1970 single by Dawn
"
Candida
" was the first single released by the American
pop music
group
Dawn
, with vocals by
Tony Orlando
, in July 1970. The song, written by
Irwin Levine
and
Toni Wine
, was produced by
Dave Appell
and
Hank Medress
for
Bell Records
. Appell and Medress originally recorded another singer on the track, but decided that a different vocal approach would be preferable. Medress then approached Orlando to do the vocals. Orlando had been a professional singer in the early 1960s, but now worked as a music publishing manager for
Columbia Records
. Although initially worried about losing his job at Columbia, Orlando eventually agreed to lend his voice to the track.
"Candida" became a worldwide hit, reaching number one in five countries, and the top ten in many others, including number 3 in the USA.
[3]
It was included on Dawn's debut LP in 1970 and later appeared on several compilation albums.
Andy Williams
,
Jesse Winchester
,
Ray Conniff
, and
Bernd Spier
are among the artists who have covered the song.
Background and recording
[
edit
]
In 1970 Hank Medress of
the Tokens
and Dave Appell were producing a song called "Candida" for Bell Records.
[4]
[5]
The composition was written by Toni Wine and Irwin Levine.
[5]
[6]
For the first recording of the song, the lead vocal was done by blues singer Frankie Paris,
[4]
in a style reminiscent of
the Drifters
.
[5]
Paris's performance was deemed unsatisfactory, and a new singer was sought for the track.
[4]
[5]
Medress believed that "an ethnic feel" would suit the song well.
[7]
He asked his friend
Tony Orlando
, whose heritage is Puerto Rican and Greek, to perform its lead vocal.
[5]
[8]
Producer Hank Medress aimed for "an ethnic feel" for "Candida",
[7]
which has "a lilting, sing-along groove".
[9]
Orlando, a former professional singer, had had two top-40 hits in the US in 1961,
[9]
but later moved into the music publishing business; in 1967 Columbia Records chose him to manage their publishing division,
April-Blackwood Music
.
[9]
[10]
When Medress approached Orlando, he was reluctant to perform on a Bell Records single, as he did not want to jeopardize his job at Columbia.
[4]
[7]
Medress reassured him by saying they would use a band name for the release, and that nobody would know who the singer was.
[4]
[7]
Orlando finally agreed, partly because he believed the song would be unsuccessful and would not attract any attention.
[11]
He went into a studio with Appell and Medress, and sang his lead vocal over previously recorded tracks.
[11]
Background vocals had been done by Wine and the Tokens' Jay Siegel;
[4]
[5]
[12]
Orlando was not present when these were recorded.
[5]
By different accounts, additional background singers may have included
Ellie Greenwich
,
[5]
Robin Grean,
[5]
Leslie Miller,
[4]
and
Linda November
.
[12]
[a 1]
Tokens drummer
Phil Margo
and Siegel played instruments on at least one of the versions of the song.
[4]
[5]
The music of Orlando's version has been described as having "a lilting, sing-along groove".
[9]
Release
[
edit
]
"Candida" was released as a single in July 1970 under the moniker Dawn, named after the daughter of either Jay Siegel
[8]
or Bell Records executive Steve Wax.
[6]
[5]
The single reached number one in Brazil,
[13]
Malaysia,
[14]
Singapore,
[15]
Spain,
[16]
and Sweden,
[17]
and the top ten in Austria,
[18]
Canada,
[19]
Denmark,
[17]
Mexico,
[16]
New Zealand,
[15]
Norway,
[6]
South Africa,
[15]
the UK,
[20]
and the USA.
[21]
It also reached the top twenty in Australia,
[5]
Belgium,
[22]
and Germany.
[23]
Billboard
ranked the record as the No. 18 song of 1970.
[24]
Jay Warner, author of
American Singing Groups: A History from 1940 to Today
, notes that the group the Corporation released a different version of "Candida" around the same time as Dawn's.
[5]
The Corporation's recording was produced by Bill and Steve James, and released on
Musicor Records
.
[5]
Warner believes that this version was based on an early, slower piano-and-vocals
demo
by Toni Wine.
[5]
A July 1970 capsule review in
Billboard
magazine of both Dawn's and the Corporation's versions categorized the latter's recording as possessing "a strong blues and
Tex-Mex
flavor", and stated that both singles had "equal sales and chart potential".
[25]
However, although for a short while it seemed there might be competition between the two, the Corporation's single did not sell well.
