Goin’ out of our heads for The Lettermen

MANILA, Philippines - Famous vocal group The Lettermen, composed of Tony Butala, Donovan Tea and Bobby Poynton, are coming again to the Philippines, this time for a special Christmas show this November, something they have never done be- fore in past visits to the country. Their much-anticipated repertoire will feature favorite Christmas carols combined with the group’s greatest hits, much loved by Filipinos.

Their scheduled performances are Nov. 11 at the Newport Performing Arts Theater located at Resorts World Manila; Nov. 12 at the Manila Hotel Tent in a benefit of the Bohol earthquake victims; Nov. 15 at Dottie’s Place in Butuan City, and Nov. 16 at the Rose Memorial Auditorium in Iloilo City.

The Lettermen name first appeared in February of 1958 on the marquee of the Desert Inn Hotel Resort Showroom in Las Vegas Nevada, where Butala, Mike Barnett and Talmadge Russell performed in the record-shattering revue, “Newcom- ers of 1928.”

By 1960, The Lettermen — now com- posed of Butala, Jim Pike and Bob Engemann — were signed to Capitol Records. For their debut Capitol single record in the summer of 1961, Capitol Records decided to put out The Way You Look To- night. Soft, melodic and romantic, it was a departure from the rock ‘n’ roll of the day and listener requests made it a must for DJ play lists nationwide. The song shot to No. 13 on the Billboard chart. The group’s second single that year did even better: When I Fall In Love, another soft, slow ballad hit No. 7, establishing The Lettermen as the most romantic singing group of the ‘60s.

The next year, Come Back Silly Girl reached No.17 and The Lettermen’s debut album, “A Song for Young Love,” hit the Top 10, their first of 32 straight Top 40 Albums.

Butala’s breathy vocals were the lead on most of The Lettermen many hit records, except Theme From A Summer Place. In almost every poll, The Lettermen were named Best New Group or Best Vocal Group as two more albums followed in 1962 — “Once Upon A Time” and “Jim, Tony and Bob,” the latter an effort to segue away from The Lettermen name.

The ‘60s and early ‘70s saw The Lettermen score over 25 chart hit singles, including Theme From A Summer Place (No. 16, 1965, from the Sandra Dee/Troy Donahue film), Goin’ Out of My Head/Can’t Take My Eyes Off You (No. 7, 1968, the first hit record ever to completely integrate two songs as one) and Hurt So Bad (No. 12, 1969).

Their signature sound made romantic standards of songs such as Smile, Put Your Head On My Shoulder, Shangri-La, Love, Traces/Memories and on and on.

Among those 32 consecutive albums, which charted in the Top 100 in the United States, four were certified gold: “The Let- termen!!!... And Live!” (1967) “Goin’ Out of My Head” (1968), “Best of The Lettermen” (1969) and “Hurt So Bad”(1970). Their All-American, clean-cut, no- drugs image may have been a drawback in the hard rock era of the ‘60s and ‘70s, but The Lettermen stood by their sound and image. Says Butala, “I never thought people who did drugs were hip.”

Even as the British Invasion dimmed American artist record sales in the ‘60s, television and concert appearances sustained The Lettermen career. They are that rare group that can perform anywhere from small college campuses to the posh Empire Room at The Waldorf Astoria in New York City; from the Iowa State Fair to main showrooms in Las Vegas, Nevada; from U.S.O. shows in the jungles of Thai- land and Cambodia to elegant concert halls with the world’s most renowned symphony orchestras.

Over its 50 years, the trio has gone through a few personnel changes. Engemann left in 1967, replaced by Gary Pike, Jim Pike’s younger brother. A few years later, due to vocal problems, Jim left the group and was replaced by his even younger brother, Donny Pike. The group stayed stable, with this combination all through the ‘70s and early ‘80s led by the constant member Tony Butala. Since then, Mark Preston, Ernie Pontiere, Bobby Poynton, Darren Dowler, Don Campeau, Chad Nichols and Donovan Tea, have each had stints as members of The Let- termen.

The Lettermen 2013 Philippine Tour is sponsored by Air 21, Sixt Car Rental, 2nd Avenue, Dival Universal, Jack TV, Jack City, The Philippine STAR, Manila Bulletin and BusinessWorld and produced by Ovation Productions.

For show tickets call 908-8000 loc. 7700 for Resorts World, 527-0011 and 911-5615 for the Manila Hotel, 0946-5813354 for Butuan, and 0932-3290573 for Iloilo.