Al Alberts
Encyclopedia
Al Alberts was a popular
singer and composer
.
, he went to South Philadelphia High School
, whose alumni included many others who would become famous in show business, such as Joey Bishop
, Buddy Greco
, Al Martino
, Mario Lanza
, Chubby Checker
, Jack Klugman
, Eddie Fisher
, Marian Anderson
, Frankie Avalon
, Charlie Gracie
and Fabian
. As a teenager, he appeared on the Horn and Hardart Children's Hour, a radio
program.
After graduating from South Philadelphia High, he went to Temple University
and the United States Navy
, where he met Dave Mahoney. They went on to found The Four Aces
.
The Four Aces recorded the song "Three Coins in the Fountain
", written by Jule Styne
for the film of the same name
. The song hit the #1 bestselling record twice in 1954, and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song
the same year. Alberts also popularized the song "On the Way to Cape May
", first through recording it, and then by performing it often on his later television show and specials.
The Four Aces biggest hit was "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing
", which was the theme to the 1955 film
starring William Holden
and Jennifer Jones
. The song was a number one hit for four weeks, and it also won the Academy Award for best song.
In 1960 he recorded On The Way To Cape May
, a song that has become a Jersey Shore sound summertime anthem for the Philadelphia/Delaware Valley and South Jersey Shore area.It was written by Maurice "Buddy" Nugent according to BMI and the The Philadelphia Inquirer. The song became popular without the push of a major record label. It has become popular in a variety of 21st century media, such as XM satellite and internet radio, and also enjoys regular airplay on many Delaware Valley AM and FM stations.
Subsequently, he became a television
personality in Philadelphia where he hosted a one-hour Saturday afternoon talent show, called Al Alberts Showcase, first airing on WKBS-TV
, and then on WPVI-TV
that featured a panel of local children known as the "Teeny Boppers." Also there was a group of young teenage dancers called the "Show Stoppers." Local talents of all ages would sing songs and perform dance routines. Alberts would sit with the Teeny Boppers and they would each tell him a joke. The show helped launch the careers of Andrea McArdle
, and such acts/performers as Sister Sledge
, The Kinleys
, and Teddy Pendergrass
. After 32 years, the show went off the air after Alberts' retirement in 1994. Alberts died on November 27, 2009 of complications from renal failure
in Arcadia, Florida
.
Al Alberts Showcase was a talent show for children. Every year the show led up the crowning of "Little Miss Showcase".
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
singer and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
.
Biography
Born Al Albertini in Chester, PennsylvaniaChester, Pennsylvania
Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, with a population of 33,972 at the 2010 census. Chester is situated on the Delaware River, between the cities of Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware.- History :...
, he went to South Philadelphia High School
South Philadelphia High School
South Philadelphia High School also known as Southern High is a public secondary high school located in the south section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the intersection of Broad Street and Snyder Avenue, just north of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex residential neighborhood, Marconi...
, whose alumni included many others who would become famous in show business, such as Joey Bishop
Joey Bishop
Joey Bishop was an American entertainer who was perhaps best known for being a member of the "Rat Pack" with Frank Sinatra, Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Dean Martin...
, Buddy Greco
Buddy Greco
-Biography:He was born Armando Greco in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Greco began playing piano at the age of four. His first professional work was playing with Benny Goodman's band. Most of Greco's work has been in the jazz and pop genres...
, Al Martino
Al Martino
Al Martino was an American singer and actor. He had his greatest success as a singer between the early 1950s and mid 1970s, being described as "one of the great Italian American pop crooners", and also became well known as an actor, particularly for his role as singer Johnny Fontane in The...
, Mario Lanza
Mario Lanza
right|thumb|[[MGM]] still, circa 1949Mario Lanza was an American tenor and Hollywood movie star of the late 1940s and the 1950s. The son of Italian emigrants, he began studying to be a professional singer at the age of 16....
