Julius La Rosa

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Julius La Rosa bigraphy, stories - Singer

Julius La Rosa : biography

January 2, 1930 –

Julius La Rosa (born January 2, 1930) is an American traditional popular music singer who worked in both radio and television beginning in the 1950s.http://www.juliuslarosa.com/julie’sstory.html "Julie’s Story" retrieved August 27, 2009

Personal

In 2008, LaRosa said "Music is ‘a very egotistical thing.'[…] ‘It makes me feel good […]’ and fortunately, I have the capacity to make people feel good who hear me feeling good.’"

LaRosa currently lives in Westchester County, New York.

Arthur Godfrey and controversy

The young sailor’s Navy buddies managed to promote him to Arthur Godfrey – at the time one of America’s leading radio and television personalities, and himself a Naval Reserve officer, whom the Navy often accommodated as a nod to the good publicity he gave the service. The Navy buddy most instrumental in this was George "Bud" Andrews, from Omaha, Nebraska, the seaman mechanic on Godfrey’s airplane. While working on Godfrey’s plane, Andrews stuck up a conversation with Godfrey and told him that he really should hear his buddy sing. They arranged a time for LaRosa to audition in Pensacola, Florida, where LaRosa was stationed. Godfrey was impressed, offering La Rosa a job. Godfrey had LaRosa flown to New York to appear on his television show, with Godfrey ending the spot by saying, "When Julie gets out of the Navy he’ll come back to see us."

Discharged from the Navy on a Friday, La Rosa went to Godfrey on the following Monday, and a week later, in November 1951, he appeared on Godfrey’s variety show. He was a regular on both the morning Arthur Godfrey Time (broadcast on both the CBS radio and television networks) and the Wednesday night variety show Arthur Godfrey and His Friends.

LaRosa was joining a show that was extremely profitable for the new CBS television network. CBS owner William S. Paley disliked much of the show, in which Time magazine article found Godfrey to be vulgar and "scatological". Hearing that William Paley thought the Godfrey TV show ‘lacked movement,’ Godfrey brought on a line of hula dancers and leered into the TV camera: ‘Is that enough movement for you, Bill?’" But CBS management supported the show, which was extremely successful and inexpensive to produce.

La Rosa was on Godfrey’s shows from November 19, 1951 to October 19, 1953. When Archie Bleyer, Godfrey’s bandleader, formed Cadence Records in 1952, the first performer signed was La Rosa. Cadence’s first single, which was also La Rosa’s first recording, was "Anywhere I Wander." It reached the top 30 on the charts, and his next recording, "My Lady Loves To Dance", was a moderate success. As with the other "Little Godfreys", as the cast members were known, Godfrey had discouraged La Rosa from hiring a manager or booking agent, preferring to have his staff coordinate and negotiate on La Rosa’s behalf. After La Rosa’s third recording, and a dispute with Godfrey over his failure to attend a Godfrey-mandated dance class required of all cast members, La Rosa hired his own agent and manager: Tommy Rockwell.Rockwell had worked with Louis Armstrong in the twenties and the Dorsey Brothers band in the thirties.

With hit recordings and his appearances on Godfrey’s shows, La Rosa’s popularity grew exponentially. At one point, La Rosa’s fan mail eclipsed Godfrey’s. A year after La Rosa was hired, he was receiving 7,000 fan letters a week. Godfrey did not react well to LaRosa hiring Rockwell as his manager. After consulting with CBS President Frank Stanton, on the morning of October 19, 1953 (in a segment of the show broadcast on radio only), after La Rosa finished singing "Manhattan" on Arthur Godfrey Time, Godfrey fired La Rosa on the air, announcing, "that was Julie’s swan song with us." La Rosa tearfully met with Godfrey after the broadcast and thanked him for giving him his "break". La Rosa was then met at Godfrey’s offices by his lawyer, manager and some reporters. Tommy Rockwell was highly critical of Godfrey’s behavior, angrily citing La Rosa’s public humiliation.