Vic Damone, 1928-2018

Vic Damone, 1928-2018.

Singer Vic Damone died on February 11^th at the age of 89. The sweet-voiced crooner was one of the many Italian-American pop singers who flourished in the 1940’s and 1950’s, like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Perry Como, Tony Bennett, Al Martino, Jerry Vale, and Bobby Darin. Damone’s hallmark as a singer was his beautiful, pure tone. I’ve always felt that Damone was somewhat underrated compared to the other great pop singers of his era, as he made a number of excellent recordings. 

Damone was probably the first male singer to be strongly influenced by Frank Sinatra. After leaving Tommy Dorsey in 1942 to begin a solo career, Sinatra popularized a strikingly intimate way of singing and phrasing in his recordings for the Columbia label. Damone was just 19 years old when he made his first record in 1947, “I Have but One Heart,” and his vocal sound was very similar to Sinatra’s. Frank famously said that Damone “has the best pipes in the business.” What’s also remarkable about “I Have but One Heart” is how good Damone was, even at such a young age. He brings a pure yearning to this love song. The song peaked at number 7 on the charts. Damone had numerous other hits during the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. Most of them are very good, although there are some clunkers—“Cincinnati Dancing Pig” is just as silly a song as you would think. 

In 1956, the year of Elvis Presley’s ascendance, Damone scored his last Top Ten pop hit, a beautiful version of “On the Street Where You Live,” from Lerner and Loewe’s then-recent hit Broadway show, My Fair Lady. “On the Street Where You Live” is probably the song most associated with Damone now. The arrangement of the song is unusual—it begins with the orchestra building to a crescendo, and then Damone starts singing, “Oh, the towering feeling, just to know somehow you are near,” which is from the middle of the song, before going into the beginning of the song, “I have often walked on this street before.” It’s a bold choice, and it works. Damone’s control of his vocal dynamics throughout the song is amazing. Damone goes from almost a whisper as he sings, “People stop and stare, they don’t bother me,” to full throated belting at the end. It’s a wonderful performance.

After his commercial peak came to an end, Damone continued to record excellent albums like Linger Awhile, and Stay with Me, his bossa nova album from 1966. While he had something of a stormy personal life and was married five times, Damone’s legacy as a great pop singer is what will be remembered by his fans.