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63-559: Michael Anthony Orlando Cassavitis (born April 3, 1944) is an American pop / rock singer, songwriter, and music executive whose career spans nearly seven decades. He is best known for his work as part of Tony Orlando and Dawn . In 1993, he opened the Tony Orlando Yellow Ribbon Music Theatre in Branson, Missouri . He ended his act there in 2013 and has since continued to perform many live shows as

126-473: A chorus that contrasts melodically, rhythmically and harmonically with the verse . The beat and the melodies tend to be simple, with limited harmonic accompaniment. The lyrics of modern pop songs typically focus on simple themes – often love and romantic relationships – although there are notable exceptions. Harmony and chord progressions in pop music are often "that of classical European tonality , only more simple-minded." Clichés include

189-448: A $ 3,000 advance and sang lead vocals on a song called "Candida" as a favor for two producer friends. If the record failed, Orlando didn't want it to affect his reputation, so the producers, Hank Medress and Dave Appel used the pseudonym Dawn. The name was based on the daughter of label Vice President Steve Wax, in hopes of getting more promotion for the single. Orlando recorded " Candida " with backup singers including Toni Wine (who wrote

252-731: A Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree " (1973) and " He Don't Love You (Like I Love You) " (1975), a cover of the Jerry Butler hit, " He Will Break Your Heart ". With a successful recording career, Orlando then set his sights on television. As described in the San Francisco Chronicle , "Tony Orlando and Dawn burst out of television sets during the Ford administration , a sunny antidote to the dark cynicism that followed Watergate . He represented simple, traditional values,

315-460: A basic format (often the verse–chorus structure ), and rhythms or tempos that can be easily danced to. Much of pop music also borrows elements from other styles such as rock, urban , dance , Latin , and country . The terms popular music and pop music are often used interchangeably, although the former more accurately describes all music that is targeted for mass appeal (compare art music ) and includes many disparate styles. Although much of

378-448: A celebrity luncheon. Along with the fame, Orlando had personal battles in the 1970s. He was briefly addicted to cocaine , and battled both obesity and depression . In 1977, due to the death of his sister and the suicide of Orlando's close friend, comedian Freddie Prinze , Orlando had a breakdown and retired from singing. He was briefly institutionalized, but returned to television with an NBC comeback special. From then, he continued as

441-671: A conservative return to pure entertainment. He drew a happy face in the "O" of his autograph. It was not terribly cool, but America loved him." The Tony Orlando and Dawn show on CBS became a hit, a summer replacement for the Sonny & Cher show, and ran for three seasons from 1974 to 1976. It welcomed the biggest names in show business each week as Orlando's guests, including his boyhood idols, Jackie Gleason and Jerry Lewis . On October 12, 2015, with Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent Wilson present, Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters honored Orlando with their Art Gilmore Career Achievement Award at

504-470: A headliner, mostly in Las Vegas, Nevada . When his song "Candida" became an international number-one song, he began to use his name in the group becoming "Dawn featuring Tony Orlando" and then "Tony Orlando and Dawn". The group had 19 other top 40 tracks, including " Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree ", the top-selling hit of 1973 and one of the biggest selling singles of all time. The group also had

567-403: A hit variety program, The Tony Orlando and Dawn Show on CBS from 1974 to 1976. They then broke-up in 1977, after which he has performed as Tony Orlando. Orlando retired from performing on the road, in concert in 2024, after sixty-four years. He shifted his focus to movies, Broadway, streaming new product, and writing his next book. Michael Anthony Orlando Cassavitis was born on April 3, 1944,

630-399: A light entertainment and easy listening tradition. Pop music is more conservative than other music genres such as folk, blues, country, and tradition. Many pop songs do not contain themes of resistance, opposition, or politics, rather focusing more on love and relationships. Therefore, pop music does not challenge its audiences socially, and does not cause political activism. Frith also said

693-498: A pop song is to them, songs from the 1960s turned out to be the most memorable, significantly more than songs from recent years 2000 to 2015. Before the progressive pop of the late 1960s, performers were typically unable to decide on the artistic content of their music. Assisted by the mid-1960s economic boom, record labels began investing in artists, giving them the freedom to experiment, and offering them limited control over their content and marketing. This situation declined after

