#24: Talk To Me by Frank Sinatra

City: Hull, QC
Radio Station: CKCH
Peak Month: February 1960
Peak Position in Hull ~ #2
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #32
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #38
YouTube: “Talk To Me”
Lyrics: “Talk To Me”

Francis Albert Sinatra was born in 1915 in Hoboken, NJ. Sinatra spent much time at his parents’ tavern in Hoboken, working on his homework and occasionally singing for spare change. After leaving school before graduating, Sinatra began performing in local Hoboken social clubs and sang for free on radio stations such as WAAT in Jersey City. In New York, Sinatra found jobs singing for his supper or for cigarettes. He got his first break in 1935 when his mother persuaded a local singing group called the 3 Flashes to let him join. Baritone Fred Tamburro stated that “Frank hung around us like we were gods or something”, admitting that they only took him on board because he owned a car and could chauffeur the group around. Sinatra soon learned they were auditioning for the Major Bowes Amateur Hour show, and “begged” the group to let him in on the act. With Sinatra, the group became known as the Hoboken Four, and passed an audition from Edward Bowes to appear on the show. They each earned $12.50, and ended up attracting 40,000 votes to win first prize—a six-month contract to perform on stage and radio across the U.S. Sinatra quickly became the group’s lead singer, and, much to the jealousy of his fellow group members, garnered most of the attention from girls.

In 1938, Sinatra found employment as a singing waiter at a roadhouse called “The Rustic Cabin” in Englewood Cliffs, on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River, facing Manhattan. The roadhouse was connected to WNEW in New York City, and the Dance Parade show was broadcast live on the station from The Rustic Cabin. In 1939, Frank Sinatra had a #21 hit on the US pop charts titled “It’s Funny To Everyone But Me”, backed by the Harry James Orchestra. In 1940, Sinatra recorded his first Top Ten record titled “All or Nothing at All”, which reached #2 in 1943. In 1944, “I’ll Be Seeing You” peaked at #4 on the Billboard pop charts.

During WWII, Frank Sinatra was a regular in the Top Ten. His hits include from 1940: “I’ll Never Smile Again” (#1) with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra; “We Three (My Echo, My Shadow and Me)” (#3), and “Our Love Affair” (#5); From 1941: “Dolores” (#1), “Do I Worry?” (#4) and “This Love Of Mine” (#3); From 1942: “In The Blue Of the Evening” (#1), “There Are Such Things” (#1), and “Take Me” (#5); From 1943: “It’s Always You” (#3),  “You’ll Never Know” (#2), and “People Will Say We’re In Love”; From 1944: “I Couldn’t Sleep a Wink Last Night” (#4) and “Saturday Night (Is the Loneliest Night in the Week)” (#2); And from 1945: “I Dream of You (More Than You Dream I Do)” (#7), “Dream” (#5) and “Nancy (with the Laughing Face)” (#10).

In 1943, Frank Sinatra was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for “I Couldn’t Sleep a Wink Last Night” from Higher and Higher, but lost to “Swinging On A Star”. The following year, Sinatra was nominated again in the Best Original Song category for “I Fall in Love Too Easily” from the film Anchors Aweigh. 

In the last half of the 1940s, Frank Sinatra continued to be popular on the pop charts. This includes from 1946: “Oh! What it Seemed to Be” (#1), “Day by Day” (#5), “They Say It’s Wonderful” (#2), “The Coffee Song” (#6),  and “Five Minutes More” (#1); From 1947: “Mam’selle” (#1); From 1948: “Nature Boy” (#8); And from 1949: “Some Enchanted Evening” (#6) and “Don’t Cry Joe” (#9). In 1946, Sinatra was awarded an Honorary Award at the Academy Awards for “The House I Live In”, the theme song for The House I Live In.

In 1950, Sinatra had another three Top Ten hits, with his version of “Goodnight Irene” climbing to #5. Into the 1950s, Frank Sinatra’s recordings on Columbia Records became less successful. However, from 1950 to 1952, he hosted The Frank Sinatra Show on CBS. The singer switched labels in early 1953 and he was signed to Capitol Records. His first release was “I’m Walking Behind You” which peaked at #7. In 1954, he won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor for From Here to Eternity. In 1954, Sinatra’s “Young At Heart” reached #2, and “Three Coins In The Fountain” made it to #4 in the USA and #1 in the UK. In the case of the latter, his recording was featured in the film Three Coins in the Fountain won him an Academy Award for Best Original Song.

While in 1955, “Learnin’ The Blues” topped the pop charts, and “Love and Marriage” and “(Love is) The Tender Trap” (from the film of the same name) both cracked the Top Ten. That year Sinatra appeared in The Man with the Golden Arm, which earned him another Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. But he lost out to Ernest Borgnine who won for his role in Marty. Sinatra was also recognized for his role in the film with a Best Actor nomination at the BAFTA (British Academy Film Awards) in 1957. He was also nominated in the Best Actor category for his role in Not as a Stranger in 1956. Sinatra also appeared in the 1955 Academy Award nominated film Guys and Dolls.

