A child prodigy of the trumpet, Frankie Avalon starred on Paul Whiteman�s radio and TV programs, both of which were based in the Philadelphia area in the early 1950s. By 1957, he signed with Chancellor Records as a vocalist. The label�s owners, Bob Marcucci and Peter de Angelis, also took on the management of his career.
Avalon�s scored his first national hit in early 1958 with a Marcucci-de Angelis composition, "Dede Dinah" (Chancellor 1011). A prime exponent of the teen idol school, he enjoyed five Top Ten hits the following year, including three million sellers�"Venus" (Chancellor 1031), "Just Ask Your Heart" (Chancellor 1040), and "Why" (Chancellor 1045).
Although his recordings were less successful in the early 1960s, Avalon became a major Hollywood film star. His acting credits included Guns of the Timberland (1960), The Carpetbaggers (1962), and a string of beach party movies produced by American International Pictures. From the 1960s to the 1990s, he divided his time between television and film acting�most notably, Grease (1978) and Back to the Beach (1987), club appearances, and occasional recording sessions. A disco version of his number one hit, "Venus" (De-Lite 1578), was his last charting single. By the late 1970s, he became increasingly active performing on the rock and roll revival circuit. [Stambler, 1989]
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