[ PHOTO GALLERY OF TONI ARDEN'S CAREER ]

TONI ARDEN

Toni Arden: Vic Damone called her "The greatest girl singer in the world." Frank Sinatra called her "A singer's singer." Often described as "a little girl with a big voice," Toni Arden has enjoyed a long and productive career of recording and performing which began when she was a mere 15 years old and has continued into the new millennium. Perhaps Toni's brother, Jan Arden, said it best when he recently told her, "Sis, you've had a beautiful run."

Vinnie Bell, famed session guitarist and performer, remembers:

If I were tortured to reveal my favorite five glorious voices, Toni Arden would surely be on the list. Not only did she possess a glorious voice, coupled with marvelous phrasing, but she was completely devoid of any "show-biz" ego.

In a 2005 telephone interview with this writer, Ms. Arden discussed her humble beginnings and reviewed the long course of her fulfilling career. Toni Arden was born Antoinette Ardizzone, the youngest of three children to Philip and Sabina Ardizzone, of Milano and Palermo, Italy, respectively. Having met in Italy, Philip and Sabina moved to Greenwich Village, New York, where they raised their family. From the beginning, little Antoinette seemed gifted with her father's talent for music:

My father sang with the New York Metropolitan Opera; when I was a little girl, I would listen to him sing those grand operatic melodies. And, I'm told, at the age of just 14 months I walked over to the piano and picked out, perfectly, the melody my father had just sung. I just had a gift or an ear for melody, I could reproduce a melody perfectly after hearing it once, whether it was opera or popular.

Later on, as I got older, I learned to form the whole chords, and can still accompany myself on piano today, all from this wonderful, unexplainable gift I was given.

Which isn't to say Toni didn't study. As a youngster, she was tutored extensively by her father:

Father was very strict about the lessons he gave, I had to rehearse at least a half hour every day. He taught me breathing lessons and diaphragm lessons and, of course, all those scales. Mom, on the other hand, really liked jazz. When I was still little, she would take me to the jazz clubs. So, from the very start, when I was still in school, I knew I wanted to sing.

At 15 years old, Antoinette started performing solo in nightclub gigs secured for her by talent agent Lou Perry (who also managed Dean Martin and Alan King). With her mom as chaperone, she worked small clubs for about a year:

I didn't start performing until I was 15, but I'd started looking for a way into the business a couple years before. Then I heard about an agent, Lou Perry, who was looking for talent. So I had some photos taken and I brought him a picture. I guess he liked the picture, because he found me work. Of course, I didn't have any recordings then; I would sing standards like Rodgers & Hart's "This Can't Be Love" or "My Heart Stood Still."

At one gig at the Woodstock Hotel on 43rd Street in New York, Antoinette was given the stage name she would use for the rest of her career:

When I first began working, I called myself "Annette Ardie." You needed something quick, easy to pronounce, and not too ethnic to be honest. But at the Woodstock, as I was about to go on, the emcee, a fellow named Jack Matthews, asked me "What name?" because he needed to announce my act. I said "Annette Ardie."

He just looked at me and said, "No, that not strong enough for a singer like you. I'm going to call you Toni Arden." My mom and I were sort of horrified and begged him not to, but he just said, "Honey, you need a strong name." And it worked. I've been Toni Arden ever since.

Always looking for a next step up the ladder, Toni spotted an ad in the local newspaper: a big band was looking for a girl singer for weekend shows at the Hotel Dixie. From the half-dozen girls that auditioned, Toni was chosen to front Al Trace and His Silly Symphonists. Toni was 16 years old:

I think I started out making about $125 per weekend. We'd usually have to report to the hotel at 7:00 p.m. and we would perform until 11:30 or midnight. I worked Friday and Saturday nights, and sometimes also on Sunday. Folks would listen to us as they had their dinner in the ballroom and then they'd dance. You got to know many of them pretty well, the regulars, because they came up to the bandstand each week requesting their favorite songs. Sometimes I still think about them, those people I met working, wondering what happened to them.

All the men in the bands I worked with were very sweet, and very protective. Al Trace was particularly kind, a very kind man. Years later, when he was older and more frail, he still came to see me play in Vegas. The band members were all family men, and even when we would tour these beautiful ballrooms in Virginia or Missouri, they would watch out for me. They would keep an eye out if the servicemen got too close.

