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VINTON PROVES THAT SAPPY STILL SELLS
Taken from jsonline.com
Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Jan. 18, 2002.
Written by DAVE TIANEN

Very early in his career, Bobby Vinton said, "I aspire to being the Lawrence Welk of the younger set."

That's a rather odd aspiration for a teen idol from the malt shop era of rock 'n' roll, but it's one he largely accomplished. The younger set that turned out to see Vinton for the first of two sold-out shows Thursday at Potawatomi Bingo Casino's Northern Lights Theater is now cashing Social Security checks - but being a Welkian disciple implies a decidedly mature audience.

Parts of Vinton's show could have been lifted right out of the Welk songbook: "Pennsylvania Polka," "Roll Out the Barrel," "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree" and "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling." At one point, Vinton even resorted to congratulating his 12-piece band with "Wunnerful! Wunnerful!"

It's worth remembering that even in his teen idol youth, Vinton was an essentially conservative force looking backward more than forward. A lot of the '60s hits he revisited Thursday were retreads 40 years ago. "Blue Velvet" was an old Tony Bennett hit. "Tell Me Why" was property of the Four Aces.

At 66, Vinton is more inclined than ever to look back. A portion of the show Thursday was a salute to Glenn Miller.

The Miller set served to highlight the core irony of Vinton's career. He became famous for one of his lesser talents: singing. Vinton has never claimed to be a first-rate singer. His voice was and still is high, thin and slightly nasal. As he demonstrated on the clarinet with Gershwin's "Rhapsody In Blue" and on sax for the Miller tribute, he has always been a much better instrumentalist and bandleader than a singer.

Although they probably work fine as nostalgia for those wishing to remember prom night 1963, a lot of his hits were naive and sappy to start with and haven't exactly acquired more sophistication with the years. "Roses Are Red" and "Mr. Lonely" started out lame and have tapered off from there.

Vinton also took a pass at telling jokes. "Have you heard about the German inventor of the miniskirt? . . . Seymour Heinie."

That probably tells you more than you wanted to know about the joke content of the evening.

For all that, I would say the crowd probably loved him. He's an affable old pro who knows how to charm audiences, and he gives them what they want. That can carry you a long way.

Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Jan. 18, 2002.

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