Biography

The man many consider to have possessed the greatest voice ever in popular music, Alan Dale had a career that spanned three decades and 16 record labels. At age 17 he was a big-band vocalist, first with Carmen Cavallaro, then George Paxton. In 1948 he achieved stardom via CBS' musical quiz show Sing It Again (1950) (this is the program referred to in the James Stewart film Pot o' Gold (1941))). His own The Alan Dale Show (1948) (Dumont and CBS) was the first television program kinescoped for showing in other parts of the country.

By 1951 Dale was one of the hottest singers around. Then fate dealt him a terrible blow. Overwork, combined with unhappy events in his private life, aggravated an ulcer condition, and he collapsed during one of his live TV shows. By the time he had recovered his health he had lost all of his shows. His climb back began with old friend Bob Thiele, then A&R chief of Coral Records. Previously, Thiele had produced many of Alan's hits, and proceeded to do so again with "Oh, Marie", "I'm Sorry", "Cherry Pink", "Sweet and Gentle" and "Rockin the Cha Cha". The success of the latter led to Dale's starring in the 1957 film Don't Knock the Rock (1956). Unfortunately, the dark and seamy side of show business eventually caused Alan to become disillusioned (as detailed in his autobiography "The Spider and the Marionettes") and, quite deliberately, he gradually faded from the spotlight. Which is our loss, because Alan Dale was one of the very best (Mel Tormé mentioned him in his book "My Singing Teachers"), and he deserves to be rediscovered, just as Tony Bennett has been.