Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 2600:1700:6a30:31b0:c17f:642a:18d3:ef89 (talk) at 06:36, 28 November 2019 (→Love '76). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject. It may require cleanup to comply with Misplaced Pages's content policies, particularly neutral point of view. Please discuss further on the talk page. (July 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Peter Lemongello (born February 11, 1947) is an American singer known for his double album Love '76, the first album to be sold exclusively through television advertising.

Early career

Lemongello spent the first part of his career as a cabaret singer, with several appearances on national TV, including 25 on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. He released his first two records (under the name Pete Lemongello) on the Rare Bird record label to no fanfare. In 1973, he signed to Epic Records. He released one single in December 1973; it failed to chart and he was subsequently dropped from the label.

Love '76

Frustrated by his lack of record sales, Lemongello hit upon the idea of creating an album to be sold exclusively on TV. Using a city-by-city marketing strategy, he and his partners began their Love '76 advertising campaign with an around-the-dial TV blitz in the New York market starting January 1, 1976, and ran commercials on all six New York channels 70 to 100 times a week. Sales of the double album skyrocketed him to fame in the New York area, and the campaign entered Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

In a profile in The New York Times, he stated, "Look what this country needs is a white, male superstar they can hang their hat on. They want him clean, and they want him now. That's why I'm playing it this way. I can be what they want." An acquaintance and fan named Bob Pascuzzi bankrolled a promotional roll-out meant to generate interest from financial backers that would result in a deal for an album and concerts. Westbury Music Fair was rented for one show, and an album assembled with one side recorded in the studio, the other consisting of remixes of his tapes. One concert promoter conceded the show had sold 2,500 tickets but wondered whether Lemongello could repeat his success in cities with fewer Italians and where he had not advertised as heavily.

According to record label database Both Sides Now and a May 31, 1976 article in Time magazine, the album sold 43,000 copies by the end of the commercial's run.

Private Stock Records signed Lemongello in April 1976. He then ended his self-promotional efforts and released his second album, Do I Love You, in early 1977. Shortly afterwards Private Stock closed it’s doors & the album and its subsequent singles failed to chart.

Crimes

Lemongello later worked as a housing contractor in Florida. In the early 1980s he was charged with arson and insurance fraud involving luxury houses his firm was building, but Police then admitted they did not believe him to be an arsonist.

On January 15, 1982, Lemongello and his brother, PBA Hall Of Fame pro bowler Mike Lemongello, were kidnapped from a construction site, Mike was forced to withdraw more than $50,000 from a bank, and both were then left in the woods. Manny Seoane and Mark Lemongello (the brothers' cousin), both former Major League Baseball pitchers, turned themselves in to police and in 1983 were sentenced to seven years' probation for the crime.

Later career

He has performed at many South Florida venues, in dinner theater in Branson, Missouri, and appeared regularly in the summer in Atlantic City, on Long Island, and in upstate New York. In 2012 he had a one-man song and comedy show titled Meatballs, Matzo Balls and Lemon-Gello, and also re-recorded his 1976 song "Can't Get Enough Of You Girl" with producer and songwriter Jimmy Michaels; it appears on the re-issue of the Michaels album More Things Change.

Parodies

Lemongello was spoofed in the episode of Saturday Night Live that aired May 22, 1976, with Chevy Chase playing a singer named Peter Lemon Mood Ring, who changed colors with every song. Chase reprised the parody in his 1989 film Fletch Lives.

Singer-songwriter Will Dailey released a promotional video in 2009 for his album Torrent, in which he is forced by his managers to make a (fictitious) commercial for Torrent in the style of the Love '76 commercial.

Personal life

Lemongello lives in Boca Raton, Florida. He and his wife have a son, Peter Jr., who has been a concert promoter and in 2019 appeared on American Idol.

Discography

• Love '76 (1976), Rapp Records
• Do I Love You (1976), Private Stock Records

References

1. ^ Crandell, Ben (June 4, 2012). "Peter Lemongello, 35 years after his 15 minutes of fame". South Florida Sun Sentinel. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
2. "Peter Lemongello Discography - USA - 45cat". www.45cat.com.
3. "The $390,000 Man". Time. May 31, 1976.
4. ^ Kornheiser, Tony (June 20, 1976). "He Did It His Way". The New York Times.
5. "Private Stock Album Discography". www.bsnpubs.com. Retrieved 2018-04-01.
6. "Television: The $390,000 Man". Time. May 31, 1976.
7. "Private Stock Album Discography". www.bsnpubs.com.
8. Van Biema, David; Hinson, Sandra (July 12, 1982). "Peter Lemongello Fizzled as a Torch Singer But, Police Claim, Not as An Arsonist". People. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
9. "Lemongello Surrenders On Kidnapping Charges". The New York Times. UPI. January 23, 1982. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
10. Streeter, Leslie Gray (November 21, 2014) . "The spirit of 'Love 76'". Palm Beach Post. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
11. "SNL Transcripts: Buck Henry: 05/22/76: Peter Lemon Moodring". snltranscripts.jt.org.
12. Will Dailey Love '76 parody on YouTube
13. Cite error: The named reference WaPo was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
14. "Boca Raton Resident Appears on 'American Idol'". WIRK. Retrieved April 11, 2019.

• American pop singers
• American businesspeople
• Direct marketing
• 1947 births
• Living people
• Musicians from Jersey City, New Jersey
• People from North Babylon, New York