The “Golden Hits Of The 60s”
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CUFF LINKS
“TRACY”
(Lee Pockriss, Paul Vance)
Decca 32533
No. 9 October 25, 1969
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“I had two different singles in the Top 10 at the same time under two different group names and nobody
seemed to notice,” Ron Dante, lead singer for the Archies and multi-tracked voice of the Cuff Links, told
DISCoveries’ Gary Theroux. “I couldn’t believe it, ’cause my voice sounded the same. The same week that
‘Tracy’ entered the Top 10, ‘Sugar Sugar’ was the number-one record in the country. I even had a third
record out as the Pearly Gate [“Free;’ 1969]. It was yet another of my ghost groups.”
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Ron Dante was born Carmine Granito, on Staten Island, New York, on August 22,1945. When he was 11
years old, he fell out of a tree, and learned how to play the guitar as he recuperated. A year later, he was
fronting the Persuaders, a junior-high band made up of fellow classmates. By 1963, Carmine was working as
a “runner” for an accounting firm, and he would drop by 1619 Broadway (the famed Brill Building) to knock
on doors in hopes of selling off some of his songs.
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Don Kirshner hired Carmine as a staff songwriter for Kirshner’s Aldon Music and renamed him “Ron
Dante.” When Tony Orlando, Kirshner’s top demo maker, left to pursue a solo career, Ron was called in to
fill the void. In that capacity, he cut background tracks for Neil Diamond, Jay & The Americans, Andy Kim,
and The McCoys. He also did demos for songs that would eventually be recorded by the Animals, Ronnie
Dove, Gene Pitney, and the Vogues.
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In 1965, one of Dante’s demos was issued as the DETERGENT’s–“Leader of the Laundromat,” a parody of
the Shangri-Las’ “Leader of the Pack.” was a smash. Four years later, Ron sang lead on the Archies’ “Sugar
Sugar” (#1, 1969). At that time, he was struggling to establish a solo career, but decided to do some singing,
songwriting, and producing for the cartoon group. ” I did the singing for the Archies, yes, but I didn’t want
to become a star from that. I just wanted to earn some money to pay some rent. When those records first
hit the charts, I just hid.”
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As for the Cuff Links, “Tracy” was a song that a friend handed to Dante. Ron agreed to record it, so he
overdubbed his vocal tracks to sound like a group of singers. He refused to tour behind it because he was
“in a ghost-group phase.” But he did consent to doing just one album (Tracy, 1969). “When the royalty
check came in, Paul Vance called me up and said, ‘Well, are you ready for the next album?’ I said, ‘What
next album?’ I told you I was going to do just one LP and that’s it. Now where’s my money?'”
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Ron did get his money and Vance did get a second Cuff Links album, but not with Dante’s involvement.
Called in to substitute was Rupert Holmes, the arranger on the group’s first LP and later quite a successful
singer/songwriter in his own right.
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