, Chubby Checker
Chubby Checker
Chubby Checker is an American singer-songwriter. He is widely known for popularizing the twist dance style, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard's R&B hit "The Twist"...
, Jack Klugman
Jack Klugman
Jacob Joachim "Jack" Klugman is an American stage, film and television actor known for his roles in sitcoms, movies, and television and on Broadway...
, Eddie Fisher
Eddie Fisher (singer)
Edwin Jack "Eddie" Fisher , was an American entertainer. He was one of the world's most famous and successful singers in the 1950s, selling millions of records and hosting his own TV show. His divorce from his first wife, Debbie Reynolds, to marry his best friend's widow, Elizabeth Taylor, garnered...
, Marian Anderson
Marian Anderson
Marian Anderson was an African-American contralto and one of the most celebrated singers of the twentieth century...
, Frankie Avalon
Frankie Avalon
Frankie Avalon is an American actor, singer, playwright, and former teen idol.-Career:By the time he was 12, Avalon was on U.S. television playing his trumpet. As a teenager he played with Bobby Rydell in Rocco and the Saints...
, Charlie Gracie
Charlie Gracie
Charlie Gracie is an American rock pioneer and singer. He was born the same day as another rock and roll singer, Bobby Darin.His father encouraged him to play the guitar...
and Fabian
Fabian (entertainer)
Fabiano Anthony Forte , known as Fabian, is an American teen idol of the late 1950s and early 1960s. He rose to national prominence after performing several times on American Bandstand. Eleven of his songs reached the Billboard Hot 100 listing.-Early life:Fabian was the son of Josephine and Domenic...
. As a teenager, he appeared on the Horn and Hardart Children's Hour, a radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
program.
After graduating from South Philadelphia High, he went to Temple University
Temple University
Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...
and the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
, where he met Dave Mahoney. They went on to found The Four Aces
The Four Aces
The Four Aces is an American male traditional pop music quartet, popular since the 1950s. Over the last half-century, the group amassed many gold records. Its million-selling signature tunes include "Love is a Many-Splendored Thing", "Three Coins in the Fountain", "Stranger in Paradise", "Tell Me...
.
The Four Aces recorded the song "Three Coins in the Fountain
Three Coins in the Fountain (song)
"Three Coins in the Fountain" is a popular song which received the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1954.The melody was written by Jule Styne, the lyrics by Sammy Cahn. It was written for the romance film, Three Coins in the Fountain and refers to the act of throwing a coin into the Trevi...
", written by Jule Styne
Jule Styne
Jule Styne was a British-born American songwriter especially famous for a series of Broadway musicals, which included several very well known and frequently revived shows.-Early life:...
for the film of the same name
Three Coins in the Fountain (1954 film)
Three Coins in the Fountain is the 1954 film that introduced the song of the same name, which became an enduring standard. It tells the story of three American girls looking for romance in Rome while employed at the American Embassy...
. The song hit the #1 bestselling record twice in 1954, and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song
Academy Award for Best Original Song
The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film...
the same year. Alberts also popularized the song "On the Way to Cape May
On The Way To Cape May
"On The Way To Cape May" is a song that has become a Jersey Shore sound summertime anthem for the Philadelphia/Delaware Valley and South Jersey Shore area. It was written by Maurice "Buddy" Nugent according to BMI and the The Philadelphia Inquirer...
", first through recording it, and then by performing it often on his later television show and specials.
The Four Aces biggest hit was "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing
Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (song)
"Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing" is a popular song with music by Sammy Fain and lyrics by Paul Francis Webster. The song was publicized first in the movie, Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing , winning the Academy Award for Best Original Song...
", which was the theme to the 1955 film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
starring William Holden
William Holden
William Holden was an American actor. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1954 and the Emmy Award for Best Actor in 1974...
and Jennifer Jones
Jennifer Jones
Phylis Lee Isley , better known by her stage name Jennifer Jones, was an American actress. A five-time Academy Award nominee, Jones won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in The Song of Bernadette .-Early life:Jones was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the daughter of Flora Mae and...
