Kenny Chandler (born 21 November 1940) is a singer, songwriter and composer.
Kenny Chandler, born Kenneth Bolognese, was originally from. “The Hill” section of Harrisburg,Pa. and was a member of John Harris High School Class of 1959. Interested in music at an early age, Kenny got together with four classmates in senior high school to form a group called the Montclaires (later changed to the Clairmonts). This first group consisted of Micky Liddick. (drums), Junie Brown ( congas),Nathanial Edmonds (piano), with. Lee Bradshaw, Ray Carlisle, George Campbell, and Kenny doing vocals.
They split up after only a short time but Ken stayed together with Ray Carlisle, in hopes of forming another group. it was after football practice, while singing in the showers, that. Ray got word that teammate Frankie Cacapardo was interested in joining the group. Thus, the trio was formed, calling them- selves Kenny, Frank, and Ray. The boys picked up a manager, DJ Paul Landersman, who got them on a show with Danny & the Juniors. The latter group was impressed and invited them to sing for Bernie Binik. They did the audition on the fire escape of the Colonial Theater while Landersman did his radio show inside. Binik was close with Bernie Lowe of Cameo Records and the result was a 1958 release as Kenny, Frank & Ray. The record reportedly got played on American Bandstand, but little else happened.
Bolognese, as Kenny Beau, had two subsequent releases on Landersman’s PL label, one of them backed by a local band called the Whirlwinds. He also met songwriter Bix Reichner who told him about an opportunity in New York with manager Herb Wiener. Wiener had a duo the Tree Singers, who had a few chart hits and one member was leaving. Bolognese stepped in and competed a tour with Art Polhemus. Around this time he chose the stage name ofKenny Chandler since actor Jeff Chandler had always been a favourite of his.
Wiener took Chandler into a small studio across from the Brill Building and did a piano and voice demo for $15.00. “We took it to 10 companies and had 10 companies wanting to sign us,” said Chandler. “Herb said, ‘We’ve got to go to Leiber & Stoller because they’re the hottest.” However, because of other commitments, the famous team was reluctant to sign a new artist until Chadler began to sing the Five Satins song “‘To The Aisle”, after which he was signed.
The result was “Drums,” Chandler’s first solo release. The record bubbled under at #112 in Billboard. Chandler toured with the Belmonts, Del Shannon, Brian Hyland, Jamie Coe, and the Chantels. Chandler subsequently signed with Laurie about the time Dion was leaving the label for Columbia. The company was probably hoping he would be their next star, and the second release looked as if it might fulfil that hope. “Heart” entered Billboard’s Hot 100 April 6, 1963 and got as far as #64 during a seven week run. Wayne Newton’s recording entered three weeks later, only made it to #82, and dropped off after four weeks. Newton, however, had a #13 follow-up, ‘Danke Schoen,’ which virtually established his career.
Chandler said he got a lot of mileage out of the hit, but lost his voice for nearly a year in 1964. During that time he taught himself to play guitar and, as his voice returned, began singing in Central Park. “It saved my life,” he said. He took a club gig and developed a following on New York’s East Side. Later, through the help of Bobby Vinton, he signed with Epic, and recorded a different ‘Heart’ (from Petula Clark’s second album). Some of his records, especially “S.O.S. (Sweet On Susie)” got airplay in Canada, and Chandler did extensive touring there.
Two years later, on Tower, he cut a remake of “Sleep,” a 1924 Fred Waring tune that Little Willie John had updated in 1960. Chandler moved to Los Angeles in 1975 to further his career where he started his own Production Company. He and partner Guerin Barry formed a club act, working Reno and opening for Jackie Mason. The duo broke up when Guerin joined Sha Na Na. Around 1980 Chandler had a European release on a duet with Gail Farrell, formerly of the Lawrence Welk Show.
Chandler had begun to diversify his career in the late 60’s while still in New York. He got into acting and he had considerable success writing jingles from 1965-75. He did voice-overs and produced video commercials. He had small parts in The Six Million Dollar Man, The Buddy Holly Story, and Elvis (as one of the Jordanaires). He appeared on Edge of Night for a year in the early 70’s, and was a regular on a Smothers Brothers’ TV show called Fitz & Bones.
In the mid-90’s he said, “I feel that, at the age of 54, I’m about to start doing what I’m capable of doing. I’m really looking forward to this career that I’ve been following for 30 years. I feel it’s all been a training ground.”
From about 2009 Kenny was producing music, films and videos and currently runs his own production company in Las Vegas Nevada. Behind the camera, he has written and produced a body of commercial music for both radio and television, and has produced, booked, coordinated and handled a wide variety of talent. Chandler was awarded a CLIO, and was also awarded “Best Performer” by the Television Commercial Festival for his work as the spokesman on a CBS promotional campaign.
(Edited from Top Shelf Oldies, DooWop Blogg, Talk About Las Vegas & Facebook)