New book from Billy Ingram about 1970's Las Vegas with Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and the sisters they called The Rat Pack Golddiggers!
They were on tour in 1977 with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin when they hit the road on their last successful run together, earning the girls the nickname "The Rat Pack Golddiggers" because they were so beloved by Dean & Frank. The Alberici Sisters share their amazing experiences in this 340 page Oral History of the Go-Go 1970s in Las Vegas and beyond. Here are some of the highlights from - The unusual way these young Italian-Hungarian gals from Philadelphia grew up - no milk, no meat, no sugar, no white bread. Ever. - Barely out of High School, despite having been out on only a date or two, these devout Catholics joined Dean Martin's Golddiggers for TV, Las Vegas shows and touring all over the country. - What was Dean REALLY like? Was he the drunken womanizer he played on TV? - Filming the Dean Martin shows and Roasts with all the stellar guest stars - Orson Welles, Gene Kelley, Loretta Lynn, Dom DeLuise, Ronald & Nancy Reagan, Jonathan Winters, Nipsey Russell, Shirley Jones and many more. - Appearing with Dean in Las Vegas during the booming 1970s & 1980s, opening night at the MGM Grand. - Working with the legendary Louis Prima on his last tour. - In Vegas and on tour they appeared with Jerry Vale, Bobby Goldsboro, Red Skelton, Steve & Eydie and many others. - Missing by a few weeks being the victims of the deadliest mob hit in history. - On the road with Milton Berle, Donald O'Connor and dirty old man George Jessel in the Roy Radin Vaudeville Revue (Roy Radin was the victim in the notorious Cotton Club Murder - he was born on Friday the thirteenth, went missing on Friday the thirteenth, his body was found on Friday the thirteenth with thirteen bullet holes in him. He was also head of the Church of Satan, nothing of which the girls knew at the time, of course! They were and are devoted Christians.). - A near death experience with Bob Hope. - And, of course, working with Frank Sinatra and Dean together for the last time they toured as a duo - including dates at the Sabre Room in Chicago, The Latin Casino in Cherry Hill, NJ, and the mobbed up Westchester Premier Theatre in New York. BEYOND OUR WILDEST DREAMS - This Oral History tells these exciting stories in the words of the people who were there, with more than 350 pictures from this astonishing journey through show business. HERE ARE SOME SAMPLE PAGE SPREADS:
LOOKS LIKE FUN, DOESN'T IT?
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YOU'LL ALSO READ ABOUT LOUIS PRIMA: Louis Prima the most dynamic Vegas performer of all? Maybe. He's been largely ignored but was rediscovered in the '90s. But everyone plays the same Prima songs, they ignore his later period when his entire band, other than Sam Butera, quit all at once to start a musical comedy trapeze act for Vegas. Really, I didn't believe it either. Sam put together a crack combo and they hit the road with vocalist Gia Maione, who took over after Prima and Keely Smith split up. The sound was part Jazz, part pop, part fusion, part funk. It was a bit wierd but Louis Prima had fallen out of favor by the 1970s so the fact he was switching things up late in life said a lot about his artistic integrity. Unfortunately You Tube doesn't have any of those later sounds but here's Louis, Sam Butera and The Witnesses with Gia Maione from The Dean Martin Show in 1967.
Here are some reviews of Billy Ingram's last book, "Jam packed with a lot of really great stuff. It's fabulous! It's full of unbelievable stories and great pictures and really good things and it's just awesome." - WGN Radio "Admit it. There's never anything good on TV. So read a book. In fact, read this book." - Access magazine "A nostalgic, humorous look at television... As a reading experience, it's zapping your way up and down the cable box..." -- Ben Varkentine, Ink 19 "A terrific way to rekindle the past through television memories. A goldmine of fun!" -- Santa Cruz Sentinel "Damn fine. Ingram has packaged the best of TVparty.com into a book and CD-ROM combo. Good stuff!" -- E! Online "Deliciously photo- and fact-stuffed!" -- The Advocate "For the literate couch potato - it was worth killing all those trees..."TVparty!"...is this tube-glued heaven or what?" -- Newsday "Like a box of bedside bonbons, 'TVparty!' is too rich for gobbling at one sitting." -- Frontiers magazine |