. The song was a number one hit for four weeks, and it also won the Academy Award for best song.
In 1960 he recorded On The Way To Cape May
On The Way To Cape May
"On The Way To Cape May" is a song that has become a Jersey Shore sound summertime anthem for the Philadelphia/Delaware Valley and South Jersey Shore area. It was written by Maurice "Buddy" Nugent according to BMI and the The Philadelphia Inquirer...
, a song that has become a Jersey Shore sound summertime anthem for the Philadelphia/Delaware Valley and South Jersey Shore area.It was written by Maurice "Buddy" Nugent according to BMI and the The Philadelphia Inquirer. The song became popular without the push of a major record label. It has become popular in a variety of 21st century media, such as XM satellite and internet radio, and also enjoys regular airplay on many Delaware Valley AM and FM stations.
Subsequently, he became a television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
personality in Philadelphia where he hosted a one-hour Saturday afternoon talent show, called Al Alberts Showcase, first airing on WKBS-TV
WKBS-TV (Philadelphia)
WKBS-TV was an independent television station licensed to Burlington, New Jersey, which served the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area from 1965 to 1983. WKBS-TV had studio facilities located in South Philadelphia, and transmitter at the Roxborough tower farm in Philadelphia.-History:WKBS-TV began...
, and then on WPVI-TV
WPVI-TV
WPVI-TV, channel 6, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. WPVI has its studios located on the border between Philadelphia and Bala Cynwyd, and its transmitter is located in the...
that featured a panel of local children known as the "Teeny Boppers." Also there was a group of young teenage dancers called the "Show Stoppers." Local talents of all ages would sing songs and perform dance routines. Alberts would sit with the Teeny Boppers and they would each tell him a joke. The show helped launch the careers of Andrea McArdle
Andrea McArdle
Andrea McArdle is an American singer and actress best known for playing Annie in the Broadway musical Annie, as well as for her alto range and strong vocal belt.-Career:She was born in Philadelphia...
, and such acts/performers as Sister Sledge
Sister Sledge
Sister Sledge is an American musical group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, formed in 1972 and consisting of four sisters: Kim Sledge Debbie Sledge , Joni Sledge , and Kathy Sledge . They are granddaughters of the former opera singer Viola Williams. The sisters used to perform under the name of "Mrs...
, The Kinleys
The Kinleys
The Kinleys was an American country music duo composed of identical twin sisters Heather and Jennifer Kinley, born November 5, 1970 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Between 1997 and 2000, they recorded two albums for the Epic Records label , also charting eight singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot...
, and Teddy Pendergrass
Teddy Pendergrass
Theodore DeReese "Teddy" Pendergrass was an American R&B/soul singer and songwriter. Pendergrass first rose to fame as lead singer of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes in the 1970s before a successful solo career at the end of the decade...
. After 32 years, the show went off the air after Alberts' retirement in 1994. Alberts died on November 27, 2009 of complications from renal failure
Renal failure
Renal failure or kidney failure describes a medical condition in which the kidneys fail to adequately filter toxins and waste products from the blood...
in Arcadia, Florida
Arcadia, Florida
Arcadia is a city in DeSoto County, Florida, United States. The population was 6,604 as of the 2000 census. According to the U.S Census estimates of 2005, the city grew to 7,151. It is the county seat of DeSoto County; it is also DeSoto County's only incorporated community. On October 27, 2009,...
.
Al Alberts Showcase was a talent show for children. Every year the show led up the crowning of "Little Miss Showcase".
External links
- Philly.Com: Al Alberts, TV talent host in Philly, dies at 87
- Former 6abc host Al Alberts has died 27 November 2009, last updated 12:11PM EST
- Al Alberts, Broadcast pioneer - Philadelphia-based
- www.AlAlberts.com - artist's website
- Anthony J. Biondo Jr. - Al Alberts Showcase Teenie Bopper - 1980s