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The success of THAT
GIRL BELONGS TO YESTERDAY
confirmed GENE Pitney's worldwide status as a singer.
For the next few years he embarked on an extensive series of
sold-out international tours, including exhausting coast-to-coast
tours of America. For example, his 72-day "DICK CLARK CARAVAN
OF STARS" tour covered the US North, South, East, and West
- including Hawaii and Canada! The hit singles followed with
amazing regularity, reaching the charts not only in America
and Europe, but all over the world. The songs were IT
HURTS TO BE IN LOVE,
I
MUST BE SEEING THINGS,
I'M
GONNA BE STRONG,
LOOKIN'
THROUGH THE EYES OF LOVE
(yet another million seller), PRINCESS IN RAGS, BACKSTAGE,
NOBODY NEEDS YOUR LOVE, JUST
ONE SMILE,
SHE'S
A HEARTBREAKER,
SOMEWHERE IN THE COUNTRY, 24 SYCAMORE, TRANS-CANADA HIGHWAY,
and BLUE ANGEL.
His
albums also made large dents in international Hit Parades,
including "JUST FOR YOU," "BLUE GENE," "GENE PITNEY'S
BIG 16," and "I'M GONNA BE STRONG." In a unique
marketing move, several albums were recorded specifically for
individual markets including "GENE ESPAÑOL" and "GENE
ITALIANO."
GENE opened
a brand new market by recording a number of country and western
albums, including "GENE PITNEY WITH GEORGE JONES," "IT'S COUNTRY TIME AGAIN," "GENE
PITNEY & MELBA MONTGOMERY," and "FAMOUS COUNTRY DUETS." GENE had the privilege
of performing at the legendary Grand Ole Opry in Nashville with
some of country's greats, including Eddie Arnold, Buck Owens,
Roy Clark, and Connie Smith. Says GENE, "I like things
to keep changing. I've seen too many artists left out in the
cold because they relied on the same old sounds and same old
type of songs." At one time, as if to prove his point, he scored
simultaneous hits in Europe, Britain, and on the American Pop
and Country charts with four completely different songs.
Other
highlights included multiple appearances at the celebrated San
Remo Song Festival in Italy. Twice GENE received second
place awards - the highest position awarded to a non-Italian
artist in the history of the festival - with the songs QUANDO
VE DRAI LA MIA RAGAZZA and NESSUNO
MI PUO GIUDICARE.
NESSUNO
went on to become a giant European hit and also entered the
American charts in the native language. It sold over one million
copies. The same year, GENE appeared at the Royal Variety
Show in London and was presented to the Queen Mother. Several
shows followed for such royals as Princess Alexandra, Princess
Margaret, and the Duchess of Kent.
In
1970, after spending nearly a decade on the road (eleven months
of every year), GENE decided to drastically cut back
on his touring commitments. "I had a family at home, two boys
starting to grow up, and I was getting a guilt complex about
not being there with them. So I decided to make a six-month
commitment to touring and spend the rest of the time at home
with the family." He decided to quit the long tours of the US
and, without meaning to, increasingly found himself in countries
other than America due to his love of exotic travel. "There
is nothing more exciting to me than to get on that airplane
and know I'm going to get off in a totally different country,
in a different part of the world." His annual tours of Britain,
Europe, and Australia became a way of life. With every tour
proving a sellout, the plan was an outstanding success.
In
1983, when an agent gently twisted the PITNEY arm, GENE
embarked on his first North American Tour in over a dozen years.
It became a huge personal triumph. GENE PITNEY was back "with a vengeance" even
though he'd never been away. He still keeps up a relentless
touring commitment which is a tribute to his professionalism.
In fact, his voice is now stronger than ever before. GENE puts total commitment and energy into
his emotion-charged live performances and always comes off stage
completely drained. GENE stays fit by working out in
his home gym, with an upper body and cardiovascular program
involving weights and Nordictrack. The schedule was devised
to keep him ready for the road. A necessity when touring is
that every hotel must have a gym and swimming pool.
In
the last few years, many exciting things have happened to GENE
in both the studio and performance. In 1993, GENE played
the prestigious CARNEGIE HALL in New York City the day
THE WORLD TRADE CENTER was bombed. Gene Says, "New Yorkers,
being New Yorkers, still gave us a sold-out show. No one stayed
away!" The tour of the UK in the same year completely sold
out, closing at the beautiful LONDON PALLADIUM. The following
year, GENE saw tours in the UK and Australia, the latter
closing at the BURSEWOOD CASINO in PERTH. In 1995,
GENE worked the crowds at THE TAJ MAHAL in ATLANTIC
CITY, NJ, and did a two-part, 46-day tour in the UK in May/June
and Oct/Nov. During 1996, GENE performed at the UNIVERSAL
AMPHITHEATER in Los Angeles and then moved onto a twenty-city
concert tour of AUSTRALIA, followed by a quick trip to
Catania, Italy. AND THEN HE RESTED!
1997
was another busy year with shows in LAS VEGAS, ATLANTIC
CITY, FOXWOODS RESORT, ST. LOUIS, KANSAS
CITY, BOSTON, THE NEW YORK STATE FAIR, and
another twenty-city concert tour of AUSTRALIA, finishing
at the new MELBOURNE CASINO. 1998 started again at THE
FOXWOODS RESORT, followed by shows in LAUGHLIN, NV,
MILWAUKEE SUMMERFEST, JONES BEACH LONG ISLAND,
and DOLLYWOOD, TENNESSEE. In May, GENE performed
songs in both English and Italian on the prestigious television
show, "Ci Vediamo in Televisione," in MILAN. 1999 saw
another sellout tour of AUSTRALIA and ended with a twenty-four-city
concert tour of ENGLAND, finishing at the beautiful LONDON
PALLADIUM.
The year 2000 was a milestone for GENE with the
PBS VIDEO RECORDING of the live concert at the FOXWOODS
RESORT. The first airing of the concert was in GENE'S
home state of CT and the pledge night was a huge success. This
was followed by airings in BUFFALO, PITTSBURG,
AKRON, and INDIANA. The national exposure to the
concert was in December of 2001 on the PBS Network. All the
mixing and audio work on the concert were done at GENE'S
Recording studio by son TODD using the fantastic PRO
TOOLS system. 2003 saw the release of the two CD set
of the BRONZE/PITFIELD SONGS which include 24 titles including
BLUE ANGEL, KILLING ME SOFTLY, IT'S A HEARTACHE, TRAIN OF THOUGHT,
AND SKYLINE PIGEON. It can be found on Sanctuary Records.
The website www.genepitney.com has
now been redone and Chad Evans has brought it up to date with
a great new layout. The fotos on the site are from various
parts of the world and include pics from the Rock & Roll
Hall of Fame induction and Gracie the new Akita
puppy! 2005 has been a very exciting year with shows
set all over the U.S., at Turning Stone Casino, Mohegan
Sun Casino, Bushnell Performing Arts in Hartford, Kravis
Center in Florida, Half Hollow Performing Arts in
Long Island, Hershey Park Pa., and 23 concerts
in Australia. 2006 is already busy with shows
at Casino Rama in Canada, and 24 concerts in the U.K..
Work has begun on a Christmas CD, andthings look
exciting with a discussion going on for a return to Las Vegas
in the near future.
Gene still lives in Connecticut, not
far from where he was raised, in a big rambling Dutch Colonial house,
set in an apple orchard, with his wife Lynne. Sons David, Todd,
and Chris all
live in Connecticut now so there is a lot of family life going
on all the time!!
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Brilliant Marketing & Merchandising
6201-39th Avenue Kenosha, WI 53142
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Contact: David McGrath
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