Singer. Died aged 76.
Alan Dale was the first person to have a hit record with a cha-cha and possibly the first to record a Burt Bacharach song. He was also the star of a key rock'n'roll film, Don't Knock the Rock (1957), a follow-up to Rock Around The Clock.
Aldo
Sigismondi, born in New York, changed his name to Alan Dale following a tradition of Italians, or Americans of Italian extraction, in popular music: Pierino Como (Perry Como), Alfred Cini (Al Martino), Antonio Benedetto (Tony Bennett) and Vito Farinola (Vic Damone).
Dale began as a balladeer with the orchestras of Carmen Cavallaro and Ray Bloch. With Bloch, he had his first hits Kate (Have I Come Too Early Too Late) and a revival of Darktown Strutters Ball in 1948. His own television series, The Alan Dale Show, became popular when it transferred to CBS in 1950.
He tried but failed to repeat his hit parade success by recording popular songs of the day: The Birds and the Bees, Volare and the theme from the TV series Robin Hood. From then on, he struggled for a profile but made a good living performing in nightclubs until the 1990s.
- INDEPENDENT
