quality in his voice.
Thank you so much for all the background material on him. He’s a great Italian just like Our Boys!! There are so many famous Italian popular crooners, you ought to write a book!!!
Helen
I read this story and think of something my grandparents always say as they shake their heads sadly, “God don’t like Ugly….” Amazing story of talent and…God not likin’ ugly. 🙂 Thanks, Linda.
For those of you who live in the Los Angeles area, the tickets for The Greek Theater go on sale on 4-5-14. Unfortunately, their meet and greet was sold out on 3-14. Maybe because it’s a PBS concert. I call daily, just in case the tickets go on sale before 4-5-14. Do any of you live in this area? I would like to meet and greet with you!! Thanks, Victoria
Thank you for the information Victoria.
Now, about that other name…:)
Your welcome. Do you live in the Los Angeles area? (The other name?)
Hi, Marie. I think you are talking about my “user” name. I love him so and his dimples. I wish I was younger!! (Like 40 years!!) LOL
Thanks for the info on Julius. Thanks to Ron Onesti, I got to see him a few years ago at the Festa Italiana in Miwaukee. Waiting for bio on one of my very favorites Vic Damone. He was supposed to sing his last retirement concert in Milwaukee a few years ago and became ill. He never sang anywhere again although I had seen him many times in Chicago. Paul Anka replaced him and put on a fabulous show.
Vic Damone coming up next, Ann. He was one of my favorites too!
Wonderful, all these recollections of Julius LaRosa. My Mother enjoyed his singing and I remember him on some t.v. variety shows when I was a little girl. I am absolutely over excited to be going to Milwaukee June 21st to see our boys for the first time in concert. Is there a way to get an Il Volo Flight Crew Fan Club ‘badge’ to wear when I go to the concert? I am going to the Meet & Greet. Another Il Volo fan is coming with me. We met on FB some time ago and she is a super fan too..I’ve come to know soooo many FB friends who love the boys and are planning their travels to see them, some again and again, just wonderful. Thank you for these wonderful experiences you ladies and gents share with all of us. ♥♥♥
I first saw Our Boys on American Idol. I was washing dishes and my niece called me to tell me there was an Italian trio on American Idol. I turned around and saw them starting to sing “O Solo Mio” and that was it for me! I knew they were special right away.
I saw that video much later–after I already was hooked–since they sang O SOle Mio on TLUC. But what I love about the American Idol video is the reaction of a woman sitting on a bench on the stage to the right. I think she is wearing a green sweater. The boys start to sing, and her jaw literally drops! It makes me laugh every time I watch it.
Penina,
lol When I first saw il Volo in Concert, I got real lucky and ended up with front row, center seats. I swear I had to scrape my jaw off of the floor.
I first saw il Volo on our PBS station doing their fund raising event. I was not paying any attention to the TV that was on, but instead was on my laptop as usual. il Volo starts singing and I looked at my husband and ask “Who is that?”. He already knew and them and also knew that they would be doing a concert about 90 miles south of us. Well, I decided that I did not want to be in the heavy work traffic at that big city, and that they would be in the next state over on a Saturday night, so we opted for that and just drove over and back, even though it was further. Their concert was so great and I have been a big fan of il Volo since I first heard them sing “O Solo Mio” on the PBS Station that first night. I can’t get enough of them now, they really captured my heart.