…and hold out some money…and you’d be surprised who answers. Tony Orlando himself! He’s the guy with the cheesy mustache and the two hot girls collectively known as “Dawn” flanking him on those great album covers of the 1970’s. He crooned his way into our hearts with Knock Three Times (ya know, twice on the pipe), Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree, and the grammatically incorrect He Don’t Love You (Like I Love You). Those tracks went to number one on the Billboard charts, so I’m quite familiar with him. And he cracked the top ten with songs like Candida, Say, Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose?, and Steppin’ Out (I’m Gonna Boogie Tonight).
It’s a really interesting phenomenon: to be this popular and have so many hit songs, so much so that CBS even gives you your own self-titled variety show that replaced The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour… and then when the decade ends, completely disappear. It’s like in the back of your mind, you know this person is out there somewhere, but you have no idea when, where, or if they will ever re-surface.
Fortunately, Tony Orlando did. And I was quite excited when his named popped up as a guest at the Chiller Theatre show on October 25, 2014. But I wasn’t excited enough to shovel over lots of money, so I simply knocked three times and paid the $20 to just get a photo with him, bypassing the autograph altogether. It’s as much my right to do that as it is for him to tie ribbons around trees.
Still he was friendly enough…and clearly glad to be remembered. He even gave Carolyn the opportunity for a bonus photo op as well. He was my first encounter of the show, and it was a very pleasant way to start the day’s encounters.
P.S. His mustache is still there, but I wouldn’t refer to it as cheesy any more.
Celebrity encounters from the Fall 2014 Chiller Theatre Show will continue…
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