Bobby Curtola, the original “teen idol” spent the day at JL Studios tracking vocals for his upcoming album. It was great pleasure to work with Bobby on the albums title track, "Coming Home", written by MacGregor/Graham/Curtola/Hill, and being recorded as a tribute to the Canadian Armed Forces. The single is due to be released in February on Breakin Records.
In the fall of 1959, sixteen-year-old high school student Bobby Curtola went from pumping gas at his father’s garage in Thunder Bay, Ontario, to the life of a Teenage Idol. Who would have known that within a year he would go from playing in his basement band “Bobby and the Bobcats” (who played Lakeview High Assemblies) to recording his first hit single “Hand In Hand With You.”
The “45” was recorded at a radio station in Thunder Bay and it was released in January 1960. By February it was sent to radio stations nation-wide, starting first in Winnipeg and then Halifax to the Rock’n’Roll DJ of the Maritimes, Frank Cameron at CHNS radio. Next it was sent to Regina, then Kingston, to DJ Brian Olney at CKWS radio and CFUN radio’s Red Robinson in Vancouver. Edmonton and Calgary stations were playing it next and it made its way into the Ottawa Valley ending up in Toronto in June. The response was immense and with his popularity mushrooming Bobby was making many promotional and professional appearances, one of the most significant was opening for the Bob Hope Show in March.
The charismatic Bobby, with his handsome boy next door looks was quickly finding himself within a whirlwind that we now refer to as “Curtolamania.” Everywhere he went there were throngs of teenage girls screaming...“Bobby, Bobby... We love you!”
Bobby set out on his first Western Canada Tour in the fall of 1960 with Edmonton’s famous DJ from CJCA radio, Barry Boyd and his band The Frantics. From there Bobby went on to become a trailblazer, establishing the first coast to coast tour circuit in Canada. Within the next year he was recording in Nashville with Bill Porter for RCA Studios, where he continued to record for many years.
Basil and Dyer Hurdon, Bobby’s first managers and songwriters can be credited for much of this early success.
The hit “Fortune Teller” was released in 1962 and was soon to be Gold in Canada. The now Rock’n’Roll Hall of Famer, Red Robinson, was instrumental in Fortune Teller’s success. Seeing its potential internationally, he sent it to Pat O’Day at Seattle’s KJR and Hawaii’s KPOI radio. The result was monumental. The Americans went crazy over it, especially since they couldn’t buy it; it wasn’t in the stores yet. A major US record deal was signed and Fortune Teller went on to become a 2.5 million seller internationally! Bobby now had everyone’s attention!...He was invited to tour with Dick Clark and his Cavalcade of Stars, the beginning of many tours that followed. While on tour in England that same year, Bobby met The Beatles and appeared on the famous British TV variety show “Thank Your Lucky Stars.”
In June of l964, Bobby was definitely in the right place at the right time. He became the first pop singer to record a jingle that sounded like a “Top 40 Hit Single,” the song was “Things Go Better with Coke.” He signed an exclusive contract with Coca-Cola to be their #1 Spokesman. Bobby, inspired by Coke and thinking of a spin off to “Things Go Better with Coke,” co-wrote “The Real Thing” which he used a version of for the commercial “Coke’s The Real Thing.”
Bobby made numerous appearances on network “Teen” TV shows like American Bandstand. His Hollywood debut was on Hullabaloo and Shindig, from southern California, then the world famous Wolf Man Jack Show and Don Webster’s show in Cleveland, Ohio. He later became the first recording artist to host not one, but two Network Canadian TV shows, After Four on CFTO Channel 9 in 1965 and 1966 and Shake, Rock and Roll on CTV in 1973. Bobby was also host to many of the Miss Canada and Miss Teen Canada Pageants.
The sixties, with hit after hit for Bobby, included 25 Canadian Gold singles and 12 Canadian Gold albums.
The year 1972 became a turning point for Bobby. He made the transition from “teen idol” to the “highest paid nightclub entertainer” in Canada and was ready for his debut in Las Vegas. Once there, he was an instant success! With his degree of professionalism and sheer showmanship he couldn’t help but impress the audiences and it wasn’t long before he was noticed. Walter Kane, who was in charge of hiring the entertainment for the Hughes Hotel chain, signed Bobby to a five year multi-million dollar contract making him the first Canadian entertainer to receive a long term contract in Las Vegas. Bobby continued a very successful career in Vegas for more than twenty years.
Courtesy of bobbycurtola.com
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