Tony Orlando brings half-century of showbiz, music experience to Thunder Valley

BY JANA SAASTAD

When people think of Tony Orlando, images of the 1970s icon belting out his popular songs “Tie a Yellow Ribbon,” “Knock Three Times,” and “Candida” immediately come to mind. After all, these songs topped the charts for weeks and sold millions of copies, with “Yellow Ribbon” named #37 on Billboard’s All-time Hot 100 Songs.

But before the hits, Orlando was a successful music executive for nearly a decade. And before that he was a young kid (16 years old, to be exact) writing and performing songs for Don Kirshner’s record label for $50 a week on the 6th floor of the famed Brill Building in Manhattan along with Carole King, Gerry Goffin, Neil Sedaka and a group called Tom & Jerry who would later become known as Simon and Garfunkel.

“We were all teenagers with a dream,” Orlando told Placer County Online in an exclusive interview to promote his Dec. 21 performance at Thunder Valley Casino in Lincoln. 
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