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756-553: A recorded version was released on their 2013 album On Air – Live at the BBC Volume 2 . Orlando continued as a solo artist and also became a producer himself, as well as a successful music executive in the late 1960s. Orlando was associated with Columbia Records publishing subsidiary April-Blackwood Music. By the late 1960s, Orlando had worked his way up to vice president of a larger publishing company, CBS Music, where he signed, co-wrote with, and produced Barry Manilow (under

819-460: A separation which was "also, broadly, one between boys and girls, middle-class and working-class." The latter half of the 20th century included a large-scale trend in American culture in which the boundaries between art and pop music were increasingly blurred. Between 1950 and 1970, there was a debate of pop versus art. Since then, certain music publications have embraced the music's legitimacy,

882-637: A solo artist, charting with two singles – the dance hit "Don't Let Go" in 1978 and " Sweets for My Sweet " in 1979. In the 1980s, he was a dominant force in Las Vegas, headlining various hotels with sold-out audiences. Orlando continued primarily as a solo singer, performing on tour and regularly in Las Vegas and Branson, Missouri . He hosted the New York City portions of the MDA Labor Day Telethon on WNEW/ WNYW and WWOR-TV from

945-416: A tendency to reflect existing trends rather than progressive developments ; and seeks to encourage dancing or uses dance-oriented rhythms. The main medium of pop music is the song, often between two and a half and three and a half minutes in length, generally marked by a consistent and noticeable rhythmic element , a mainstream style and a simple traditional structure . The structure of many popular songs

1008-475: A thriving pop music industry, most of which is devoted to Western-style pop. Japan has for several years produced a greater quantity of music than everywhere except the US. The spread of Western-style pop music has been interpreted variously as representing processes of Americanization, homogenization , modernization, creative appropriation, cultural imperialism , or a more general process of globalization . One of

1071-488: A trend referred to as " poptimism ". Throughout its development, pop music has absorbed influences from other genres of popular music. Early pop music drew on traditional pop , an American counterpart to German Schlager and French Chanson , however compared to the pop of European countries, traditional pop originally emphasized influences ranging from Tin Pan Alley songwriting, Broadway theatre , and show tunes . As

1134-533: A wide audience [...] since the late 1950s, however, pop has had the special meaning of non-classical mus[ic], usually in the form of songs, performed by such artists as The Beatles , The Rolling Stones , ABBA , etc." Grove Music Online also states that "[...] in the early 1960s, [the term] 'pop music' competed terminologically with beat music [in England], while in the US its coverage overlapped (as it still does) with that of 'rock and roll'". From about 1967,

1197-417: Is "designed to appeal to everyone" but "doesn't come from any particular place or mark off any particular taste". Frith adds that it is "not driven by any significant ambition except profit and commercial reward [...] and, in musical terms, it is essentially conservative". It is, "provided from on high (by record companies, radio programmers, and concert promoters) rather than being made from below (...) Pop

1260-425: Is all the collective clubs around the world. Radio is just doing its best to keep up." Songs that talked of escapism through partying became the most popular, influenced by the impulse to forget the economic troubles that had taken over the world after the 2008 crash . Throughout the 2010s, a lot of pop music also began to take cues from Alternative pop . Popularized by artists such as Lana Del Rey and Lorde in

1323-526: Is just the singles charts and not the sum of all chart music. The music charts contain songs from a variety of sources, including classical , jazz , rock , and novelty songs . As a genre, pop music is seen to exist and develop separately. Therefore, the term "pop music" may be used to describe a distinct genre, designed to appeal to all, often characterized as "instant singles-based music aimed at teenagers" in contrast to rock music as "album-based music for adults". Pop music continuously evolves along with

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1386-597: Is largely the story of the intertwining pop culture of the United States and the United Kingdom in the postwar era.  — Bob Stanley According to Grove Music Online , "Western-derived pop styles, whether coexisting with or marginalizing distinctively local genres, have spread throughout the world and have come to constitute stylistic common denominators in global commercial music cultures". Some non-Western countries, such as Japan, have developed

