Legends of Stardom: A Night with Tony Orlando

About this episode

Gianni and Jeanie interview Tony Orlando, who shares personal stories and insights from his career and connections in the entertainment industry.

Gianni and Jeanie interview Tony Orlando, who recounts knowing Russo since around 1980 and praises Russo’s legendary storytelling and Las Vegas speakeasy era. Russo shares stories from his youth, including selling ballpoint pens after polio and meeting Frank Costello, plus his real-estate connection to O.J. Simpson’s Rockingham house. Orlando and Russo discuss shared connections to John Catsimatidis and the Copacabana, where Orlando says his uncle Carmine Fava was maitre d’ and where Orlando witnessed performers while underage. Orlando tells personal stories involving Crazy Joe Gallo (including being invited to Gallo’s home and seeing a pet lion), his early hit at 16 (“Halfway to Paradise” written by Carole King), and friendships with major entertainers. Orlando describes working at CBS with Clive Davis as a vice president, signing artists like Barry Manilow, and later achieving major success with Tony Orlando and Dawn, including “Tie a Yellow Ribbon,” a TV show watched by 36 million weekly, and a Phyllis Diller on-air moment where her wig came off. He shares multiple Frank Sinatra anecdotes, including Sinatra correcting his diction, recording “Tie a Yellow Ribbon” for John…

People in this episode

Hosts: Jeanie, Gianni Russo

Guest: Tony Orlando

Topics covered

• interview
• entertainment
• storytelling
• music history
• Las Vegas
• celebrity anecdotes

Keywords

• Tony Orlando
• Gianni Russo
• Las Vegas
• music
• storytelling
• Frank Sinatra
• Crazy Joe Gallo
• entertainment

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Tie a Yellow Ribbon, Halfway to Paradise

Places: Las Vegas, Copacabana, Caesars Palace

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