Art and Dotty Todd

Art and Dotty Todd were an American husband and wife singing duo who reached the Top Ten in the UK and the US with the respective hits "Broken Wings" (1953) and "Chanson D'Amour" (1958).

Dotty Todd was born Doris Dabb in Elizabeth NJ on 22 June 1913. She studied piano from an early age, giving a piano recital at Carnegie Hall at the age of 13. She was performing at the Providence Biltmore Hotel in Rhode Island when she met Art Todd born Arthur William Todd in Baltimore MD 11 March 1914 - a guitarist/vocalist also playing a gig at the Biltmore; the pair met as a result of the Biltmore accidentally booking them into the same suite. The couple married in 1941 and - subsequent to Art Todd's stint in the army where he worked in an entertainment unit - Art and Dotty Todd settled in Sherman Oaks CA (as of 1947) with a gig at the Shadow Mountain Club in Palm Desert, California inaugurating a career on the California lounge circuit; Art and Dotty Todd also eventually sang on their own radio show. The duo cut records including "Heavenly Heavenly" for RCA Victor in 1952: the single flopped but when the song which served as its B-side: "Broken Wings" became a hit in the UK for the Stargazers the Art and Dotty Todd version had a UK release charting at #6 (the Stargazers' version reached #1 while another version by Dickie Valentine reached #12).

In 1958 Art and Dotty Todd were the resident act at the Chapman Park Hotel in Los Angeles; Art Todd recalls how that year "[composer] Wayne Shanklin stopped us one day and said, 'I've got a great song for you.'" Art and Dotty Todd cut a demo of "Chanson D'Amour" which was shopped to Era Records who released the demo track as a single. According to Art Todd: "The airplay was just sensational. This was just at the beginning of rock 'n' roll and the old-time DJs hated rock 'n' roll and they jumped on our song." Art and Dotty Todd's "Chanson D'Amour" reached #6 in April 1958.

Art and Dotty Todd continued to record for Era and then for Dart Records but were unable to overcome the increasing dominance of radio airplay by rock 'n' roll remaining one hit wonders. With "Chanson D'Amour" failing to chart as a single in the UK - where a remake by the Manhattan Transfer would spend three weeks at #1 in 1977 - Art and Dotty Todd also remained one hit wonders in the UK. The duo are in the unique position of being one hit wonders both the US and the UK with different hits which reached the same chart position, as "Broken Wings" reached #6 UK and "Chanson D'Amour" reached #6 US.^[1] and "Chanson D'Amour (Song of Love)" respectively. The latter track sold over one million copies, with gold disc status.^[2]

The success of "Chanson D'Amour" allowed Art and Dotty Todd to pursue their nightclub career at a higher-profile level: they regularly played the Dunes in Las Vegas where they set a consecutive longevity record for playing one room (the Top o' the Strip) for 68 weeks (reported in Billboard magazine 27 August 1966). In 1980 the duo relocated to Honolulu Hawaii where they opened their own club. Dotty Todd died Los Angeles 12 December 2000 at the age of 87 three months after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Art Todd died 10 October 2007 of congestive heart failure in Honolulu.

References

1. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 561. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. 
2. ^ Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 96. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.