1449-479: Is not a do-it-yourself music but is professionally produced and packaged". According to Frith, characteristics of pop music include an aim of appealing to a general audience, rather than to a particular sub-culture or ideology, and an emphasis on craftsmanship rather than formal "artistic" qualities. Besides, Frith also offers three identifying characteristics of pop music: light entertainment, commercial imperatives, and personal identification. Pop music grew out of

1512-430: Is that of a verse and a chorus, the chorus serving as the portion of the track that is designed to stick in the ear through simple repetition both musically and lyrically. The chorus is often where the music builds towards and is often preceded by "the drop" where the bass and drum parts "drop out". Common variants include the verse-chorus form and the thirty-two-bar form , with a focus on melodies and catchy hooks , and

1575-434: The barbershop quartet-style harmony (i.e. ii – V – I) and blues scale -influenced harmony. There was a lessening of the influence of traditional views of the circle of fifths between the mid-1950s and the late 1970s, including less predominance for the dominant function . In October 2023, Billboard compiled a list of "the 500 best pop songs". In doing so, they noted the difficulty of defining "pop songs": One of

1638-593: The 1980s to 2011, leaving in response to Jerry Lewis ' firing from the Muscular Dystrophy Association . In 2020, Orlando began hosting a Saturday night oldies program for WABC Radio as the New York City station partially restored its music format. Orlando retired from performing on the road, in concert in 2024, after sixty-four years. Hopkins and Wilson joined him on stage. He shifted his focus to movies, Broadway, streaming new product, and writing his next book. Orlando's first TV appearance

1701-590: The 40th Anniversary at the NAM-POW's Homecoming Celebration at the Richard M. Nixon Presidential Library in 2014. Albums Solo singles 39. Tony Orlando Legendary Singer & Hitmaker ‘Up Close & Personal’ Zoom Special Event on Interviewing the Legends with Ray Shasho Pop music Identifying factors of pop music usually include repeated choruses and hooks , short to medium-length songs written in

1764-435: The American and (from the mid-1960s) British music industries , whose influence has made pop music something of an international monoculture, but most regions and countries have their own form of pop music, sometimes producing local versions of wider trends, and lending them local characteristics. Some of these trends (for example Europop ) have had a significant impact on the development of the genre. The story of pop music

1827-643: The Hot 100: "Chills" in 1962, "Shirley" and " I'll Be There " in 1963, and "I Was A Boy (When You Needed A Man)" as by Billy Shields in April 1969. Gerry Goffin and Jack Keller wrote a doo-wop version of Stephen Foster 's song " Beautiful Dreamer " for Orlando. Released as a single in 1962, the song was picked up by the Beatles who included it in their set lists on the Beatles Winter 1963 Helen Shapiro Tour ;

1890-655: The Jukebox Artist of the Year Award from the Amusement and Music Owners Association of New York, The Ellis Island Medal of Honor, and has also been bestowed with The Bob Hope Award for excellence in entertainment from the Congressional Medal of Honor Society in honor of his efforts on behalf of United States veterans. His work on behalf of American veterans led to his being named Honorary Chairman at

1953-540: The Shondells in the 1960s. Gentry was born in New York City . In the early 1960s, he worked as a songwriter and producer at Kama Sutra Records . After leaving the company following a disagreement with its owner Artie Ripp , he had successes as a songwriter working with Ritchie Cordell . These included " I Think We're Alone Now " (written with Cordell, though Gentry was not credited as co-writer because he

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2016-492: The birth of the modern pop music industry, including in country , blues , and hillbilly music . According to the website of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians , the term "pop music" "originated in Britain in the mid-1950s as a description for rock and roll and the new youth music styles that it influenced". The Oxford Dictionary of Music states that while pop's "earlier meaning meant concerts appealing to

