Johnny Desmond
Encyclopedia
Johnny Desmond born Giovanni Alfredo De Simone, was a popular
American
singer.
, Michigan
; and as a boy, sang on a local radio station
, but at age 15 he quit to work at his father's grocery. He still retained a love of music, however, and briefly attended the Detroit Conservatory of Music before heading to the nightclub
circuit, playing piano
and singing.
In 1939
he formed his own singing group. The group was first called the Downbeats, but after being hired to work with Bob Crosby
's big band
in 1940
, it was renamed the Bob-O-Links. The group appeared on 15 commercial recordings by the Crosby orchestra, including two charted
hits
, "You Forgot About Me" (which reached No. 15), and "Do You Care?" (No. 18).
Desmond decided to leave the Bob-O-Links to go solo
. He became the featured vocalist for Gene Krupa
's band, replacing Howard Dulaney, in September, recording over a dozen songs, the last of which was "All Those Wonderful Years", a song from the movie
Keep 'em Flying
, which reached No. 21 on the US charts.
In 1942 he enlisted in the United States Army
, but his military service was in fact a continuation of his singing career. He was a member of Glenn Miller
's Army Air Forces Orchestra and from November 1943 until some time in 1944 he toured Europe
, mainly serving as a replacement for Tony Martin
. He made a number of radio
broadcasts with the Miller band and was even given his own show by the British Broadcasting Corporation, "A Soldier and a Song."
, a radio variety program out of Chicago
. He made a number of charted hit recordings: "Don't You Remember Me?" (recorded 1946
, reaching No. 21 on the charts), "Guilty
" (recorded December 6, 1946, reaching No. 12), "C'est si bon
" (recorded May 11, 1949, reaching No. 25), "Don't Cry, Joe" (recorded May 21, 1949, reaching No. 22), "Just Say I Love Her
" (recorded January 20, 1950, reaching No. 24), "The Picnic Song" (recorded April 1, 1950, reaching No. 20), "Because of You
" (recorded February 10, 1951, reaching No. 17), and "Woman" (recorded September 15, 1953, reaching No. 9). On September 24, 1953 he joined with Don Cornell
and Alan Dale
to record "The Gang that Sang 'Heart of My Heart'," a No. 10 hit on the chart. During this time he was switching recording companies frequently. The 1946 recordings were made for RCA Victor, the 1949-51 recordings for MGM, and the 1953 recordings for Coral Records
.
In the 1940s and 1950s, many artists would record the same song at about the same time, and some chart hits for Desmond were also major hits for other singers. Thus "Guilty
" (No. 12 for Desmond) was an even bigger hit for Margaret Whiting
, with a No. 4 position. "Because of You" (No. 17 for Desmond) was a No. 1 hit for Tony Bennett
. "The High and the Mighty" (No. 17 for Desmond) was No. 4 for Les Baxter and his Orchestra. And the Desmond/Dale/Cornell version of "Heart of My Heart" reached No. 10, but the Four Aces
' version peaked at No. 7 on the charts.
In some cases, Desmond's version was the biggest hit. Teresa Brewer
also recorded "The Picnic Song" but her version did not chart. "Woman" was recorded by José Ferrer
(back to back with a recording of "Man" by his wife, Rosemary Clooney
), but Desmond's was the bigger version in the US (though the UK Singles Chart
favored the Ferrer recording). In addition, Desmond also recorded a number of versions of songs that did not chart but became hits for other singers: for example, "Mister and Mississippi
" (a hit for Patti Page
) and "Too Young
" (a hit for Nat King Cole
).
In 1957, Desmond joined Boris Karloff
in a guest appearance on NBC's The Gisele MacKenzie Show
. In 1958, he was cast as a regular, Jim Kendall, in Joan Caulfield
's short-lived NBC sitcom, Sally
.
, Desmond appeared in Say, Darling
(1958) and as Nicky Arnstein
in Funny Girl, after Sydney Chaplin
left the cast.
Desmond died of cancer
in Los Angeles
, California
at the age of 65.
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer.
Early years
He was born in DetroitDetroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
; and as a boy, sang on a local radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
, but at age 15 he quit to work at his father's grocery. He still retained a love of music, however, and briefly attended the Detroit Conservatory of Music before heading to the nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
circuit, playing piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and singing.
In 1939
1939 in music
-Events:*March 23 – Béla Bartók's Violin Concerto No. 2 is premiered by Zoltán Székely and the Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Willem Mengelberg...
he formed his own singing group. The group was first called the Downbeats, but after being hired to work with Bob Crosby
Bob Crosby
George Robert "Bob" Crosby was an American dixieland bandleader and vocalist, best known for his group the Bob-Cats.-Family:...
's big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
in 1940
1940 in music
-Events:*July 20 - Billboard magazine publishes its first "Music Popularity Chart".*May 27 - Quartetto Egie make their debut performance.*August - Edmundo Ros forms his own rumba band.*November 23 - Dmitri Shostakovich's Piano Quintet is premièred....
