Tony Romeo (December 25, 1938 – June 23, 1995) was an American songwriter.
(obituary), ''The New York Times'', June 26, 1995, page B8. He is best known for writing the number 1 hit "

I Think I Love You "I Think I Love You" is a song by Tony Romeo, written as the debut single for fictional musical TV family the Partridge Family, released in August 1970, a month prior to the debut of the ABC-TV musical sitcom ''The Partridge Family'' starring Shi ...

" by

The Partridge Family ''The Partridge Family'' is an American musical sitcom starring Shirley Jones and featuring David Cassidy. Jones plays a widowed mother, and Cassidy plays the oldest of her five children, in a family who embarks on a music career. It ran from Se ...

as well as many other hit records, mostly during the 1960s and 1970s. Other hits written by Romeo include "

Oh Boy (The Mood I'm In) "Oh Boy (The Mood I'm In)" is a popular song written by Tony Romeo. It has been recorded by Diana Trask and Brotherhood of Man, among others. The song is about a woman whose partner/husband is no longer with her and she sadly walks the streets in ...

" by both

Diana Trask Diana Roselyn Trask (born 23 June 1940) is an Australian-born country and pop singer. In the early 1960s she was a regular pop music performer on United States TV shows, ''Don McNeill's Breakfast Club'' and ''Sing Along with Mitch''. From 1968 ...

and

Brotherhood of Man Brotherhood of Man are a British pop group who achieved success in the 1970s. They won the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest with "Save Your Kisses for Me". Created in 1969 by songwriter and record producer Tony Hiller, Brotherhood of Man was initia ...

; "Walking in the Sand", sung by

Al Martino Al Martino (born Jasper Cini; October 7, 1927 – October 13, 2009) was an American singer and actor. He had his greatest success as a singer between the early 1950s and mid-1970s, being described as "one of the great Italian American pop croone ...

, which reached number 9 on the

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

charts in 1970;(No author.) "Fayette County Youth Theatre sets two shows," ''The Valley Independent'', July 28, 1970, page 27: ''This popular story ... has music and lyrics written by Suzanne Buhrer and Tony Romeo. ... Romeo has composed many songs, including Al Martino's hit 'Walking in the Sand,' music for Lou Christie,

Johnny Maestro & the Brooklyn Bridge The Brooklyn Bridge (also known as The Bridge and as Johnny Maestro & The Brooklyn Bridge since the 1980s) is an American musical group, best known for their million-selling rendition of Jimmy Webb's " Worst That Could Happen" (1968). History N ...

, and The Cowsills' 'Indian Lake.' '' " Indian Lake" for

The Cowsills The Cowsills are an American singing group from Newport, Rhode Island, six siblings noted for performing professionally and singing harmonies at an early age, later with their mother. The band was formed in early 1965 by brothers Bill, Bob, and ...

;(No author.) "Partridges hit with new ingredient, old family recipe," ''Charleston Gazette'', March 27, 1971, page 8: ''The Partridges even trade shamelessly in Cowsills-style material. 'I Think I Love You' was written by Tony Romeo, composer of the Cowsills 'Indian Lake.' And Romeo has three songs on the new Partridge album.'' and " I'm Gonna Make You Mine" by

Lou Christie Luigi Alfredo Giovanni Sacco (born February 19, 1943), known professionally as Lou Christie, is an American pop and soft rock singer-songwriter known for several hits in the 1960s, including his 1966 US chart-topper "Lightnin' Strikes" and 1969 ...

.(No author.) "Tune In olumn 'I'm Gonna Make You Mine'," ''Charleston Gazette'' (Charleston, West Virginia), November 11, 1969, page 12 (includes full lyrics and chords). He wrote songs for

The Seekers The Seekers were an Australian folk-influenced pop quartet, originally formed in Melbourne in 1962. They were the first Australian pop music group to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the United States. They were ...

The Everly Brothers The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly (February 1, 1937 – August 21, 2021) and Phillip "Phil" Everly (January 19, 1939 ...

Richard Harris Richard St John Francis Harris (1 October 1930 – 25 October 2002) was an Irish actor and singer. He appeared on stage and in many films, notably as Corrado Zeller in Michelangelo Antonioni's '' Red Desert'', Frank Machin in ''This Sporting ...

