IGOR CASSINI present PAT DORN and his SOCIETY ORCHESTRA in dancing 4 debutantes

$

199

The Seeco Records Story  

SWING!
Glenn Miller, Count Basie, Benny Goodman and other legendary bandleaders plied the beat that set Americans Lindy Hopping in the '30s and '40s. However, the popularity of big bands waned during the years immediately after the end of World War II. The end of the swing era saw the rise of superstar balladeers like Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Perry Como, Nat "King" Cole and Rosemary Clooney. However, people still wanted to dance as much as ever. To satisfy this demand, rhythm and blues and western swing came into their own on the West Coast and in the southern and midwestern United States, respectively. Meanwhile on the East Coast, swingin' mambo sounds fit the bill. Jeweler Sidney Siegel noticed the growing popularity of Latin dance music during the height of the war. It was reportedly in 1943 that he poured the assets of his Casa Siegel jewelry store into the founding of a record label. His earliest releases were marketed in Canada due to wartime vinyl rationing; by the late '40s, he'd launched a full-fledged American operation. 

Seeco Records was devoted to the kind of Latin music that Siegel loved. Rival labels would spring up in later years (most notably, Tico Records in 1948) which tended to specialize in the "New York Latin" sound of the most popular mambo bands. Seeco and its sister label Tropical created a niche for itself by seeking out (no pun intended) and recording only the most authentic sounds; and if that meant traveling to some far-flung locale to record, so be it. Seeco's catalogue included not only Afro-Cuban music (the foundation of mambo), but also native music from the French Antilles, South America, Western Europe, the Caribbean and all over the Latin diaspora. Over the next 25 years, Sidney Siegel would aggressively pursue distribution deals and fresh talent in Cuba, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Haiti, The Dominican Republic, Mexico, Spain and Argentina. His upstart independent label became famous both inside and outside the United States due to the pedigree of its product. The sleeve of each new release proclaimed in bold letters "The Finest In Latin-American Recordings." While a fair amount of dross was issued by his label, Siegel did his best to make the claim ring true. 

A "world music" label long before the term had been coined, Seeco was the direct forerunner of present-day companies like Putumayo and Island Records. Although originally intended as strictly a Latin music label, by the late 1950s, its artist roster had diversified to include jazz, music hall and cabaret artists such as Cy Coleman, Elsa Maxwell, Billy Maxted, Tony Scott, continental sex kitten Eartha Kitt and cocktail pianist Hildegarde. The Polyphonics, a trio of eclectic harmonica wizards, recorded for Seeco. A Celebrity Series was launched which featured comedian Alan King and Broadway star Chita Rivera, among others. Seeco's A & R department was run by jazz-based arranger/producers such as Joe Cain, Morty Hillman and Jerry Shifrin. Nevertheless, Latin music in its most exotic varieties, be it Spanish, French or Portuguese in origin, remained the bread and butter of Seeco/Tropical. Sidney Siegel surely wouldn't have wanted it any other way. 

Anyone in the mood to take a musical trip around the world had to look no further than the international section of their nearest record outlet. There they'd find the latest Seeco product by indigenous singers such as Lydia Scotty, Haitian Nemours Jean-Baptiste, Argentinean Leo Marini and Spanish flamenco queen Lola Flores; travelogue recordings by Arturo Chaite covering various European locales; romantic French and Italian ballads as played by pianist Pierre Dorsey and The Aldo Bruschi Ensemble, respectively; and tropical jazz from talented José Melis, a Seeco mainstay who moonlighted as music director for TV's Jack Paar talk show. The label's two top-selling artists both hailed from Havana, Cuba. Vicentico Valdés, formerly the featured singer with Tito Puente's orchestra, thrilled millions of female hearts with his smooth ballad style, while Celia Cruz delivered world-famous rhumbas with her unique brand of industrial strength vocalizing. Housing the exotic treasures that Seeco marketed were eye-catching album sleeves that, in true Latin style, often depicted busty beauties dressed in costumes that barely concealed their feminine charms. Much like those bulging bodices, the Seeco/Tropical tape library is full-to-overflowing with a wealth of Latin music styles. What follows is a brief look at those styles which were favored in the United States, and the Seeco artists who specialized in them. 

CELP-429 (mono)/CELP-4290 (stereo) -

 Igor Cassini Presents Pat Dorn & His Society Orchestra in "Dancing for Debutantes" - Pat Dorn Orchestra[1959] Are You Having Any Fun/Nice Work If You Can Get It/The Best Things In Life Are Free/People Will Say We're In Love/I Could Write A Book/Ridin' High/Sunny Side Up/It's Delovely/So In Love/Everything I've Got Belongs To You/She Didn't Say Yes/A Fine Romance/This Can't Be Love/The Gentleman Is A Dope/Wait Till You See Her/Have You Met Miss Jones/The Way You Look Tonight/I've Got My Eyes On You/Wish I Were In Love Again/June Is Bustin' Out All Over/You're The Cream In My Coffee/Keep It gay/Varsity Drag/The Lady Is A Tramp/C'Est Magnifique

 We would appreciate any additions or corrections to this discography. Just send them to us via e-mail. Both Sides Now Publications is an info.

ONOFRIO, PASQUALE (PAT DORN) Pasquale Onofrio (Pat Dorn), 91, of Branford, passed away Dec. 13, 2014 in Whitney Manor after a lengthy illness. He was the beloved husband of Emily Carol Mulqueen Onofrio. Born in New Haven, June 19, 1923, he was the son of the late Dominic and Theresa DiCandia Onofrio. Pat was raised and worked in New Haven all his life. As a boy, he sang and danced in local musical shows with a group called “The Town Topics”. As the leader of the Pat Dorn Orchestra, Pat attributed much of his band’s popularity to the students and alumni he met through engagements at Yale University. His band played engagements throughout New England and most of the Southern States. He was honored to play at five Presidential Inaugural Balls in Washington over the years. He and his band members had the opportunity to meet and work with many talented entertainers such as Bob Hope, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Helen O’Connell and Bob Eberle and the Harry James Orchestra. His favorite song was Glenn Miller’s “Moonlight Serenade”. Pat was a World War II veteran, serving in California and Japan. Special thanks to all his talented musicians and singer, the late John Fisco, some of whom worked with him for over 40 years. - 

Igor Cassini ascended to the height of his influence during the 1950s, when he was a syndicated gossip columnist for the Hearst newspaper chain reaching 20 million readers. Cassini's popular 'Cholly Knickerbocker' gossip column was in fact a product of a group effort, after he hired a Texan journalist Liz Smith as a ghostwriter, who worked for him during the 1950s and early 1960s. He also was a television personality in the 1950s and 1960s and hosted 'The Igor Cassini Show' in 1953 and 1954, as well as his other television program, 'Igor Cassini Million Dollar Showcase'. Cassini was credited for coining the term "Jet set" to describe the global movements of the rich and aimless globe-hopping travelers.

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