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Julius La Rosa, an all-time MLBS, passed away May 12 at 86. The singer and radio personality was a recurring presence at Shea from the '70s into the '90s, called on to deliver the national anthem on special occasions (which for a long time was the only time you'd hear a singer rather than Jane Jarvis or a recording).
I remember him primarily as a host on WNEW-AM, but he gained fame for making the best of a bad situation.
With his chunky-cheeked, boyish grin and dark, curly hair swept back from a widow’s peak, he crooned pop favorites for 35 million people from 1951 to 1953 on CBS’s “Arthur Godfrey Time,” a weekday morning television and radio show, and for “Arthur Godfrey and His Friends,” a Wednesday night variety program. The news media explored his life. Fans swooned. His mailbag brought 7,000 letters a day (more than Mr. Godfrey’s), and his salary grew to $900 a week.
But it all came at a price.
Mr. Godfrey — a folksy, sentimental ukulele strummer to his audiences but an imperious, tyrannical boss behind the sets — ordered all his entertainers to take dancing lessons. Mr. La Rosa refused. He also insisted that his performers not work for outside interests and not be represented by personal agents.
Feeling exploited, Mr. La Rosa did both. He signed with Cadence Records, a label owned by Mr. Godfrey’s musical director, Archie Bleyer, and made several recordings, including his first hit, “Anywhere I Wander.” He also hired an agent to renegotiate his CBS contract and manage his outside interests.
On Oct. 19, 1953 — 23 months after Mr. La Rosa’s debut — Mr. Godfrey retaliated in a morning segment heard only on the radio. Mr. La Rosa had just finished singing “Manhattan” when Mr. Godfrey delivered the sentence in his solemn foghorn voice.
“That was Julie’s swan song,” he said.
He later fired Mr. Bleyer, too, and told reporters that Mr. La Rosa had been banished because he lacked “humility.”
The dismissal stunned Mr. La Rosa and the Godfrey audiences, whose reaction was largely negative. Most media critics also chastised Mr. Godfrey, whose avuncular image began to crumble. Far from being a death knell for Mr. La Rosa’s career, however, it opened new doors.
Ed Sullivan signed him, at triple his old salary, for a dozen appearances on his national television variety show, “Toast of the Town.” Soon, Mr. La Rosa recorded “Eh, Cumpari,” the biggest hit of his career, and “Domani.” He went on a national tour, appearing with Perry Como, Patti Page, Nat King Cole and Sarah Vaughan. By 1955, “The Julius La Rosa Show” was on summer television three times a week.
He also appeared in scores of other television shows, including those of Dinah Shore, Steve Allen, Peggy Lee, Johnny Carson, Merv Griffin, Polly Bergen, Mr. Como and Pat Boone. In 1957 he made a film, “Let’s Rock.” |
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