City of Wildwood Presents...
Sweetheart Concert
Wildwoods Convention Center
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Doors Open at 6:30pm
7:30pm Showtime
for tickets call 1-888-742-9929
Sonny brought "The Platters" back to the pop charts in the 1960's with such hits as "I love you 1000 times", "With This Ring", and "Washed Ashore" as well as re-recording The Platters major hits like "Only You", "The Great Pretender", "The Magic Touch" (recently heard in the "The Nutty Professor II" starring Eddie Murphy).
Sonny was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in his own home town, Cleveland Ohio! In late 1959, Sonny Turner replaced Tony Williams as the lead singer of the original Platters. Chosen out of 100 singers to audition, at the young age of 19, Sonny toured the world with "The Platters" bringing their music to people of all nations Sonny brought The Platters back to the pop charts in the 1960's with such hits as "I love you 1000 times", "With This Ring", and "Washed Ashore"; as well as re-recording The Platters major hits like "Only You", "The Great Pretender", "The Magic Touch" (recently heard in the "The Nutty Professor II" starring Eddie Murphy).
Mel Carter, the man responsible for giving the song "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me," a place in pop history, began his career in Cincinnati at the age of four when his grandmother held him up to the microphone in a penny arcade recording booth. As it turned out, it was 25 cents well-spent; the unpolished performance had an unmistakable element of raw talent etched into those crude grooves. From that point on, music proved to be Mel's destiny, as his career produced one hit single after another. Even to this day, Mel's version of "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me" has lost only 2% of it's playing ability since it's release 30 years ago and you can still hear this timeless classic played on the radio at least once a day somewhere around the world.
Mel Carter
Sonny Turner's Platters
Retro Photo from Philly's
Palumbo's Restaurant
From a very young age I took a special interest in music. At the age of 8, I began to learn the saxophone and by the age of 10 was in the school band. In my later teens I joined the Philadelphia Musicians Union and at age 18 was hired to play in the band at Palumbos Restaurant. Wanting to do more with music, I left Palumbos to join a dance band that toured throughout the area. During the 1950’s I was asked back to Palumbos, where I worked off and on while continuing to do the touring dates.
Then, on one special day in 1962 Frank Palumbo Sr asked me to be Palumbos Band Leader. I happily accepted and did that for 35 consecutive years until 1994. During my time at Palumbos I met some of the most popular entertainers of all time including, Jimmy Durante, Vic Damone, Cab Calloway, Tony Bennett, Al Martino, Mel Torme, The Mills Brothers, Pattie Page, Billy Daniels, Don Rickles, Pat Cooper, along with local favorites, Bobby Rydell, Frankie Avalon, Fabian, and Cozy Morley.
Unfortunately, that all ended with the 1994 fire at Palumbos that completely destroyed the club. After taking some time off to decide what to do next, I decided to gather the band together and start touring throughout the tri state area. Since 1994 I have continued to promote the Big Band Sound in venues from New York to Atlantic City and Harrisburg to Delaware. Today I continue to perform the Big Band sound throughout the tri-state area.
Tickets General Admission
$45 - In Red
$40 - In White
call 1-888-742-9929
Carmen Dee Orchestra