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Stanley Robert Vinton (born April 16, 1935) is an American singer and actor, who hosted his own self-titled TV show in the late 1970s. As a teen idol, he became known as "The Polish Prince", as his music paid tribute to his Polish heritage. One of his most popular songs is "Blue Velvet" (a cover of the 1951 song recorded by Tony Bennett) which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1963, No. 1 in Canada (5 weeks), and number 2 in the UK in 1990.
At 16, Vinton formed his first musical ensemble, which played clubs around the Pittsburgh area. With the money he earned, he helped finance his college education at Duquesne University, where he 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, , and oboe. When Vinton became an active musician, it was common for people to become confused with the bands of father and son, for both were named Stanley. Vinton's father suggested his son use his middle name of Robert professionally to clear up the confusion.
Vinton's birthplace of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, is also the birthplace of Perry Como. Vinton's hometown named two streets, Bobby Vinton Boulevard and the shorter adjoining Bobby Vinton Drive, in his honor. These streets were built in the late 1970s; prior attempts to name a residential street after him failed. The residents had not cared for the singer always claiming Pittsburgh as his home town on TV interviews. Como always claimed Canonsburg as his hometown, so hundreds of people changed their address when the town renamed a street in the east end after Perry Como. The Canonsburg town fathers had plans to erect a statue in Vinton's honour, but Vinton himself vetoed the idea, noting that the $100,000 planned cost could go to far more important town needs.
Arguably, Vinton's most famous song is 1963's "Blue Velvet", originally a minor hit for Tony Bennett in 1951, that also spent three weeks at the number one positions in Billboard, Cash Box, and Record World magazines. In 1986, 23 years later, David Lynch named his movie Blue Velvet after the song. In 1990, "Blue Velvet" reached number 2 on the UK Singles Chart, after being featured in a Nivea commercial. The 1990 reissue also hit number 3 in the Irish Singles Chart and number 7 in Australia.
In 1964, Vinton had two number 1 hits, "There! I've Said It Again" (a number 1 hit in 1945 for Vaughn Monroe) in January and "Mr. Lonely" in December. Vinton's version of "There! I've Said It Again" is noteworthy for being the last U.S. Billboard number-one single of the pre-Beatles era, deposed from the Hot 100 summit by "I Want to Hold Your Hand". Also noteworthy is the fact that Vinton continued to have big hit records during the British Invasion, scoring 16 top-ten hits, while Connie Francis, Ricky Nelson, the Shirelles, and other major artists of the early 1960s struggled to reach even the Top 40. Vinton wrote and composed "Mr. Lonely" during his chaplain's assistant service in the U.S. Army in the late 1950s. The song was recorded during the same 1962 session that produced "Roses Are Red (My Love)", and the two songs launched Vinton's singing career. It was released as an album track on the 1962 Roses Are Red (and other songs for the young & sentimental) LP. Despite pressure from Vinton to release it as a single, Epic instead had Buddy Greco release it and it flopped. Two years and millions of records sold later, Bobby prevailed on Epic to include "Mr. Lonely" on his Bobby Vinton's Greatest Hits LP. Soon DJs picked up on the song and airplay resulted in demand for a single release. "Mr. Lonely" shot up the charts in the late fall of 1964 to reach number 1 on the Hot 100 on December 12, 1964. Epic then released the LP Bobby Vinton Mr. Lonely; the song had now appeared on three Bobby Vinton albums released within two years. The song continued to spin gold for Vinton, its author-composer, in the 50+ years to date since reaching number 1; Harmony Korine named his 2007 film Mister Lonely after the latter and features the song in the film's opening, and it was also the basis for Akon's 2005 hit, "Lonely".
In 1965, Vinton continued his "Lonely" success streak with the self-written "L-O-N-E-L-Y". "Long Lonely Nights" peaked at number 17 and spawned an album, Bobby Vinton Sings for Lonely Nights. Vinton's self-written 1966 hit "Coming Home Soldier" hit No. 11 on the Hot 100 and was a favorite on request shows on the American Forces Network during the Cold War and Vietnam War era, often called in by soldiers about to board the Freedom Bird that would take them back to the "Land of the Round Doorknobs". Vinton's lush 1967 remake of "Please Love Me Forever", which reached number 6 and sold over a million copies, began a string of twelve consecutive Hot 100 hits, all remakes, over a little less than five and a half years. His 1968 hit "I Love How You Love Me" surged to number 9, sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold record by the RIAA.
Undeterred, Vinton spent $50,000 of his own money on "My Melody of Love", partially self-written and partially sung in Polish language. The suggestion for the song came from Vinton's mother. After six major labels turned Vinton down, Lindy Blaskey, Managing Director of A&R at ABC/Dunhill Records, bought Vinton's idea, and the result was a multi-million-selling single of simple lyrics that hit number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 2 on the Cashbox Top 100 chart, and number 1 on the AC chart in 1974. A gold album, Melodies of Love, followed as well as one final Top 40 pop hit (the traditional "Beer Barrel Polka", also sung partially in Polish, b/w "Dick And Jane" in 1975). Vinton went on to record an additional four albums for ABC Records, three of which hit the Billboard Hot 200 albums chart. Epic Records rediscovered Vinton in the wake of his newfound success, releasing two albums of previously recorded material, both of which hit the top album charts. In addition, in a throwback to his career start in the 1950s, his two albums on Ahed were released in Canada. Party Music (1976) went platinum and 100 Memories (1979) was successful. In 1975, Vinton exploded onto televisions across the United States and Canada with a successful half-hour variety show, The Bobby Vinton Show, which aired from 1975 to 1978 and of which "My Melody of Love" was the theme song; ABC Records subsequently released an album of songs performed on the show.
In 1978, Vinton wrote his autobiography, titled The Polish Prince, which became a bestseller. In the same year, CBS-TV aired Bobby Vinton's Rock N' Rollers, a one-hour special that achieved top ratings.
Billboard Magazine called Bobby Vinton "the all-time most successful love singer of the 'Rock-Era'". From 1962 to 1972, Vinton had had more Billboard number 1 hits than any other male vocalist, including Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra. In recognition of his recording career, Vinton was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located at 6916 Hollywood Blvd.
Vinton's alma mater, Duquesne University, awarded him an honorary doctorate in music in 1978.
| also theme song ("If I Were an Artist") |
| Episode: "Patty and the Newspaper Game" |
| Voice only |
| Voice only |
| Television film |
| Episode: "Chance of a Lifetime" |
| season 6 episode 17 "Solid Gold" |
| Episode: "Leaving Orlando: Part 1" |
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