Alessandro Carmelo "Teddy" Randazzo (May 13, 1935 – November 21, 2003) was an American pop songwriter, singer, arranger and producer, who composed hit songs such as "Goin' Out of My Head", "It's Gonna Take a Miracle", "Pretty Blue Eyes", and "Hurt So Bad" in the 1960s.
Born in Brooklyn in 1937, he was lucky enough to grow up in a musical family, and by 15 was a good enough accordion player to turn professional, as a member of the group the Three Chuckles, who were in the market for a new keyboard man and singer -- the singing took a little time to develop, with help from his decade-older fellow group members Tommy Romano and Russ Gilberto, but when the group started recording, it was the sides that Randazzo sang on that initially hit, and by 1955, at 17, he was the front-man for the group. They had a number one hit with "And the Angels Sing," which had a rocking beat and brought them to the attention of deejay Alan Freed, who put the group into his first jukebox movie, Rock, Rock, Rock (shot in New York, in the Bronx,), but also gave Randazzo a solo spot.
But it was mostly as a songwriter and producer that Randazzo busied himself and made his real success in the music business; he wrote some 650 songs over the ensuing decades, and saw them recorded by the likes of Frank Sinatra and Dionne Warwick. "Pretty Blue Eyes," authored with Bob Weinstein, was a number one hit
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for Steve Lawrence. But it was with Little Anthony & the Imperials that he had his longest success -- in addition to producing the group, he authored "Going Out of My Head,""I'm on the Outside Looking In," and "Hurt so Bad" (later covered by Linda Ronstadt), among other hits.
for Steve Lawrence. But it was with Little Anthony & the Imperials that he had his longest success -- in addition to producing the group, he authored "Going Out of My Head,""I'm on the Outside Looking In," and "Hurt so Bad" (later covered by Linda Ronstadt), among other hits."I've lost count on how many versions there are", Randazzo once said of "Goin' Out Of My Head". It is now included in the Top 50 most recorded songs with sales of over 100 million by over 400 artists, according to the Songwriters' Hall Of Fame.
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| Bobby Darin with Randazzo |
Randazzo became less visible as the '60s wore on, and in the '70s was largely forgotten by all except oldies fans but later he provided several songs for albums by New York soul group, the Manhattans, during their 1970s' hey-day, including the 1977 hit, "It Feels So Good To Be Loved So Bad", "There's No Good In Goodbye", and "A Million To One". He also wrote and produced for the Stylistics. Albums include Fashionably Yours and Love Spell. At this time, Randazzo co-wrote songs with his then girlfriend Victoria Pike and songwriters Roger Joyce and Souren Mozian.He remained active as a songwriter and behind-the-scenes, and did the occasional live performance to keep his hand in, but by then he was earning a good income from his annual royalties. He married R. Shelly Kunewa of Hawaii and divided his time between their home in the islands and their home in Florida for most of the latter half of his life.
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He continued writing and producing. Randazzo produced and arranged Keola & Kapono Beamer's Honolulu City Lights album for Tom Moffatt's Paradise Records Label. The title song was a hit, the album become a local classic in Hawaii. In 2004, the editors of Honolulu Magazine asked a panel of local recording industry veterans to rank their choices for the best Hawaii album "of all time." Honolulu City Lights was chosen #1.
He busied himself in local production in both Florida and Hawaii, especially the latter, and reportedly enjoyed a very happy second marriage -- his son from his first marriage, Teddy Randazzo, Jr., has also had a successful music career. Randazzo died died at age 68 in his sleep at his home in Orlando, Florida in 2003. (Edited from Wikipedia & All Music)