[5]
Dawn's version was released on their debut album,
Candida
, in 1970,
[2]
and later on the Dawn compilations
Greatest Hits
,
The World of Tony Orlando & Dawn
,
The Definitive Collection
, and
The Big Hits
.
[26]
It has also appeared on various-artists compilations including
Today's Super Hits
,
AM Gold: 1970
, and
Real 70's: the Polyester Hits, Disc One
.
[27]
Covers
[
edit
]
Numerous musicians have covered "Candida", among them
Andy Williams
,
[28]
Jesse Winchester
,
[29]
Jimmy Velvet
,
[30]
Ray Conniff
,
[31]
and reggae artists
Owen Gray
[32]
and
the Pioneers
.
[33]
Foreign-language versions have included recordings in Portuguese by
the Fevers
,
[34]
in Spanish by La Tropa Loca,
[35]
and in German by Bata Illic
[36]
and
Bernd Spier
.
[37]
Chart performance
[
edit
]
Weekly charts
[
edit
]
|
Year-end charts
[
edit
]
Chart (1970)
|
Rank
|
Canada
RPM
[44]
|
25
|
U.S.
Billboard
[45]
|
18
|
U.S.
Cash Box
[46]
|
24
|
|
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Porter, James (2001). "Bell Records". In Cooper, Kim; Smay, David (eds.).
Bubblegum Music is the Naked Truth
. Los Angeles:
Feral House
. pp. 228?231.
- ^
a
b
Viglione
- ^
"
'Candida' by Dawn ? Classic Hit or Miss"
. 21 October 2013.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
Childs 2011
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
q
Warner 2006
, p. 484
- ^
a
b
c
d
Dawn ? Candida (Norwegiancharts.com)
- ^
a
b
c
d
Orlando 2003
, p. 91
- ^
a
b
Bronson 2003
- ^
a
b
c
d
Hoffman 2004
, p. 789
- ^
Ankeny
- ^
a
b
Orlando 2003
, p. 92
- ^
a
b
Orlando 2003
, p. 94
- ^
a
b
Hits of the World (1971-01-09)
, p. 48
- ^
a
b
Hits of the World (1970-12-05)
, p. 72
- ^
a
b
c
d
Hits of the World (1970-11-14)
, p. 53
- ^
a
b
c
Hits of the World (1971-03-13)
, p. 56
- ^
a
b
c
Hits of the World (1971-02-20)
, p. 52
- ^
Hits of the World (1971-01-30)
, p. 56
- ^
a
b
Top Singles - Volume 14, No. 10, October 24, 1970
- ^
a
b
Singles: Candida
- ^
a
b
Hot 100
, p. 90
- ^
a
b
Dawn ? Candida (Ultratop)
- ^
a
b
Dawn ? Candida (Charts.de)
- ^
Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1970
- ^
Top 60 Pop Spotlight
, p. 80
- ^
Tony Orlando: Discography
- ^
Dawn Candida: Overview
- ^
Haney
- ^
Ruhlmann
- ^
Jimmy Velvet Did You Know Elvis?: Overview
- ^
Campbell
- ^
Birchmeier
- ^
Various Artists Roots, Rockers, Reggae, Vol. 3: Overview
- ^
The Fevers Para Sempre: Overview
- ^
La Tropa Loca 12 Exitos: Overview
- ^
Bata Illic ? Candida
- ^
Bernd Spier ? Candida
- ^
"Cash Box - International Best Sellers"
(PDF)
.
worldradiohistory.com
. Cash Box. 12 December 1970. p. 56.
- ^
"Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada"
.
Collectionscanada.gc.ca
. 1971-07-24
. Retrieved
2019-06-14
.
- ^
"flavour of new zealand - search listener"
.
Flavourofnz.co.nz
. Archived from
the original
on 2021-05-08
. Retrieved
2016-10-03
.
- ^
"SA Charts 1965?March 1989"
. Retrieved
5 September
2018
.
- ^
Whitburn, Joel
(1993).
Top Adult Contemporary: 1961?1993
. Record Research. p. 67.
- ^
Downey, Albert, and Hoffmann
, p. 87
- ^
"Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada"
.
collectionscanada.gc.ca
. 17 July 2013.
- ^
Musicoutfitters.com
- ^
"Cash Box YE Pop Singles - 1970"
.
