[ TEDDY RANDAZZO / 1935-2003 ]
Rocker co-produced
‘Honolulu City Lights’
Teddy Randazzo, a 1950s rock 'n' roller who also co-produced "Honolulu City Lights," died Friday at his home in Orlando, Fla. He was 68.
Randazzo met Tom Moffatt in 1957 when their careers had barely started. Moffatt was a Honolulu Top 40 disk jockey. Randazzo, who'd had a Top 20 hit two years earlier as a member of the Three Chuckles, was starring opposite Tuesday Weld and Alan Freed in a rock 'n' roll movie, "Rock! Rock! Rock!"
"We brought him in for a show because of the movie, and he was like a teenage idol here. He was Italian, he was nice and the kids just fell in love with him," Moffatt said Saturday.
Randazzo first hit big here when Moffatt started playing "Won't You Give Me a Chance," the showcase number in "Rock! Rock! Rock!"
"It became a monster hit, and I brought him in several times through the years. The last time was about four years ago. The people here loved his music," Moffatt said.
Randazzo's songwriting hits include two of Little Anthony & the Imperials' biggest songs, "Goin' Out of My Head" and "Hurt So Bad."
None of Randazzo's solo recordings broke the Top 40 nationally, but "Big Wide World" was a huge hit in Hawaii. "Won't You Give Me a Chance" and his 1958 solo release "Little Serenade (Piccolissima Serenata)" also remain popular here.
Randazzo was part of the production team that backed Keola and Kapono Beamer in recording "Honolulu City Lights" in 1978. Randazzo co-produced the album with Moffatt and record industry veteran Frank Day, and based the string section arrangement for the title song on a melody written by the Beamers' great-grandmother, Helen Desha Beamer.
The album won six Na Hoku Hanohano Awards in 1979, including one for the three producers.
Born in Brooklyn, Randazzo grew up surrounded by music. He was a 15-year-old singer and accordion player when he founded the Three Chuckles with Tom Romano on guitar and Russ Gilberto on bass. The trio hit the Top 20 with "Runaround" in 1954, and appeared in "Rock! Rock! Rock!" in 1956 and "The Girl Can't Help It" in 1957 before Randazzo went solo.
Randazzo is survived by wife Shelly; sons Alika, Joshua and Giovanni; and daughters Skye and Dominique, all of Orlando. Two children by a previous marriage, Teddy Randazzo Jr. and Elisa Rose Schwartz, live in California.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
