Kenny Vance is one of those artists that you have no doubt heard and possibly seen without even realizing it. He was a founding member of the 1960s pop group Jay and The Americans, who were responsible for such hits as \u201cShe Cried,\u201d \u201cCara Mia,\u201d \u201cCome A Little Bit Closer,\u201d \u201cThis Magic Moment,\u201d and \u201cSunday And Me.\u201d He spent 11 years with the group, then became the music director for Saturday Night Live<\/i> in 1980. Branching out into film work, he was the music supervisor for films such as Eddie And The Cruisers<\/i> and Animal House<\/i>.<\/p>\n
The seeds for Kenny & The Planotones were sown during the 1978 film American Hot Wax.<\/i> He appeared in the film with the members of Brooklyn Dreams as Professor LaPlano and The Planotones. During 1992, he and Johnny Gale, Kurt Yahjivan, Jimmy Bense, Chip DeGaard, and Tony Gallino officially became Kenny Vance & The Planotones. The original group remains intact nearly 20 years later.<\/p>\n
The sound can be best described as a modern day doo-wop group. Their use of intricate vocal harmonies looks back to some of the classic sounds of the 1950s and early 1960s, but the production and sophistication of the music is very modern.<\/p>\n
Their new Christmas release, Mr. Santa,<\/i> combines a number of older classics with three newer Christmas compositions co-written by Vance and Gale with assistance from Bruce Sudano and Marty Kupersmith on one track apiece. What it all adds up to is a different type of Christmas album that not only is true to the spirit of the season, but is a nice ride through the music of seasons past.<\/p>\n
Vance owns a voice that is suited for this type of material. He is able to blend effortlessly into the group\u2019s tight harmonies or step out front for a traditional lead vocal.<\/p>\n
The album begins with a composition by Joseph Rock and Kenny Beaumont of the Skyliners; \u201cYou\u2019re My Christmas Present.\u201d This classic doo-wop Christmas song is perfect for a group like the Planotones. It helps to present and define their style and establish the tone for what is to follow. Two originals follow: the title song and \u201cDoo Wop Christmas,\u201d which both serve to introduce the high caliber of Vance\u2019s lead vocals.<\/p>\n
Songs such as \u201cPlease Come Home For Christmas,\u201d \u201cHave Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,\u201d \u201cMerry Christmas Darling,\u201d \u201cWhat Are You Doing New Year\u2019s Ever,\u201d and \u201cI\u2019ll Be Home For Christmas\u201d all serve up some more holiday fare.<\/p>\n
Kenny Vance & The Planotones have managed to bridge the years, as they combine the best elements of the old and the new of the holiday season. Mr. Santa<\/i> is a worthy and unique addition to the Christmas season and should remain so for years to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":30816,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[8772],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-42490","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-kenny-vance-the-planotones","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42490\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42490"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=42490"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=42490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}