Ralph F. Palladino (born April 1938), known as Ralph Dino, and John Anthony Sembello (February 22, 1945 - May 1, 2013), were an American singing and songwriting duo in the early 1970s. They recorded one album together, which included the original version of the song "

Pearl's a Singer "Pearl's a Singer" is a song made famous by the British singer Elkie Brooks, as taken from her 1977 album ''Two Days Away'' which was produced by the song's co-writers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. The original version of "Pearl's a Singer" ha ...

", co-written with leading songwriters and record producers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, and later a hit in the UK for Elkie Brooks.

Dino & Sembello

Dino and Sembello, both from Philadelphia, co-wrote three tracks on The Lovin' Spoonful's 1969 album '' Revelation: Revolution '69'' and wrote together for The Turtles,

Sergio Mendes Sergio may refer to: * Sergio (given name), for people with the given name Sergio * Sergio (carbonado), the largest rough diamond ever found * ''Sergio'' (album), a 1994 album by Sergio Blass * ''Sergio'' (2009 film), a documentary film * ''Se ...

and

Tim Hardin James Timothy Hardin (December 23, 1941 – December 29, 1980) was an American folk and blues musician and composer. As well as releasing his own material, several of his songs, including " If I Were a Carpenter" and "Reason to Believe", becam ...

. They first recorded together in 1970, releasing the single "See the Light" on the Date label, a subsidiary of

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

. In 1974, they worked with Leiber and Stoller, and released the album ''Dino & Sembello'' on the A&M label. All the songs were jointly credited to Dino, Sembello, Leiber and Stoller, and were produced by Leiber and Stoller. The songs included the singles "Dancin' Jones" / "Jump the Canyon" and "The Best Thing" / "Pearl's a Singer". "The Best Thing" was recorded by

Peggy Lee Norma Deloris Egstrom (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002), known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress, over a career spanning seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalis ...

, and became a minor R&B hit for

Billy Eckstine William Clarence Eckstine (July 8, 1914 – March 8, 1993) was an American jazz and pop singer and a bandleader during the swing and bebop eras. He was noted for his rich, almost operatic bass-baritone voice. In 2019, Eckstine was posthumously ...

in 1976. The following year "Pearl's a Singer" was recorded by English singer Elkie Brooks, also produced by Leiber and Stoller, and reached no.8 on the

UK singles chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

.Songs written by Jerry Leiber
''MusicVF.com'', Retrieved 19 August 2014Dino & Sembello
A&M Records, ''onamrecords.com'', Retrieved 20 August 2014 Both "Pearl's a Singer" and another song from the album, "Neighborhood", featured in the

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

revue of Leiber and Stoller's songs, ''

Smokey Joe's Cafe Smokey Joe, Smokey Joe's or Smoky Joe's may refer to: Nickname * Joe Barton, Texan Congressman, nicknamed "Smokey Joe" for defending industries against pollution controls * Smokey Joe Baugh (1932–1999), American rockabilly musician * Happy Finne ...

''.

Later, individual careers

Dino

From 1979, Ralph Dino worked as a performer and songwriter with pianist Larry DiTommaso. They wrote "She's Over Me", recorded by

Teddy Pendergrass Theodore DeReese Pendergrass (March 26, 1950 – January 13, 2010) was an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter. He was born in Kingstree, South Carolina. Pendergrass spent most of his life in the Philadelphia area, and initially rose to musi ...

in 1981, and in 1985 wrote Jermaine Jackson's hit " Do What You Do", which reached no.13 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

and no.6 on the UK singles chart. The recording won a gold record, and was recognized by

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

as one of the most performed songs of 1985. The pair reunited to perform in 2014."A very special night with Dino and DiTommaso"
''Ticketfly.com'', Retrieved 20 August 2014 Dino is also the President of RaRaLa Music.

Sembello

John Sembello was the brother of musicians

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...

and Daniel Sembello. He later co-wrote the song "Eye to Eye" with his two brothers and Don Freeman. Included on

Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan (), is an American singer. Her career has spanned more than five decades, beginning in the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus. Known as the " Qu ...

's 1984 album '' I Feel for You'', the song reached no. 16 on the UK singles chart in 1985. John Sembello died in 2013 at the age of 68.Obituary, John A. Sembello
Stretch Funeral Home, ''stretchfuneralhome.com'', Retrieved 20 August 2014

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dino and Sembello American musical duos American songwriting teams