Ron Dante Comments

Those good folks at Forgotten Hits The60sShop@aol.com got Mr. Dante to answer some readers questions. There was a question about his Cuff Links album and his first solo album. Since this was of interest to me I thought someone who reads this site might be interested too. Here is his answer.
FH: Was there more than one LP cover issued for the TRACY album by THE CUFF LINKS? Someone on the list seems to remember it being a couple of GUYS sitting under a tree and wondered if one of them was you ... or perhaps the dynamic duo of VANCE and POCKRISS ... or (shudder ... even worse) MALE MODELS?!?!? (A quick check of the LP cover listed on EBAY shows two girls on the front ... I guess I always just figured that this was "TRACY" ... or might that perhaps be TRACY AND JULIE??? LOL) Was this the ONLY version of that cover that was ever issued???)
RD: The album with the girls pictured on the front cover was the only one. Her picture was done twice and it looked like twins but it was just a teen model the label photographer knew. I've never even knew her name.
FH: Regarding the RON DANTE BRINGS YOU UP LP ... was THIS the album (and series of ads) that you mentioned that DON KIRSHNER took out, promoting the fact that you were the voice of THE ARCHIES? I noticed that this album was released on KIRSHNER RECORDS and figured it probably was ... can you confirm?
RD: I recorded under my own name for Kirshner right after all the Archies success. He took out ads for over a month teasing with things like "Do You Know This Face? You Know His Voice. He Was The Voice Of The Biggest Record Of The Year And Numerous Hit Commercials." Then, after a month, he put in my name under the picture. My album was produced by Jeff Barry and I wrote most of the songs.
FH: Sounds like a pretty good marketing strategy (or, at the very least, an attention grabber.) Unfortunately, the album never made the Billboard Charts. Apparently the public preferred the illusion of THE CUFF LINKS and THE ARCHIES ... between them, they scored six LPs on Billboard's Album Chart! Going back to THE CUFF LINKS for a minute ... after the first album (the one with the hits on it), you walked away from THE CUFF LINKS to concentrate on more jingles work ... and RUPERT HOLMES stepped in to keep the "band" alive for another album ... were you involved in his selection? What were your reasons for abandoning THE CUFF LINKS after one album, especially after a couple of hit singles?
RD: Rupert Holmes was already involved with The Cuff Links since he had arranged the horn and strings on thefirst one. The producers liked him and kept him on when I left.

You can view the Cuff Links album mentioned in this post by clicking here.