Andy Williams coming for Valentine show

You’re nobody till somebody loves you.

True, isn’t it?

That’s what Andy Williams says in one of his immortal ballads and he proceeds to remind those loveless, you should find somebody to love...

Williams will sing that song and many others when he does a Valentine concert in Manila on Feb. 14 at the Araneta Coliseum.

Solar Entertainment Corp. and Araneta Coliseum have combined expertise, experience and resources to bring to Manila this once-in-a-lifetime musical event billed Andy Williams Live! One Romantic Evening that will showcase the music of an international superstar who was acclaimed for his incredible vocal technique and natural affinity for the music of his era.

The musical career of Williams started in Wall Lake, Iowa when he began singing with his three brothers in a local Presbyterian church children’s choir and, later, on radio, in the nightclub circuit and on concert tours all over the US and Europe.

After pursuing a solo career in 1952, he landed as a regular performer in 1955 on Steve Allen’s Tonight Show in New York City, which resulted in a recording contract with Cadence Records, where his third single, Canadian Sunset (1956), hit the Top 10.

His other hits were Butterfly, Are You Sincere, The Village of St. Bernadette, Lonely Street and Hawaiian Love Song, for which he received the first of his five Grammy Awards nominations.

With his change of labels following his signing in 1962 with Columbia Records, what was then the biggest recording contract in history, he almost immediately scored his first Top 10 hit for Columbia, Can’t Get Used To Losing You.

Many more hits were to follow, but none would become more closely identified with Williams than Moon River, the Oscar award-winning song from the film Breakfast At Tiffany’s, which quickly became his theme song after his stunning rendition of it at the 1962 Academy Awards.

Although never released as a single, Moon River propelled his albums – from Moon River and Other Great Themes to Days of Wine and Roses, which became his all-time biggest chart hit, spending an incredible 16 weeks at No. 1 and staying in the chart for over 100 weeks. All his subsequent recordings became best-sellers and gave him 18 gold and three platinum certified albums.

During the ’60s, Williams was acclaimed as one of the most popular vocalists in America. Primarily an album artist, he had at one time produced more gold albums than any solo performer except Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley.

By 1973, he had won as many as 17 gold album awards for Moon River, Days of Wine and Roses, The Andy Williams Christmas Album, Dear Heart, The Shadow Of Your Smile, Love, Andy, Get Together With Andy Williams and Where Do I Begin.

He also gained immense popularity by performing the theme songs of such blockbuster movies as Love Story (Where Do I Begin), The Godfather (Speak Softly Love) and Romeo and Juliet (A Time For Us), among many others.

With an incredible vocal technique, an uncanny ability to make each song his very own – often rivaling or surpassing the version by the original artist – plus his natural affinity for the music of the ’60s and early ’70s, Williams emerged as one of the premier easy-listening singers of that era.

Another major factor that helped catapult Williams to superstar status was the launch on Sept. 16, 1963 of his weekly television series, The Andy Williams Show, which became one of NBC’s top-ranked programs that lasted for nine years and won three Emmy Awards for Best Musical/Variety Series in 1966, 1967 and 1969.

By the time The Andy Williams Show ended in 1972, Williams had been acknowledged as a true international superstar, enjoying tremendous worldwide record sales, global distribution of his TV shows, unparalleled popularity in the US and other countries, and several successful tours of England, Europe, Australia, Japan and Asia.

In the early ’90s, Williams gave up most of his touring schedules in order to open the Andy Williams Moon River Theater in Branson, Missouri where he has been appearing six days a week from September to December with electrifying performances that blend music, comedy and dance into a spectacular production that evolved into Branson’s most popular entertainment.

(Tickets to Andy Williams Live! One Romantic Evening concert are priced at P5,500, P4,500, P3,500, P2,250, P1,250 and P450 and are available at Ticketnet outlets at SM Supermalls, SM Department Stores and Araneta Coliseum ticket booth. For details, call Ticketnet at 911-5555.)

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