Drummer Al Trace had made a name for his band by performing the whimsical tune "Mairzy Doats," a novelty song brought to him by his friend Al Hoffman, who had co-written it. Toni sang with the Silly Symphonists on "Mairzy Doats" and was vocalist on several other recordings released on the National label. Toni also sang with the Symphonists on the Armed Forces Radio show One Night Stand in live band remotes from the Plantation Room in the Hotel Dixie, New York City. Al Trace would later be a successful songwriter, by the name "Clem Watts," co-writing hits like "You Call Everybody Darling" for the Andrew Sisters, and "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake" for Eileen Barton.

Toni left Al Trace the next year to perform at the Roosevelt Grill with pianist band-leader Joe Reichman (nicknamed "The Pagliacci of the Piano"). Tommy Mercer, one of Reichman's vocalists, had heard Toni performing and suggested Reichman give Toni an audition. Toni also worked with Ray Bloch and his band, until Shep Fields, saxophonist and leader of the Rippling Rhythm Orchestra, "stole" her away:

Going with Shep Fields was an easy choice. The salary was much better, and with Shep I would be working a nicer class of room, places like the Coconut Grove in Los Angeles. So when that offer came along, I took it.

Shep had chosen the name for his orchestra, the "Rippling Rhythm Orchestra," from a signature opening bit he had stumbled upon-he would blow through a straw into a glass of water positioned close to the microphone, to deliver a bubbling or "rippling" sound effect. It became his trademark. Backed by Shep's Orchestra, Toni could again be heard on the One Night Stand radio program, this time broadcast live from the Terrace Room at the Hotel New Yorker.

Toni made several recordings with Shep Fields and his orchestra, which were released on the Musicana label. On these, Toni was regularly paired with Bob Johnstone, Shep's regular male vocalist. Five of these recordings (including two duets with Mr. Johnstone) start off Disc 1 of this reissue set.

Making a name for herself, Toni was pleasing live audiences in an eight-week run at the famous Copacabana nightclub in New York, opening for Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in 1949 and 1950. Robert W. Dana, entertainment columnist for the New York World Telegram & Sun, wrote of the young opener in his May 25, 1950 "Tips for Tables" column:

Also featured is brunette Toni Arden, a good popular song stylist. Customers the other night were admiring her Alice blue gown with sequins and satin bodice, which was quite becoming. Among her songs are "My Heart Stood Still," "Supposin'," "Where Can I Go?" and "You're Breaking My Heart."

Positive write-ups such as this one caught the eye of Henry Degand, who had connections in the growing medium of television. Would Toni like to audition for Ed Sullivan's popular CBS-TV variety show, Toast of the Town? (A silly question, to which the answer was, of course, "Yes!"). Toni auditioned with a few ballads and was selected to appear.

On August 27, 1949, Toni debuted nationally on Toast of the Town. That well-received appearance secured her a Columbia Records contract:

That night, I sang "You're Breaking My Heart," which had been a hit for Vic Damone. Afterwards, Mr. Sullivan came up and said to me, "Where have you been, my dear?" And I joked back, "Me? Where have you been? I've been waiting so long for you to call!"

Manny Sachs, who was head of Columbia and worked with Sinatra on his music, saw the show that night and told his people to offer me a contract.

Her years as a Columbia recording artist represent the bulk of music on this CD set. At Columbia, Toni worked with famed orchestra leaders Hugo Winterhalter, Xavier Cugat, Percy Faith and Paul Weston. She also recorded alongside Champ Butler, her brother Jan Arden and The Four Lads:

My brother's real name is Frank Ardizzone. And he had a great career too. Boy, Jan got unbelievable fan mail when he was on The Arthur Godfrey Show, it was amazing. Then he got invited to be on The Robert Q. Lewis Show and that kept him busy for a number of years. We also worked together for about 10 years, later on.

But you know, when folks would ask him why he didn't perform as Frank Arden, he would say, "There's only one Frank, and that's Sinatra. The world doesn't need another Frank."

Once at Columbia Records, Toni immediately scored a solid chart hit with "I Can Dream, Can't I," a song made famous by Tommy Dorsey in 1938. Toni's version reached #7 in November 1949, a strong showing for a first release.

