The Hit Record That Launched My Daddy’s Music Career

Not exactly a classic

Photo by Biel Morro on Unsplash

My father has been gone now for 32 years. But his legacy lives on mostly in the form of hit records he produced and/or arranged. Among his 17 gold and platinum records are “People” by Barbra Streisand and “Moon River” by Andy Williams. But neither of those are the recordings that made him a star in the business. It was a different number one that launched his career.

As he tells the story, Pop recalled that Bobby Vinton was an artist signed to Columbia Records who had outlived his popularity at the label. While they must have had an interest in Bobby when they signed him, that enthusiasm had waned to the point that he’d become an albatross to the execs.

At a singles meeting (where employees decided which of the upcoming releases they wanted to promote most heavily), the question was posed as to what to do with Bobby Vinton. They really had little to no interest in him at that point.

And so, it was decided to simply release “Roses Are Red” with no promotion. The label was contractually obliged to put out one more record on Bobby whereupon they could send him on his way. Which is what they intended to do.

But Vinton had a plan. He would promote his record by mailing the 45 to every program director in the US along with a rose. And the rest is history.

“Roses Are Red,” produced and arranged by my father, rose to the top of the Billboard pop chart for four consecutive weeks. Bobby’s promotional effort was the primary reason. Without it, the record would have gone nowhere.

My father was a big band arranger who favored that kind of music. I’m quite sure he spent very little time and expended almost no effort in recording Vinton’s smash. It was almost like a nursery rhyme to Pops.

Yet the music business, operating as it does, recognizes hit records over musical expertise. The only thing special about “Roses Are Red’ was that it was such a powerful commercial juggernaut.

And if daddy was the production and arranging engine, there must be more hit records in the old man. That sort of thinking got him the job of Arts and Repertoire Director at Columbia Records and gigs producing and/or arranging for Barbara Streisand, Andy Williams, Johnny Mathis, Louis Armstrong, Patty Page, Perry Como, Robert Goulet, and several others.

Alas, the MOR music (middle of the road) that was so popular gave way to hippy rock and roll, and just as precipitously as my father’s career ascended, it descended at the same rate. He was only a music star for a few years before burning out in the business.

But hey! He had his moment in the limelight. Not every musician does. That it was such a silly record which catapulted him into that elite realm is a curiosity at this point. And to think he poo-pood the recording only to have it launch him into the stratosphere.