Anthony "Tony" Acquaviva (May 10, 1925 – September 27, 1986"Anthony Acquaviva, Composer, Dies at 61"
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'', October 2, 2011.) also known professionally as Acquaviva, was an American composer, conductor and string instrumentalist, and the founder of the New York Pops Symphony Orchestra. Acquaviva was a graduate of the

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and served in the Army's orchestral division from 1944 to 1948. As a struggling young musician in

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, he roomed with singer

Guy Mitchell Guy Mitchell (born Albert George Cernik; February 22, 1927 – July 1, 1999) was an American pop singer and actor, successful in his homeland, the UK, and Australia. He sold 44 million records, including six million-selling singles. In the fal ...

, sleeping on the floor for lack of furniture and once admitted to the press that the refrigerator there contained only one jar of mustard. He married

Joni James Giovanna Carmella Babbo (September 22, 1930 – February 20, 2022), known professionally as Joni James, was an American singer of traditional pop music. Biography Giovanna Carmella Babbo was born to an Italian-American family in Chicago, Illino ...

in 1956 at St. Patrick's Cathedral in

Bill Bell
"Joni James: A Melancholy Baby Returns"
''

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'', October 28, 2000. and served as her manager and conductor. He recorded for

MGM Records MGM Records was a record label founded by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946 for the purpose of releasing soundtrack recordings (later LP albums) of their musical films. It transitioned into a pop music label that continued into the ...

.Some of Acquaviva's songs are credited to ''Nick'' Acquaviva. (See, e,g., David F. Lonergan, ''Hit Records, 1950–1975'' (Scarecrow Press, 2004), , pp. 67, 110, 156
Excerpt available
at

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.) Some sources treat Nick as the same person referred to in other sources as Tony (See, e.g.,

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, ''Amore: The Story of Italian American Song'' (Macmillan, 2010), , p. 154
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at

.), but another source states that Nick was Tony's younger brother. (See ''

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'', vol. 70, p. 44 (1954)
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.) Acquaviva later fell into poor health, and Joni James retired from performing to care for him (and their two children, adopted from Italy) for the last 18 years of his life. In recent years several authors have confused Tony Acquaviva with his younger brother

Nick Nick may refer to: * Nick (given name) * A cricket term for a slight deviation of the ball off the edge of the bat * British slang for being arrested * British slang for a police station * British slang for stealing * Short for nickname Place ...

, who is the cowriter of " My Love, My Love" and numerous other Joni James hits. Tony Acquaviva did not compose songs which Joni James recorded, however, uncredited, he reportedly (according to Joni James) did write the bridge for the English version of the standard "That's All," a song he also successfully recorded.

References

External links

discography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Acquaviva, Tony 1925 births 1986 deaths 20th-century classical composers American male classical composers American classical composers 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians People from Beacon, New York