DANNY VALENTINO

Born Vincent Pacimeo, 19 February 1941, Flushing, New York

Not much is known about Danny Valentino. He made three singles for MGM in 1959-60 and apparently never recorded after that. The first of these three 45s is "Stampede"/ "Music Man", both sides from the pens of Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, and released in the autumn of 1959, not only in the US, but also in the UK - surprisingly, all his three singles were issued in the United Kingdom - and Holland and several other European countries, I suppose. "Stampede" is an excellent rocker, which got quite a bit of airplay at the time, and sufficient reason for Danny's inclusion in this feature. However, "Stampede" was not his biggest seller. The follow-up, the far more poppy "Biology", sold in sufficient quantities to spend two weeks on the Billboard Top 100, peaking at # 95 in June 1960. One more single followed, "Pictures From the Past" (which I have not heard), before Valentino disappeared from view. All MGM recordings were done in New York City and arranged and conducted by Ray Ellis. According to someone on the Spectropop mailing list, Valentino was a cousin of Connie Francis and Connie's song "Valentino" had something to do with him. I can't take this very seriously, though.

Discography: - (1959) MGM 12835 Stampede / (You Gotta Be A) Music Man UK : MGM 1049, Holland MGM HK 5005.DANNY VALENTINO - (1960) MGM 12881 Biology / A Million Tears (UK : MGM 1067)DANNY VALENTINO - (1960) MGM 12952 Pictures From thr Past / Till the End Of Forever (UK : MGM 1109, Finland MGM 10007).

As far as I know, "Stampede" has not been reissued on CD. In the 1970s it was included on the first Wendi LP (001, Australia), "Hey Baby, Let's Go Downtown".

An LP has been released in Argentina which has Danny's name on the cover : "Danny Valentino : Para Bailar En Blue Jeans" (MGM 85006). This turns out to be a reissue of a compilation LP "MGM Hits With A Beat, Vol. 1" (MGM E 3826), which includes "Music Man". That's about all I could find, folks! If someone has more information, I'd be glad to hear it.

(With thanks to Tapio.)

Dik