Tropicalglen.com
. 1970-12-26. Archived from
the original
on 2019-07-22
. Retrieved
2016-10-03
.
References
[
edit
]
- Ankeny, Jason.
"Tony Orlando: Biography"
.
Allmusic
. Retrieved
2013-08-03
.
- "Bata Illic ? Candida"
.
germancharts.com
. Retrieved
2012-09-27
.
- "Bernd Spier ? Candida"
.
germancharts.com
. Retrieved
2012-09-27
.
- Birchmeier, Jason.
"Owen Gray Shook, Shimmy & Shake: The Anthology: Overview"
.
Allmusic
. Retrieved
2013-07-27
.
- Bronson, Fred (2003).
The Billboard Book of Number One Hits
. Random House LLC.
ISBN
9780823076772
.
- Campbell, Al.
"Ray Conniff We've Only Just Begun/Love Story: Overview"
.
Allmusic
. Retrieved
2013-07-27
.
- Childs, Marti Smiley (2011).
Echos of the Sixties
. EditPros.
ISBN
9781937317027
.
- "Dawn ? Candida"
.
Charts.de
. Retrieved
2012-09-20
.
[
dead link
]
- "Dawn ? Candida"
.
Norwegiancharts.com
. Retrieved
2012-09-20
.
- "Dawn ? Candida"
. Ultratop
. Retrieved
2012-09-20
.
- "Dawn Candida: Overview"
.
Allmusic
. Retrieved
2013-08-10
.
- Downey, Pat; Albert, George; Hoffmann, Frank W (1994).
Cash Box pop singles charts, 1950?1993
. Libraries Unlimited.
ISBN
978-1-56308-316-7
.
- Haney, Shawn M.
"Andy Williams Love Story: Overview"
.
Allmusic
. Retrieved
2013-07-27
.
- "Hits of the World"
.
Billboard
. 1970-11-14
. Retrieved
2013-07-26
.
- "Hits of the World"
.
Billboard
. 1970-12-05
. Retrieved
2013-07-26
.
- "Hits of the World"
.
Billboard
. 1971-01-09
. Retrieved
2013-07-26
.
- "Hits of the World"
.
Billboard
. 1971-01-30
. Retrieved
2013-08-10
.
- "Hits of the World"
.
Billboard
. 1971-02-20
. Retrieved
2013-07-26
.
- "Hits of the World"
.
Billboard
. 1971-03-13
. Retrieved
2013-07-26
.
- Hoffman, Frank (2004).
Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound, Volume 1
. CRC Press.
ISBN
9780203484272
.
- "Hot 100"
.
Billboard
. 1970-10-10
. Retrieved
2012-09-22
.
- Huey, Steve.
"Dawn: Biography"
.
Allmusic
. Retrieved
2013-08-03
.
- "Jimmy Velvet Did You Know Elvis?: Overview"
.
Allmusic
. Retrieved
2013-07-27
.
- "La Tropa Loca 12 Exitos: Overview"
.
Allmusic
. Retrieved
2013-07-27
.
- Orlando, Tony, with Patsi Bale Cox (2003).
Halfway to Paradise
. Macmillan.
ISBN
9780312319748
.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link
)
- Ruhlmann, William.
"Jesse Winchester A Touch on the Rainy Side: Overview"
.
Allmusic
. Retrieved
2013-07-27
.
- "Singles: Candida"
.
Theofficialcharts.com
. Retrieved
2012-09-20
.
- "The Fevers Para Sempre: Overview"
.
Allmusic
. Retrieved
2013-07-27
.
- "Tony Orlando: Discography"
.
TonyOrlando.com
. Retrieved
2013-08-10
.
- "Top Singles - Volume 14, No. 10, October 24, 1970"
.
RPM
. 1970-10-24. Archived from
the original
on May 28, 2013
. Retrieved
2012-09-20
.
- "Top 60 Pop Spotlight"
.
Billboard
. 1970-07-11
. Retrieved
2013-08-10
.
- "Various Artists Roots, Rockers, Reggae, Vol. 3: Overview"
.
Allmusic
. Retrieved
2013-07-27
.
- Viglione, Joe.
"Dawn Candida: Overview"
.
Allmusic
. Retrieved
2013-08-03
.
- Warner, Jay (2006).
American Singing Groups: A History from 1940 to Today
. Hal Leonard Corporation. p.
484
.
ISBN
9780634099786
.
candida dawn.