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Ted Fio Rito
Ted Fiorito
Theodore Salvatore Fiorito
Bandleader, Composer, Keyboardist
(1900 - 1971)
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Ted Fio Rito was a successful bandleader, composer, and keyboardist on both the piano and Hammond organ. His career spanned over four decades and included many hit recordings with nearly twenty making the pop charts in the 1930’s. Of particular note are his two number one hits, “My Little Grass Shack in Kealakekua, Hawaii” (1934) and “I’ll String Along with You” (1934). As a composer he wrote over 100 songs often collaborating with Gus Kahn. Notable were “Toot, Toot, Tootsie, Goodbye” (with Kahn and others in 1922) and “Laugh, Clown, Laugh” (with Sam M. Lewis and Joseph Young in 1928). Many vocalists sang with the Fio Rito band including Muzzy Marcellino, Betty Grable, June Haver, Kay Swingle, the Mahoney Sisters, the Debutantes, Maureen O’Connor, Patti Palmer, Jimmy Baxter. The band’s popularity declined in the 1940’s but Fio Rito continued to perform in Chicago, Arizona, and finally Las Vegas in the 1960’s.
- Jeremy Wilson |
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