Anthony "Tony" DeFranco (vocals)
Benito "Benny" DeFranco
Nino DeFranco
Marisa DeFranco
Merlina DeFranco
The five DeFrancos - Benny, Marisa, Nino, Merlina and Tony - were born and raised in Port Colborne and Welland, Ontario, by Italian immigrant parents Antonio and Maria, the DeFranco children all experimented with musical instruments at an early age.
Mr. DeFranco taught 10 year old Benny guitar and, less than eight years later, Benny was busy teaching guitar professionally and winning awards for his playing all over Canada.
Soon after Benny began his lessons, Marisa developed her own talents on the accordion and then the organ. Nino followed by showing his natural ability on the guitar.
The three of them played so well together that younger sister Merlina insisted on a place in the group - so they bought her some maracas. Tony, who was only 4, took to the maracas before Merlina could protest, so Mr. DeFranco bought Merlina a set of drums...and the DeFranco Quintet was formed.
It wasn't long before the DeFrancos were a much sought-after act in their local area. They were in demand for local TV shows, benefits, parades, weddings and church functions. All this time, however, the DeFrancos remained a musical group, singing only during rehearsals.
Mrs. DeFranco, who knew her son Tony had a fine singing voice, asked him to sing onstage at a large banquet in Toronto. Tony refused. Mrs. DeFranco offered him $5. Tony reconsidered. The song was "Hey Jude," and it brought the house down. After that, singing became the DeFrancos' specialty, and they became more popular than ever.
A friend believed in them enough to send their picture to Charles Laufer, publisher of Tiger Beat Magazine, who immediately invited the DeFrancos to Hollywood for an audition.
Once in Hollywood, the DeFrancos did a series of interviews and photo sessions for Laufer and his staff. Their stories and pictures were published in the teen magazines, and it wasn't long before the mail response convinced Chuck Laufer that there was something special about this family.
The DeFrancos took up residence in Hollywood, and the Laufer Entertainment Group (L.E.G.) had the DeFrancos cut three sides. Laufer took the finished songs directly to Russ Regan, President of 20th Century Records who signed the band to the label after only a single listen to the material.
Producer Walt Meskell trained The DeFranco Family, and particularly Tony DeFranco, in preparation for their first album. The first single was "Heartbeat, It's a Lovebeat," in June of 1973. Dick Clark invited the DeFrancos on "American Bandstand" in July, which created more viewer reaction than any other Bandstand guest at that time. In total, the DeFrancos would appear on American Bandstand 9 times. "Heartbeat" would go to sell more than 2 1/2 million copies.
The follow-up single, "Abra-Ca-Dabra", was released at the beginning of 1974. The label decided to strike while the fire was hot and return the act to the recording studio to prepare for the next album.
There erupted a power struggle in the production of second album LP with management telling returning producer Walt Meskell which songs to record while the DeFrancos themselves wanting more hands-on participation. Though they believed in continuing with the same musical tradition, they wanted the elbow room to mature as musicians and performers. Meskell elected to stockpile more of his own original songs while the DeFrancos fought for the right to record one of Benny's original compositions. Alas, the label, producer and management team tethered the act to their bubblegum origins.
The sophomore album, 'Save The Last Dance for Me', contained their third and final Top 40 hit. Originally a hit for The Drifters, the remade title track reached #18 in 1974.
The band's schedule was relentless and in June of 1974 they began an 11-week United States/Canadian tour in the summer and by the fall would tour Japan. Following the tour, they were sequestered for work on album #3. Pressure was immense from the creative team to zero in on the specific type of songs that needed to be recorded. With the success of the Drifters remake it was decided the act should continue the route of revising old cover tunes. Coupled with that came the decision to switch producers replacing Meskell with Mike Curb who'd had great success with the Osmonds. The DeFranco's stuck to their creative guns hoping that the successful formula of the previous two records could be maintained. Ultimately, they lost the battle and were coerced into recording several songs with Mike Curb which proved to be less than satisfactory. By the end of 1974 the DeFranco's had no third album or a recording career.
The band retired in 1979 and the family relocated to southern California. The ladies settled into married life; Benny did production work at Disney studios; Nino owned a music store in the San Fernando Valley; Tony and his wife ran a production company and were handling the careers of several international artists.
Despite their standing Canadian citizenship, the majority of their recordings were disqualified as Canadian Content due to the songwriting and production being American.
In recent years The DeFranco Family have reunited including an appearance at Rhino Records' annual RetroFest and on April 13, 2000 at B.B. King's nightclub in Los Angeles to coincide with a long overdue CD re-issue of their best material on a K-Tel Records 'best of' CD.
Ton DeFranco is currently a real estate agent for the rich and famous.
Singles
1973 Heartbeat, It's A Lovebeat (20th Century)
1974 Abra-Ca-Dabra (20th Century)
1974 We Belong Together (20th Century)
as THE DeFRANCO FAMILY FEATURING TONY DeFRANCO
1974 Save The Last Dance For Me (20th Century)
1974 Write Me A Letter (20th Century)
Albums
1973 Heartbeat, It's A Lovebeat (20th Century)
as THE DeFRANCO FAMILY FEATURING TONY DeFRANCO
1974 Save The Last Dance For Me (20th Century)
2000 The DeFranco Family Featuring Tony DeFranco (K-Tel)
Video
Compilation Tracks
DeFranco Family Official Website
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