After her immediate success with "I Can Dream," there was brief lull until Toni charted again with a cover of "Too Young," reaching #15 in June of 1951. Columbia kept its young songbird busy in their New York 30th Street recording studio, resulting in another career high point. Just a year after "Too Young," Toni enjoyed the unusual success of having both sides of a record reach the charts. The A-side, "Kiss of Fire," reached #14 in May of 1952 and the flip side, "I'm Yours," reached #24 the following month:

It was a great time for music, everywhere you went. I loved listening to Peggy Lee, Helen Forrest, Helen O'Connell. I was a huge fan of the orchestra leader, Buddy Rich. And Ethel Merman was one of the nicest people I met in the business. I got the chance to work with some really fantastic people.

To promote her recordings, Toni worked in nightclubs all around the country, receiving rave write-ups wherever she went. For example, if you had five dollars for the cover charge, you could have seen Ms. Arden performing at New York's La Vie en Rose on 54th Street. In his February 16, 1953 "Tips on Tables" column, Robert W. Dana again writes up Toni:

As an added attraction at La Vie en Rose, Monty Proser is presenting lovely Toni Arden. She looked charming the other night in a blue velvet gown with becoming neckline. On each hearing she seems better, her showmanship growing with experience. I like her program of "All the Things You Are," "I've Got You Under My Skin," "Because of You," "La Mer," "Kiss" and "Come Back to Sorrento."

"Kiss of Fire" and "I'm Yours," unfortunately, would be Toni's last charting records on Columbia, although she continued to make great records for the label. Her renditions of "Remembering" (paired with Champ Butler), "Blow Out the Candle" (with brother Jan), her recording of "Kiss," from the Marilyn Monroe film Niagara, and "All I Know" (with the Four Lads) are perfect examples of Toni's neglected but lovely Columbia recordings:

"Blow Out the Candle" was a great record, a beautiful song; it sold a lot of copies and got a lot of play. It's one of my favorites and I'm glad I got the chance to record it with Jan.

After Columbia, Toni moved to the RCA label in 1955, where she put out six recordings, five of which are included in this set. Some of these sides show a departure for Toni, moving away from straight ballads and towards the newly emerging rock and roll. From RCA, Toni went on to Decca, where she delivered many albums from 1957 to 1964, several reaching gold record, Top 10 status. She also hit the singles charts again in 1958 with her Decca recording of "Padre" reaching #13 nationally. Because Toni excelled at material with an international flavor, she made superb albums of Italian melodies for the Decca label:

I actually sing in seven languages. Italian, which I also speak, of course, and also obviously English, but I do speak a little Spanish. And I have phonetically studied French, Yiddish, a little Portuguese and a little Greek. I learned these phonetically so that I could sing those songs.

While still a Columbia artist, Toni appeared as a guest on the Bing Crosby radio show at least seven times between 1950 and 1954, usually belting out her latest hit and then jumping into a duet with Bing on a popular radio or film tune. We've included several of these fantastic performances and fun duets, including Toni's take on "My Man (Mon Homme)," the 1920 signature torch song of Fanny Brice, and the Piaf classic "La Vie en Rose." With Bing, she playfully delivers "You're Just in Love" (from Broadway's Call Me Madam) and "Let's Do It Again." Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, she was also a favorite returning guest on AFRS radio shows, including Guest Star (sponsored by the U.S. Treasury) and Stars for Defense (sponsored by the Office of Civil Defense).

Toni's popularity even led to the production of her own 1954 radio program, The Toni Arden Show. Each 15 minute episode of the 13 show series was sponsored by the U.S. Marine Corps Recruiting Office, with Toni backed by Alvy West and His Orchestra and announced by Joe King. Toni did not neglect television, of course. She returned to Sullivan's Toast of the Town program many times, the last time on August 9, 1959, nearly a decade after her "discovery." At this final appearance, Toni sang "Non Dimenticar" followed by a trio of songs with her brother Jan, "Ain't She Sweet," "Yes Sir, That's My Baby" and "Pigalle." By this date the show was renamed The Ed Sullivan Show, which would introduce The Beatles to America in just a few short years.

