Four Aces--Love is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)

     Before Dick Clark and American Bandstand brought Italian-American male singers to the forefront, the city of brotherly love was already a hub of pop music in the early 50's. One of the most popular of these groups was The Four Aces.
     Founded by Navy shipmates, Al Alberts and Dave Mahoney, they brought in Lou Silvesrtri and Sol Vaccaro to round out the group. They could not find a distributor for their first single, "It's A Sin", so Alberts made his own Victoria record label. It became a hit and a million seller. By the end of the year Decca signed them and they were truly on their way.
     The song itself came from a 1955 movie starring William Holden and Jennifer Jones. Written by Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster, the song won one of the three Oscars that went to the film. It was recorded by many that year, (which was a normal practice) by Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, and Jerry Vale, but it was this recording which went to #2 and is considered the definitive version.
     With the advent of rock and roll, the groups fortunes began to wain, and by 1959 the hits stopped coming, however the group with Alberts at the helm, continue to tour across the country.

Find me on Facebook at "The Rock and Roll Omnibus"
Fine me on Twitter @Rokandrollbus