, it was renamed the Bob-O-Links. The group appeared on 15 commercial recordings by the Crosby orchestra, including two charted
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
hits
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
, "You Forgot About Me" (which reached No. 15), and "Do You Care?" (No. 18).
War years
In the middle of 19411941 in music
-Events:*January 5 – Ernesto Bonino makes his début on Italian radio.*January 15 – Olivier Messiaen's Quatuor pour la fin du temps is premiered in Stalag VIIIA in Silesia.*January 20 – Béla Bartók's String Quartet No...
Desmond decided to leave the Bob-O-Links to go solo
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
. He became the featured vocalist for Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa was an American jazz and big band drummer and composer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style.-Biography:...
's band, replacing Howard Dulaney, in September, recording over a dozen songs, the last of which was "All Those Wonderful Years", a song from the movie
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
Keep 'em Flying
Keep 'Em Flying
-Plot:Jinx Roberts is a stunt pilot and his assistants are Blackie and Heathcliffe . All three are fired from the carnival and air show that they work for after a disagreement. Jinx decides that he should join the Army Air Force, so they go to a nightclub to party one last time. While there...
, which reached No. 21 on the US charts.
In 1942 he enlisted in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
, but his military service was in fact a continuation of his singing career. He was a member of Glenn Miller
Glenn Miller
Alton Glenn Miller was an American jazz musician , arranger, composer, and bandleader in the swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1943, leading one of the best known "Big Bands"...
's Army Air Forces Orchestra and from November 1943 until some time in 1944 he toured Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, mainly serving as a replacement for Tony Martin
Tony Martin (entertainer)
Tony Martin is an American actor and singer.-Career:Tony Martin was born on Christmas Day, 1913 as Alvin Morris in San Francisco, California to Jewish immigrant parents. He received a saxophone as a gift from his grandmother at the age of ten. In his grammar school glee club, he became an...
. He made a number of radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
broadcasts with the Miller band and was even given his own show by the British Broadcasting Corporation, "A Soldier and a Song."
Postwar era
When the war ended, he took a job on The Breakfast ClubThe Breakfast Club (radio)
The Breakfast Club is a long-run morning variety show on NBC Blue Network/ABC radio originating in Chicago, Illinois. Hosted by Don McNeill, the radio program ran from June 23, 1933 through December 27, 1968. McNeil's 35½-year run as host remains the longest tenure for an M.C...
, a radio variety program out of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. He made a number of charted hit recordings: "Don't You Remember Me?" (recorded 1946
1946 in music
- Events :*January 6 – A somewhat revised and streamlined revival of Kern and Hammerstein's Show Boat opens on Broadway at the Ziegfeld Theatre, the same theatre at which the original production played back in 1927. This production features newly designed sets and costumes, new, more extended...
, reaching No. 21 on the charts), "Guilty
Guilty (1931 song)
"Guilty" is a popular song published in 1931. The music was written by Richard A. Whiting and Harry Akst. The lyrics were written by Gus Kahn....
" (recorded December 6, 1946, reaching No. 12), "C'est si bon
C'est si bon
"C'est si bon" is a popular song, sometimes also referred to by the English translation of the title, "It's So Good". The music was written in 1947 by Henri Betti, the French lyrics by André Hornez, and the English lyrics by Jerry Seelen...
" (recorded May 11, 1949, reaching No. 25), "Don't Cry, Joe" (recorded May 21, 1949, reaching No. 22), "Just Say I Love Her
Just Say I Love Her
"Just Say I Love Her" is a popular song, adapted from the Neapolitan song "Dicitencello vuie." The original music was written by Neapolitan composer Rodolfo Falvo; arrangement in USA by Jack Val and Jimmy Dale; the original Neapolitan lyrics by Enzo Fusco, and English lyrics by Martin Kalmanoff...
" (recorded January 20, 1950, reaching No. 24), "The Picnic Song" (recorded April 1, 1950, reaching No. 20), "Because of You
Because of You (1940 song)
"Because of You" is a popular song. It was written by Arthur Hammerstein and Dudley Wilkinson in 1940. It was used in the 1951 film I Was an American Spy....
" (recorded February 10, 1951, reaching No. 17), and "Woman" (recorded September 15, 1953, reaching No. 9). On September 24, 1953 he joined with Don Cornell
Don Cornell
Don Cornell was an American singer prominent mainly in the 1940s and 1950s noted for his smooth but robust baritone voice....
and Alan Dale
Alan Dale (singer)
Alan Dale was an American singer of traditional popular and rock and roll music.-Early life:He was born Aldo Sigismondi in the Brooklyn borough of New York...
to record "The Gang that Sang 'Heart of My Heart'," a No. 10 hit on the chart. During this time he was switching recording companies frequently. The 1946 recordings were made for RCA Victor, the 1949-51 recordings for MGM, and the 1953 recordings for Coral Records
Coral Records
Coral Records was a Decca Records subsidiary formed in 1949. It recorded pop artists McGuire Sisters and Teresa Brewer, as well as rock and roller Buddy Holly....
.
