|
MY
STORY
As a child I remember being mezmorized by the music, performers, singers
and bands of the earlier "GOLDEN ERA" as I called it, that was so intense
for me that I literally missed the Beatle era of my generation. You see,
my father was a director of big bands in the 50's & 60's. My father, a
reed player during the end of WW2 then with Harry James, Jimmy Dorsey,
etc. started me on this path of singing in my dad's band since I was 7.
Who was my inspiration? Well, Frank Sinatra of course. I started listening
to Frank from day one.
Little
did I know this would lead to a path of an unthinkable dream later in
life.
I remember as
teenagers, my brother and I for hours would listen to Sinatra especially
the album "Sinatra at the Sands" in which I thought was his best live
performance and even thou I was temporarily distracted by being in my
family band "The Allen's" (BELOW) in the 70's, keeping up with what was
current at the time, I still remained in showbiz, on stage, off stage,
in front of the scene’s behind the scenes, went into other business but
could not escape performing these songs, so, in the early 90’s the thought
occurred to me, I didn't want to be 80 years old and miss this passion
that has been haunting me for years. I packed up my bags and moved to
Las Vegas to fulfill a dream. The dream was to keep the spirit alive and
pass it onto the generation of today
MY SINATRA SCREEN TEST
FOR A COMMERCIAL
Click Picture
Always
a Character Actor!
Click picture
below for some of Gary's
short celebrity impersonator video's
DID YOU KNOW GARY WAS
A TEEN IDOL IN A FAMILY GROUP DURING THE 70'S WITH A SLEW OF TV APPEARANCES,
RADIO AND TEEN MAGAZINES?
THE BEGINING
Anthony grew up in Los Angeles in a musical family headed
by his father, a big-band director. Music came naturally to the third
of 11 children. Anthony in his youth found himself traveling with his
father around the country singing in his fathers bands
Below, Gary at 15 in dads band Denver,
CO
After Denver, Gary's father made
a pit stop in Las Vegas for the summer.
Gary auditioned for a show along with his brother called "Vegas Beat
'68"
and for the first time got his professional stage performance impersonating
Frank Sinatra, creating long time friendships with professional performers
such as former "Miss Nevada"
Sandy Kastel
making the charts with her latest
CD today
Some
of the cast below
and later at age 18, alongside three
brothers formed a barbershop quartet
Tony, Ronny, Gary & Larry
that started a life long showbiz career
and later joined by one of his sisters, Mitzi, became known and toured
as The Allens. (The Allens name was picked by management). They topped
the US musical charts in 1975 with the song "High Tide" written
by The Osmonds and recorded at the Motown Studios.
THE
ALLENS: Sample Song
"High Tide"mp3
As THE ORIGINAL
bus traveling real family group toured after nine years, they disbanded,
then Anthony ventured into the world of standup comedy, recording, sound
engineer for well-known groups such as Danny Elfman's Oingo Boingo,
and other L.A. bands.
A FAMILY GROUP PRODUCED BY MIKE CURB PRODUCTIONS
MANAGEMENT: SEYMOUR HELLER AND ASSOCIATES
Allens picture on the bottom left from a Seynour Heller
& Associates flier.
Notice some of the stars including our beloved Liberace
MOTOWN RECORD LABEL: The
Allens were the first caucasian family group signed with Motown
at the time.
Article Below
Teen Magazine articles below
TELEVISION SHOWS (AS THE ALLENS)
1975 JOHNNY CARSON SHOW
1975 AMERICAN BANDSTAND
(Hear
the audio of Dick Clark's interview with The Allens)
The Allens with Alison Arngrim.
Remember the little blond,
Nellie Oleson from
"Little House on the Prairie"
With
Anson Williams of "Happy Day's"
The Allens performed two years at Knott's
Berry Farm's
"John Wayne Theatre" then turned "The Good Time Theatre"
(Below)
Performed for Doris Day's "Actors and Others For Animals"
at the Warner Brothers Studio's in Burbank
Here with Bea Arthur
Jonathan Winters
Performed for The Special Olympics with
Robert Stack Fred MacMurray
|
