Prominent Poles
Bobby Vinton (born Stanley Robert Vintula , Jr., nickname: The Polish Prince), Polish- American pop music singer, honored in Hollywood Walk of Fame
Born: April 16, 1935, Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania, USA
Early days. He was the only child of a locally popular bandleader, Stan Vinton (Stanley Vintula, Sr.. Original name probably Wintula) and of Dorothy Vintula. At 16, Vinton formed his first band, which played clubs around the Pittsburgh area. With the money he earned, Vinton helped finance his college education at Duquesne University, where he studied music and graduated with a degree in musical composition. While at Duquesne, he became proficient on all of the instruments in the band: piano, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, drums and oboe.
Professional career. After a brief spell in the US Army, Vinton was signed to Epic Records in 1960 as a bandleader: "A Young Man With a Big Band." Two albums and several singles were not successful however, and with Epic ready to pull the plug, Vinton found his first hit single literally sitting in a reject pile. The song was titled "Roses Are Red (My Love)." It spent four weeks at No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Arguably, his most famous song is 1963's "Blue Velvet" that also went to No.1. 23 years later, David Lynch named his movie Blue Velvet after the song. In 1964, Vinton had two #1 hits, "There! I've Said It Again" and "Mr. Lonely", the latter now being the basis for Akon's hit "Lonely." In the 1970s, the "Polish Prince" continued to hit the Top 40, notably with "Ev'ry Day of My Life" and "Sealed With a Kiss" in 1972. That same year, Epic Records decided to end its relationship with Vinton and ended his recording contract. Undeterred, Vinton spent $50,000 of his own money on a self-written song sung partially in Polish: "My Melody of Love." This hit record led the way for "The Bobby Vinton Show" (which aired from 1975 to 1978) and for Bobby and his family to be invited to the White House. Bobby was named an Ambassador to Poland and traveled to Poland to perform. He also starred in two John Wayne movies: Big Jake and The Train Robbers. In the course of his career, Vinton has sold over 75 million records (singles, albums, compilation inclusions, etc) and is still performing on tour. He owned and performed at the Bobby Vinton Blue Velvet Theatre in Branson, Missouri until 2002 when the theatre was sold to David King, creator and producer of Spirit of the Dance. Vinton returns to Branson annually for limited engagements at the theater. Billboard Magazine called Bobby Vinton "the all-time most successful love singer of the 'Rock-Era'". From 1962-1972, the 10 years following Vinton's first hit, he had more #1 hits than any other male vocalist. In recognition of his recording career, Bobby Vinton has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6916 Hollywood Blvd. Vinton has been married since December 17, 1962 to his wife, Dolly, and they have five children--three daughters and two sons. His son, Robbie Vinton, played Vinton in the movie Goodfellas (1990). Vinton's version of "There! I've Said It Again" is noteworthy for being the final US Billboard number one single of the pre-Beatles era; it was deposed from the top of the Hot 100 by "I Want to Hold Your Hand." Also noteworthy is the fact that Vinton continued to have big hit records during the British Invasion, while Connie Francis, Ricky Nelson, the Shirelles and other major artists of the early 1960s struggled to reach even the top 30. Recently he co-hosted, with June Chandler, of an infomercial for the "Lifetime of Romance" music collection.
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Bobby Vinton homepage (with fragments of his songs)
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