2079-882: The board of directors for the Eisenhower Foundation , as well as honorary chairman of Snowball Express, an organization that serves the children of fallen military heroes. He hosts the annual Congressional Medal of Honor dinner in Dallas . He has served as the master of ceremonies at the Secretary of Defense Freedom Awards at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. Orlando was introduced by Jerry Lee Lewis to his future wife, Elaine, who had previously dated Buddy Holly . Tony and Elaine married in 1965, and had one child, Jon; they divorced in 1984. Five years later, Orlando

2142-775: The decade, it was common for pop producers, songwriters, and engineers to freely experiment with musical form, orchestration , unnatural reverb , and other sound effects. Some of the best known examples are Phil Spector 's Wall of Sound and Joe Meek 's use of homemade electronic sound effects for acts like the Tornados . At the same time, pop music on radio and in both American and British film moved away from refined Tin Pan Alley to more eccentric songwriting and incorporated reverb-drenched electric guitar, symphonic strings, and horns played by groups of properly arranged and rehearsed studio musicians. A 2019 study held by New York University in which 643 participants had to rank how familiar

2205-402: The early 2010s and later inspiring other highly influential artists including Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift , it gave space to a more sad and moody tone within pop music. Bo Gentry Robert Allan Ackoff (May 30, 1942 – June 30, 1983), known professionally as Bo Gentry , was an American pop singer, songwriter and record producer, most noted for his work with Tommy James and

2268-578: The genre evolved more influences ranging from classical , folk , rock , country , electronic music , and other popular genres became more prominent. In 2016, a Scientific Reports study that examined over 464,000 recordings of popular music recorded between 1955 and 2010 found that, compared to 1960s pop music, contemporary pop music uses a smaller variety of pitch progressions, greater average volume, less diverse instrumentation and recording techniques, and less timbral variety. Scientific American ' s John Matson reported that this "seems to support

2331-409: The home. By the early 1980s, the promotion of pop music had been greatly affected by the rise of music television channels like MTV , which "favoured those artists such as Michael Jackson and Madonna who had a strong visual appeal". Multi-track recording (from the 1960s) and digital sampling (from the 1980s) have also been used as methods for the creation and elaboration of pop music. During

2394-553: The judge to give the defense jail for life. In another television program, Orlando was featured in " Larry the Cable Guy 's Star Studded Christmas Extravaganza". He appeared in That's My Boy as Steve Spirou, a Happy Madison production starring Adam Sandler in 2012. Orlando is a longtime advocate for U.S. military veterans and "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" has become an anthem for service members. Orlando serves on

2457-414: The late 1970s and would not reemerge until the rise of Internet stars. Indie pop , which developed in the late 1970s, marked another departure from the glamour of contemporary pop music, with guitar bands formed on the then-novel premise that one could record and release their own music without having to procure a record contract from a major label. The 1980s are commonly remembered for an increase in

2520-401: The late 20th century that became global superstars include Whitney Houston , Michael Jackson , Madonna , George Michael , and Prince . At the beginning of the 2000s, the trends that dominated during the late 1990s still continued, but the music industry started to change as people began to download music from the internet. People were able to discover genres and artists that were outside of

2583-501: The main purpose of pop music is to create revenue. It is not a medium of free articulation of the people. Instead, pop music seeks to supply the nature of personal desire and achieve the instant empathy with cliche personalities, stereotypes, and melodrama that appeals to listeners. It is mostly about how much revenue pop music makes for record companies. Music scholar Timothy Warner said pop music typically has an emphasis on recording, production, and technology, rather than live performance;

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2646-514: The mainstream and propel them to fame, but at the same time smaller artists had a harder time making a living because their music was being pirated. Popular artists were Avril Lavigne , Justin Timberlake , NSYNC , Christina Aguilera , Destiny's Child , and Britney Spears . Pop music often came from many different genres, with each genre in turn influencing the next one, blurring the lines between them and making them less distinct. This change

2709-448: The manner in which pop has been disseminated", which helped to move pop music to "a record/radio/film star system". Another technological change was the widespread availability of television in the 1950s with televised performances, which meant that "pop stars had to have a visual presence". In the 1960s, the introduction of inexpensive, portable transistor radios meant that teenagers in the developed world could listen to music outside of