UPI. "Composer, guitarist causes big splash" (headline refers to a David Bowie album), ''Las Cruces Sun-News'', December 20, 1972, page 21: ''Richard Harris, one of the better singers, continues to come on strong with "Slides" (ABC Dunhill DSX 50133). All but one of the 12 songs, a finale by Harris himself, were written by Tony Romeo, who conceived the album. Among the songs are 'I Don't Have to Tell You,' and 'How I Spent My Summer.' '' and

David Cassidy David Bruce Cassidy (April 12, 1950 – November 21, 2017) was an American actor, singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He was best known for his role as Keith Partridge, the son of Shirley Partridge (played by his stepmother, Shirley Jones), in t ...

Joe Davenport. "Records" (review of Cassidy's 1972 album ''Cherish''), ''San Antonio Express and News'', February 20, 1972, Sunday One section, page 21: ''At first blush you get the impression Cassidy is more at home with Tony Romeo tunes than with others as he sings 'Being Together' and a great 'I Am A Clown,' on which the true qualities of Cassidy's ability comes forward. among others. His songs were used in such movies as ''

Rain Man ''Rain Man'' is a 1988 American road movie, road Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Barry Levinson and written by Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass. It tells the story of abrasive, selfish young wikt:wheeler-dealer, wheeler-dealer C ...

'' (1988) and '' Gaby: A True Story'' (1987). and the TV program ''

The Debbie Reynolds Show ''The Debbie Reynolds Show'' is an American sitcom which aired on the NBC television network during the 1969–70 television season. The series was produced by Filmways. Synopsis Debbie Reynolds portrayed Debbie Thompson, a housewife married ...

'' (1969–1970). Through colleague

Wes Farrell Wes Farrell (December 21, 1939 – February 29, 1996) was an American musician, songwriter and record producer, who was most active in the 1960s and 1970s. Career Farrell was born in New York, United States. Farrell's catalogue includes clos ...

's Pocket Full of Tunes songwriting agency, Romeo additionally created commercial

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually t ...

s to advertise such products as Breck shampoo, Coty cosmetics' fragrance Muguet de Bois, Pall Mall cigarettes, and

Scripto Scripto is an American company that was founded in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1924 by Monie A. Ferst. At one time the largest producer of writing instruments in the world, it now produces butane lighters. History Early years The company was originally ...

lighters."Romeo racks up 'de Bois'
''Billboard'' magazine, May 17, 1969. Off and on, during the 1960s and 1970s, he attempted to make a name for himself as a singer and recorded solo singles "My Ol' Gin Buddy and Me"/"Mr. Hunkachunk" for

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 1966 and "Go Johnny Go"/ "Doctor Recommended Me a Potion" in 1977 for Lifesong Records. Overall, over 150 of his songs were recorded, in addition to working as a record producer. In 1970, he wrote music and lyrics for a musical-theater version of '' A Dog of Flanders''. He also produced the duo, Good & Plenty (cf.

Good & Plenty Good & Plenty is a brand of licorice candy. The candy is a narrow cylinder of sweet black licorice, coated in a hard candy shell to form a capsule shape. The pieces are colored bright pink and white and presented in a purple box or bag. History G ...

candy). He also wrote and produced the MGM album ''The Trout'' on which he performed along with his brother Frank Romeo and Cass Morgan, and the unreleased solo album ''Moonwagon''. Romeo wrote nine platinum records. His most successful song, "I Think I Love You", was released in November 1970 by Bell Records, the first single released by The Partridge Family. The song hit number one on the U.S. Billboard Pop Singles chart for three weeks: November 15 – December 5, 1970 During the last 15 years of his life, Romeo was a resident of Pleasant Valley. He died at home at the age 56 on June 23, 1995. His death was attributed to a heart attack. Romeo was survived by his mother Irene Romeo Perrelle of Watervliet, and his brother Frank Romeo of Watervliet.''The Sunday Gazette'', June 25, 1995

Compositions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Romeo, Tony Songwriters from New York (state) 1939 births 1995 deaths 20th-century American musicians