In the late 50s and early 60s, Toni also appeared on the "Music of Gershwin" episode of NBC's Max Liebman Presents; on Dick Clark's Saturday Night Beechnut Show on ABC, performing her Decca hit "Padre" (Beechnut was Dick Clark's second attempt at a prime-time Bandstand-style show); on the BBC-aired The Perry Como Music Hall Show, performing "Sand in My Shoes," "Non Ti Scordar Di Me (Forget Me Not)," "Let's Face the Music," "All Alone" and then dueting with Mr. Como on "You're Just in Love" and "White Christmas." She would return to the Perry Como Show several times, just as she would to The Frank Sinatra Show and The Jimmy Durante Show.

In addition to her work in clubs, radio and television, Toni made a small splash in film, being featured in over a dozen Snader telescription films (early music videos), sometimes with brother Jan. Toni also played herself in the 1951 Columbia musical Sunny Side of the Street, singing "I May Be Wrong" with Frankie Laine and then returning to solo on her Columbia recording "Come Back to Sorrento:"

It's funny the things that stick in your mind. The thing I remember about working on Sunny Side of the Street is that they gave me this beautiful gown to wear, this pink, candy-colored dress, covered in sparkles, tiny sequins. I absolutely loved that gown; I wish I could have kept it.

Two years later, Toni appeared in the 1953 Universal film short Carnival in April (distributed in both 2-D and 3-D!), performing "I'll Remember April" and "I'm Shooting High," backed by the Carlos Molina Orchestra. Ms. Arden later appeared in the 1958 musical film Senior Prom, with a noteworthy cast that included Louis Prima, Freddy Martin, Connie Boswell and Keely Smith.

Toni remained a top entertainer, ever busy. Taking her performing life quite seriously, she had continued taking music, dancing and acting lessons, and starred in theater revivals of The Pajama Game, Of Thee I Sing, Hello Dolly and Anything Goes.

She headlined in Chicago and Boston and performed to standing room only crowds in London and Lisbon. She worked coast to coast, performing everywhere-from the Paramount Hotel and the Macambo in Los Angeles, to the Sahara and Aladdin casinos in Vegas, to the Plaza and Pierre Hotels of New York. She even starred in the top venue for any vocalist, a date at Carnegie Hall:

Carnegie Hall, that's every vocalist's dream, and I made it, so that was a great day. I loved working recently at La Maganette Supper Club in New York, that was a really beautiful room. And the Macambo in L.A., I returned there many times. I had a write-up after one Macambo date that described me as "A Juliet with a Pagliacci quality," which I consider a tribute to my operatic training.

But my very first appearance at the Macambo was when I was still a young girl. I actually fell asleep on the ride home after the show! My manager teased me, saying if most girls played the Macambo, they would want to party afterwards. Me, I fell asleep.

As of this writing, Toni is living in Florida, near her brother Jan and his wife. She is still charming audiences, performing in major cities with a one-hour show "about 10 times a year." In a May 2005 interview with The Western Queens Gazette, Toni said, "I do love the weather and surroundings of Florida, but I confess that I miss New York-especially good old Jackson Heights," her childhood stomping ground. She adds, "The memories of where I grew up, where I got my start, will never leave my heart and that's the truth."

Ms. Arden recently finished a nightclub concert tour of New York, Chicago, California and Florida, has more bookings calendared, and is working on a new stage show of standards, including songs made famous by Mr. Crosby and Mr. Sinatra, two singers she's always admired.

She is even contemplating a CD of new material:

I'd like to do the standards, songs I've always loved or have done in my stage shows but never had a chance to record. Something like Rod Stewart has recently been doing, returning to the Great American Songbook. I'm sure there are some who never thought that idea would work, but their mistake is in not realizing how timeless those songs are.

As our phone interview wound down, I had to ask Toni, "When you're considered 'a singer's singer,' what singers do you listen to for enjoyment?" Toni had a laundry list of favorites, both classic and contemporary:

I still listen to opera often -- Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Beverly Mills. Shirley Bassey has a beautiful voice. As for artists today, I enjoy Natalie Cole, Rod Stewart and the jazz pianist Diana Krall. But you can always listen to Frank Sinatra - my brother was right, there's only one Frank.

--- Rex Strother (June 2005)

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