2772-403: The mid-1960s, pop music made repeated forays into new sounds, styles, and techniques that inspired public discourse among its listeners. The word "progressive" was frequently used, and it was thought that every song and single was to be a "progression" from the last. Music critic Simon Reynolds writes that beginning with 1967, a divide would exist between "progressive" pop and "mass/chart" pop,

2835-421: The music that appears on record charts is considered to be pop music, the genre is distinguished from chart music . David Hatch and Stephen Millward describe pop music as "a body of music which is distinguishable from popular, jazz, and folk music". David Boyle, a music researcher, states pop music as any type of music that a person has been exposed to by the mass media. Most individuals think that pop music

2898-451: The name "Featherbed"). He also worked with other artists, such as The Yardbirds ; James Taylor ; Grateful Dead ; Blood, Sweat & Tears ; Barry Manilow , and Laura Nyro . In the summer of 1969, he recorded with the studio group Wind and had a #28 hit that year with "Make Believe" on producer Bo Gentry 's Life Records. Orlando was experiencing success, primarily as a music executive, and Davis pretended not to notice when Orlando accepted

2961-554: The office until they changed their name to Simon and Garfunkel . Kirshner also hired Orlando to record songwriter demos as a solo artist, and his first success came at the age of 16 when he charted in North America and UK with the hits " Bless You " and " Halfway To Paradise ". He also appeared at the Brooklyn Paramount Theater with DJ Murray the K . Orlando also had four records that "Bubbled Under"

3024-802: The pop music styles that developed alongside other music styles is Latin pop , which rose in popularity in the US during the 1950s with early rock and roll success Ritchie Valens . Later, Los Lobos and Chicano rock gained in popularity during the 1970s and 1980s, and musician Selena saw large-scale popularity in the 1980s and 1990s, along with crossover appeal with fans of Tejano musicians Lydia Mendoza and Little Joe . With later Hispanic and Latino Americans seeing success within pop music charts, 1990s pop successes stayed popular in both their original genres and in broader pop music. Latin pop hit singles, such as " Macarena " by Los del Río and " Despacito " by Luis Fonsi , have seen record-breaking success on worldwide pop music charts. Notable pop artists of

3087-400: The popular anecdotal observation that pop music of yore was "better", or at least more varied, than today's top-40 stuff". However, he also noted that the study may not have been entirely representative of pop in each generation. In the 1960s, the majority of mainstream pop music fell in two categories: guitar, drum and bass groups or singers backed by a traditional orchestra. Since early in

3150-503: The reasons pop can be hard to summarize is because there’s no real sonic or musical definition to it. There are common elements to a lot of the biggest pop songs, but at the end of the day, "pop" means "popular" first and foremost, and just about any song that becomes popular enough...can be considered a pop song. In the 1940s, improved microphone design allowed a more intimate singing style and, ten or twenty years later, inexpensive and more durable 45 rpm records for singles "revolutionized

3213-505: The same name. He recorded several singles with Cordell in the late 1960s. Gentry also co-wrote (with Kenny Laguna and Paul Naumann) the UK instrumental hit " Groovin' With Mr. Bloe ", and (with Tony Lordi) Gene Pitney 's " Shady Lady ". "Mony Mony" was also a US number one hit in 1987 for Billy Idol . Bo Gentry died intestate in 1983. His mother, as his next of kin, took legal action in 2002 and later to recover money that she claimed

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3276-737: The son of a Greek father and a Puerto Rican mother. He spent his earliest years in Chelsea, Manhattan on West 21st Street, New York City. In his teenage years, the family moved to Union City, New Jersey , and later Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey . Orlando's musical career started with The Five Gents, a doo-wop group he formed in 1959 at age 15, with whom he recorded demo tapes. He got the attention of music publisher and producer Don Kirshner , who hired him to write songs in an office across from New York's Brill Building , along with Carole King , Neil Sedaka , Toni Wine , Barry Mann , Bobby Darin , Connie Francis , and Tom and Jerry , who didn't make it in