In the 1940s and 1950s, many artists would record the same song at about the same time, and some chart hits for Desmond were also major hits for other singers. Thus "Guilty
Guilty (1931 song)
"Guilty" is a popular song published in 1931. The music was written by Richard A. Whiting and Harry Akst. The lyrics were written by Gus Kahn....
" (No. 12 for Desmond) was an even bigger hit for Margaret Whiting
Margaret Whiting
Margaret Whiting was a singer of American popular music and country music who first made her reputation during the 1940s and 1950s.-Youth:...
, with a No. 4 position. "Because of You" (No. 17 for Desmond) was a No. 1 hit for Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
. "The High and the Mighty" (No. 17 for Desmond) was No. 4 for Les Baxter and his Orchestra. And the Desmond/Dale/Cornell version of "Heart of My Heart" reached No. 10, but the Four Aces
The Four Aces
The Four Aces is an American male traditional pop music quartet, popular since the 1950s. Over the last half-century, the group amassed many gold records. Its million-selling signature tunes include "Love is a Many-Splendored Thing", "Three Coins in the Fountain", "Stranger in Paradise", "Tell Me...
' version peaked at No. 7 on the charts.
In some cases, Desmond's version was the biggest hit. Teresa Brewer
Teresa Brewer
Teresa Brewer was an American pop singer whose style incorporated elements of country, jazz, R&B, musicals and novelty songs. She was one of the most prolific and popular female singers of the 1950s, recording nearly 600 songs. Born Theresa Breuer in Toledo, Ohio, Brewer died of a neuromuscular...
also recorded "The Picnic Song" but her version did not chart. "Woman" was recorded by José Ferrer
José Ferrer
José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón , best known as José Ferrer, was a Puerto Rican actor, as well as a theater and film director...
(back to back with a recording of "Man" by his wife, Rosemary Clooney
Rosemary Clooney
Rosemary Clooney was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the novelty hit "Come On-a My House" written by William Saroyan and his cousin Ross Bagdasarian , which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me" Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 –...
), but Desmond's was the bigger version in the US (though the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
favored the Ferrer recording). In addition, Desmond also recorded a number of versions of songs that did not chart but became hits for other singers: for example, "Mister and Mississippi
Mister and Mississippi
"Mister and Mississippi" is a popular song, written by Irving Gordon. It was published in 1951. The song was popularized by Patti Page. It was also recorded by Rex Allen, Dennis Day and Johnny Desmond....
" (a hit for Patti Page
Patti Page
Clara Ann Fowler , known by her professional name Patti Page, is an American singer, one of the best-known female artists in traditional pop music. She was the best-selling female artist of the 1950s, and has sold over 100 million records...
) and "Too Young
Too Young
"Too Young" is a popular song.The music was written by Sidney Lippman, the lyrics by Sylvia Dee. The song was published in 1951.In the United States, the best-known version of the song was recorded by Nat King Cole on February 6, 1951 and released by Capitol Records as catalog number 1449...
" (a hit for Nat King Cole
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
).
In 1957, Desmond joined Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
in a guest appearance on NBC's The Gisele MacKenzie Show
The Gisele MacKenzie Show
The Gisele MacKenzie Show in an American variety show hosted by Gisele MacKenzie. The series aired live on NBC from September 28, 1957, to March 29, 1958. The Curfew Kids appeared on the program as semi-regulars....
. In 1958, he was cast as a regular, Jim Kendall, in Joan Caulfield
Joan Caulfield
Joan Caulfield was an American actress and former fashion model. After being discovered by Broadway producers, she began a stage career in 1943 that eventually led to signing as an actress with Paramount Pictures....
's short-lived NBC sitcom, Sally
Sally (1957 TV series)
Sally is an American situation comedy which aired on NBC from September 15, 1957 to March 30, 1958. The series is the first filmed television series produced by Paramount Studios.-Synopsis:...
.
Later years
On BroadwayBroadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
, Desmond appeared in Say, Darling
Say, Darling
Say, Darling is a three-act comic play by Abe Burrows and Marian and Richard Bissell about the creation of a Broadway musical. Although the play featured nine original songs with lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Jule Styne, all of the songs were presented as either rehearsal or...
(1958) and as Nicky Arnstein
Nicky Arnstein
Julius W. "Nicky" Arnstein was an American businessman, professional gambler, and con artist. Among his aliases were "Nick Arnold," "Nicholas Arnold," "Julius Arnold," "Wallace Ames," "John Adams," and "J...
in Funny Girl, after Sydney Chaplin
Sydney Earle Chaplin
Sydney Earle Chaplin was a film and theatre actor.-Biography:The third son of Sir Charles Chaplin and the second by his second wife, Mexican-American actress Lita Grey, Sydney Chaplin was named after his uncle Sydney Chaplin .Lita Grey was 16 when she married the 35-year-old Charles Chaplin in 1924...
left the cast.
Desmond died of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
at the age of 65.
External references
- Susan Liddell's Johnny Desmond Fan site
- Article on Desmond on The Interlude Era websiteWebsiteA website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
- umkc.edu/lib/spec-col
