Tony Bellus (born Anthony J. Bellusci; April 17, 1936) is an American

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

-born

vocalist Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

and musician, whose first recording was with Shi-Fi Records in 1958. His best known recorded

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetit ...

is "Robbin' The Cradle", a self-composed

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

he recorded in his native Chicago in 1959. The

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, r ...

of "Robbin' The Cradle" contained a number of styles and musical combinations. It combined an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

pop

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

playing an accordion à la

Dick Contino Richard Joseph "Dick" Contino (January 17, 1930 – April 19, 2017) was an American accordionist and singer. Early life Contino was born in Fresno, California. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Contino, and he attended Fresno High School. H ...

, being backed with a basically

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rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and blu ...

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

, augmented with a background Latino vocal group. Upon hearing Bellus perform the song in Chicago, NRC leased the master for the NRC label, and the song peaked at No. 25 on August 17, 1959, and stayed on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for 26 weeks, the most weeks for any Hot 100 entry all within the calendar year 1959. On April 20, 1959, Bellus performed "Robbin' The Cradle" on the Dick Clark ABC-TV weekday-afternoon program, '' American Bandstand''. One week later on April 27 the song entered Billboard's Hot 100 chart at position No. 87, sixteen weeks later it peaked at No. 25 for one week Attempts at follow-ups were hampered when the original National Recording Corporation went bankrupt April 27, 1961. The company reappeared in 1962 under the aegis of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

theatre magnate Frederick Storey. The reorganization and a stint in the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

took the momentum from Bellus' career. In the 1960s and 1970s, Bellus was a singing sensation throughout the Chicago area nightclub scene. He was a mainstay performer appearing nightly at Fritzel's restaurant at the corner of State and Lake Streets in downtown Chicago. Fritzel's was a personal favorite of local and visiting celebrities and dignitaries. In the 1980s and 1990s, Bellus continued composing music, also performing at beach hotels and restaurants on the west coast of Florida, where he had relocated from the Chicago area. The old NRC music library was purchased by Georgia music historian and producer Johnny F. Carter in 2004. Bellus returned to the NRC label with a CD release of the 1959 album that followed the success of "Robbin' The Cradle". Bellus' connection with the new NRC ended with the death of Carter in 2016 and rights for the NRC material reverted back to Bellus. Bellus is re-inventing his career through Bellusci Music Publishing Company and M.M.P. (Marathon Musical Productions), offering two new CD singles: "I Want Florida for Christmas" and "Mackinac Island", which is a remix and remastering of his 1986 45 rpm version.

Personal life

Bellus resides in Florida with his wife Tammy, also a

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

. Directing his attention to Christian music, his desire is to lift up the Lord Jesus Christ through his song, "It Is Finished (e' finito)".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bellus, Tony 1936 births Living people Singers from Chicago American male pop singers National Recording Corporation artists