Tony Orlando and Dawn enjoyed a stretch of enormous pop music success in the 70s. Buoyed by Orlando’s easygoing charm and the soulful support of backing vocalists Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent Wilson, their easy listening hits consistently dented the charts.
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But none of that might have occurred had Orlando not reluctantly agreed to sing “Candida” in 1970. And even then, he did so without originally taking any credit for it.
A Song with No Singer
Tony Orlando was killing it in the music industry as the 60s were coming to a close. Only he was doing it behind the scenes as an executive for Columbia Records. Orlando had already enjoyed a taste of the pop spotlight, but he thought that his time as a performer had mostly passed.
Back in the early 60s, Orlando enjoyed a few hits as the lead singer of the doo wop group The Five Gents. But as that genre faded a bit, he moved on to working with other artists as a producer and writer. Eventually, he was one of the suits developing acts, with a young Barry Manilow being one of his prominent early finds.
But fate came calling in 1969 and guided Orlando back behind the microphone. This was an era where songs would be composed by ace writers before an artist was even involved. So it was that Irwin Levine and Toni Wine wrote “Candida”. A demo was produced, but producers Dave Appell and Hank Medress weren’t thrilled with the vocals. That’s when they thought of their friend Tony Orlando.
The Reluctant Frontman
Orlando agreed to sing the demo of “Candida” as a favor. But he didn’t think it would go any further than that. However, all involved agreed that his vocals brought the song to life. Why go out looking for a singer when Orland had already delivered the goods and then some?
But first, they had to convince Orlando. The producers were planning on releasing it on Bell Records. Orlando worried that his bosses at Columbia wouldn’t like that he was recording for a competing label. He agreed to let the song out if an alias was used.
The producers came up with the name Dawn. “Candida” came out in 1970 and shot to No. 3 on the pop charts in America. After the follow-up single, “Knock Three Times”, scored big as well, Orlando finally accepted that he had a lucrative singing career in front of him, and the band became Tony Orlando and Dawn. Hopkins and Wilson, who didn’t sing on the first two hits, were then hired to become permanent members of Dawn so that they could start performing live.
Behind the Lyrics of “Candida”
“Candida” tells the story of an “ordinary guy” trying to woo the titular character with promises of a bright future. He starts off by sweet-talking her. “The stars won’t come out,” Orlando sings. “If they know what you’re about/’Cause they couldn’t match the glow of your eyes.”
He then tries to convince her with a gypsy’s predictions. “Said she saw our children playing in the sunshine,” he explains. In the refrains, he pleads for her to run away with him to more bucolic environs and trust in the unknown. “I promise life will be sweeter,” Orlando sings. “And it said so in my dreams.”
“Candida” established Dawn even before Tony Orlando put his name on the marquee. The song won half the battle, and the voice did the rest.
Photo by CBS via Getty Images
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