3339-403: The song) and Linda November . Concerned about a possible conflict of interest with his April-Blackwood duties, Orlando sang under the condition that his name not be associated with the project, so it was released under the simple name of "Dawn", the middle name of the daughter of Bell records executive Steve Wax. "Candida" became a worldwide hit in 1970, reaching number one in five countries, and

3402-399: The term "pop music" was increasingly used in opposition to the term rock music, a division that gave generic significance to both terms. While rock aspired to authenticity and an expansion of the possibilities of popular music, pop was more commercial, ephemeral, and accessible. According to British musicologist Simon Frith , pop music is produced "as a matter of enterprise not art", and

3465-419: The term's definition. According to music writer Bill Lamb, popular music is defined as "the music since industrialization in the 1800s that is most in line with the tastes and interests of the urban middle class." The term "pop song" was first used in 1926, in the sense of a piece of music "having popular appeal". Hatch and Millward indicate that many events in the history of recording in the 1920s can be seen as

3528-414: The title role of Barnum , replacing Jim Dale , who was on a three-week vacation. In 2003, Orlando had a recurring role in the children's animated series Oswald , in which he did the voice of "Sammy Starfish". Orlando appeared in an episode of MADtv doing a sketch involving a court case, where the defense sings to persuade the jury about their side. He sang for the prosecution, thereby persuading

3591-560: The top ten in many others, including number three in the United States. Dawn, with Wine and November again singing backup, recorded another song, " Knock Three Times ", which itself became a #1 hit. Orlando then wanted to go on tour, and asked two other session singers, Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent Wilson to join for the tour. Orlando then discovered that there were six touring groups using that name, so Dawn became "Dawn featuring Tony Orlando", which changed to Tony Orlando and Dawn in 1973. The new group recorded more hits, including " Tie

3654-629: The use of digital recording , associated with the usage of synthesizers , with synth-pop music and other electronic genres featuring non-traditional instruments increasing in popularity. By 2014, pop music worldwide had been permeated by electronic dance music . In 2018, researchers at the University of California, Irvine , concluded that pop music has become 'sadder' since the 1980s. The elements of happiness and brightness have eventually been replaced with electronic beats making pop music more 'sad yet danceable'. Pop music has been dominated by

3717-805: Was "brought up with the Lord as my Savior"; but after a self-destructive period following his professional success with Dawn, he became a born-again Christian in 1978. In 1990, Orlando received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6385 Hollywood Blvd. He has won the Casino Entertainer of the Year Award, the Best All Around Entertainer – Las Vegas four times, and, prior to that, three times in Atlantic City,

3780-420: Was engaged to Francine Amormino, whom he married on April 29, 1990. The couple remained married as of 2021; they have one child. On February 27, 2013, his mother, Ruth Schroeder of Hollister, Missouri , died in Branson, Missouri of a diabetic stroke. In 2002, he wrote a memoir, Halfway to Paradise with Patsi Bale Cox. Orlando was interviewed on The 700 Club explaining that he was raised Catholic and

3843-457: Was epitomized in Spears' highly influential 2007 album Blackout , which under the influence of producer Danja , mixed the sounds of EDM , avant-funk , R&B , dance music , and hip hop . By 2010, pop music impacted by dance music came to be dominant on the charts. Instead of radio setting the trends, it was now the club. At the beginning of the 2010s, Will.i.am stated, "The new bubble

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3906-511: Was in 1976 on the series Chico and the Man as "Tomas Garcia". Orlando starred in the 1981 TV movie 300 Miles For Stephanie , playing a police officer who promises to walk over 300 miles to a sanctuary in order to obtain God's help to cure Stephanie, his gravely ill daughter. Others in the cast included Edward James Olmos , Pepe Serna and Julie Carmen . In May 1981, Orlando appeared on Broadway in

3969-409: Was still contracted to Kama Sutra); " Mirage " (co-written with Cordell), " Mony Mony " (co-written with Cordell, Bobby Bloom , and Tommy James ) and " Indian Giver " (co-written with Cordell and Bloom), a hit for the 1910 Fruitgum Company . With Cordell he co-produced (and according to some credits co-wrote) Tommy James and the Shondells' hit version of " I Think We're Alone Now ", and the album of

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