Perry Como is inducted into the 6th Television Academy Hall of Fame (Live, 1989)

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“In the early days it was just getting the records out and selling them,” he says. “It used to be quite something to sell a million albums. I’ve had my share. We have 20 gold records. Everybody has his job to do.”
Sinatra says, “My pal Perry Como was born the seventh son of a seventh son, and you just don’t get any luckier than that. But it wasn’t luck that brought him the half-century of success, love, and admiration from millions of fans throughout the world, especially me. I’ve always admired Perry’s ability to combine a solid sense of musicianship with a laid-back charm, making everyone feel comfortable in his company. For a long time, people have kidded Perry about his lack of excitement, but, like a well-oiled machine that functions best with a minimum of noise, Mr. C has mastered the skill we all strive to achieve: effortless elegance.”
“I was doing pretty well with my own barbershop outside Pittsburgh and gave that up to be a singer,” Como says. “That’s gutsy, but I figured I could always go back to cutting hair.
“I had a lot of fun with that band. My wife and I had a little car, and we would drive from California to Chicago and Dallas and New York.”
In 1936, Como joined the popular Ted Weems Orchestra. “Then I got a little more serious,” Como says, but I still wasn’t serious enough to give up the shop. I said to my wife, ‘We’ve had enough fun. Let’s get the hell home and do some work and make a living. We certainly won’t make it in the bands.’ You make $150; you spend $200. To me, singing was a lark. It’s hard to make people believe that. But if it hadn’t been for my wife, I don’t think I would be singing today, because we had fun and a few dollars. The man who really influenced all of us was Bing [Crosby], and he was a very dear friend. I used to buy all his records and find out what the hell he was doing and try to emulate him.”
Composer and arranger Ray Charles, who began his television association with Como in 1948, says, “Perry was already a star by the time he went on television, but he didn’t come on like a star. His personality was such that he wasn’t intrusive. You looked at him like a friend of the family, and that’s how he was treated by the audiences. His whole approach is very nonthreatening, which is one of the reasons men like him as well as women.”
Como says, “Television is a medium that you can’t fight. I always compare it to somebody knocking on your door. If you don’t particularly care for their company, you won’t let them in. It’s the same thing with television. That’s why I always began my show by saying, ‘Thank you for inviting us into your home.’ If the audience isn’t happy with you, they just won’t tune you in. That’s why there’s no pretense in television. You can’t put on airs. If you do, you are doomed. If you are a singer, you just do what you do and hope to God the audience accepts it.”
Como’s easygoing manner became legendary. “I got a kick out of live television. The spontaneity was the fun of it. We tried to do the best we could with the best songs available and let it go at that. What we did must have been hitting the right chord, because we were on for about 400 years - a very long time.”
Charles says, “Perry is singing magnificently now. He’s 78 this year, and when he starts singing, everybody looks at everybody else because he sounds just wonderful. When he walks onstage, there’s an aura about him. The whole room feels it. You know you’re in the presence of an important person. And Perry sustains that feeling throughout his performance.”
“There was a time when Perry was going for tone. He was listening to the way he sang, as opposed to what he was singing,” Charles continues. “He sings lyrics now, even though he’s got a big voice if he wants to use it and a big range. There’s great strength at the top of it, but he gets embarrassed. It’s like, ‘I got the job. Why am I singing so loud?’ Perry has a very relaxed and a very soft, lovely voice. Singing is a personal experience for him. The person in the audience is the microphone. That’s why he doesn’t sing loud very often. You don’t say, ‘I love you’ loudly. You say, ‘I love you’ softly, and that’s the way he sings.
Como says, “I don’t know what makes people accept one singer over another. Sometimes they accept the person themselves. Sometimes they accept the music. Sometimes they accept the voice. What I always tell kids who write to me for advice is: Keep singing.”
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