Despite the headwinds of rock ‘n roll, Sinatra managed a few more Top Ten hits through the mid-50s including “Hey! Jealous Lover” (#3) in 1956. He also appeared in the Academy Award nominated films High Society and Around the World in 80 Days.

In 1957, All The Way” peaked at #2, a tune from the film The Joker is Wild. The song earned him his second Best Original Song Academy Award. In 2003, he was posthumously awarded a Grammy Award in the Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals in a duet of “All The Way” with Celine Dion. In late 1957, Sinatra released “Witchcraft”.

As well, Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely received a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year. The album won him a Grammy Award in the Best Recording Package category. In 1957, Sinatra won a Golden Globe Award for his role in Pal Joey. As well, Sinatra was on ABC hosting The Frank Sinatra Show from October ’57 to June ’58. In 1958, Frank Sinatra appeared in the Academy Award nominated film Some Came Running. In 1959, the singer also released the single “French Foreign Legion”.

In late 1959, at the 2nd Grammy Awards, Sinatra won Grammy Awards for Album of the Year and in the Vocal – Male categories for Come Dance with Me! In 1960, Frank Sinatra won his third Best Original Song Academy Award for “High Hopes” from the film A Hole in the Head. The song received a Grammy Award nomination for Record of the Year. It peaked at #6 on the UK Pop Singles chart.

In late 1959, Sinatra also released a single titled “Talk To Me”.

“Talk To Me” was cowritten by Edward Snyder, Rudy Vallée and Stanley Kahan. Snyder was born in 1919 in New York City. He studied piano at the Juilliard School, and took a position writing songs at the Brill Building. His songs were recorded by The Fontaine Sisters, Billy Eckstine, Billy Williams, Perry Como, Guy Mitchell, Petula Clark, and others In 1963, he cowrote “What Will Mary Say” for Johnny Mathis, and “Hurry Up And Tell Me” for Paul Anka. In 1966, he cowrote lyrics to “Strangers In The Night” for Frank Sinatra, and “Spanish Eyes” for Al Martino. He died in Florida in 2011 at the age of 92.

Herbert Prior Vallée was born in Island Pond, Vermont, in July 1901. After playing drums in his high school band, Vallée played clarinet and saxophone in bands around New England as a teenager.In March 1917 he enlisted in the United States Navy but authorities discovered he was only 15 years old and had given the false birth date of July 28, 1899. He was discharged at the Naval Training Station in Newport, Rhode Island, on May 17, 1917, after 41 days of active service. From 1924 to 1925, he played with the Savoy Havana Band at the Savoy Hotel in London, where band members discouraged his attempts to become a vocalist. Vallée returned to the USA and got a B.A. in philosophy from Yale. As a Yale student he led the football band and was the lead saxophonist in the Yale Collegians. In 1928, he formed Rudy Vallée and the Connecticut Yankees. He began singing as a member of a trio and as a soloist. He had a thin, wavering tenor voice and seemed more at home singing sweet ballads than jazz songs. But his singing, saxophone playing, and the innovative arrangements he wrote for his band attracted attention from a rapidly increasing number of listeners, especially from young women. In 1928, he started performing on the radio, first at New York station WABC, leading his Yale Collegians Orchestra.

Vallée became one of the first crooners. Crooners had soft voices that were suited to the intimacy of radio; the microphones, in this case, promoted direct access to “a vulnerable and sensuous interior,” or in other words, “a conjured intimacy”. Vallée was one of the first celebrity radio vocalists. Flappers pursued him wherever he went. His live appearances were usually sold out. In 1929 in Radio Review, a reporter said of Vallée, “At the microphone he is truly a romantic figure. Faultlessly attired in evening dress, he pours softly into the radio’s delicate ear a stream of mellifluous melody. He appears to be coaxing, pleading and at the same time adoring the invisible one to whom his song is attuned.”

In 1929, Vallée had a series of #2 hits with “Deep Night”, “Weary River”, “Lonely Troubadour” and “Marie”; A number-one hit with “Honey”, followed by three Top Five hits “I’m Just A Vagabond Lover”, “Betty Co-Ed”, and “Sweetheart of All My Dreams”. Other popular hits Vallée released in ’29 include “Heigh-Ho, Everybody, Heigh-Ho!”, “Lover, Come Back to Me”, “My Time is Your Time”, “Pretending”, “S’posin'”, and “If I Had You”. In 1930, Rudy Vallée had another eight Top Ten hits. His biggest seller was the number-one hit “Stein Song”. He released three songs that climbed to #3 in the USA: “You’re Driving Me Crazy”, “A Little Kiss Each Morning”, and “If I Had a Girl Like You”. Other Top Ten hits that year were “Confessin’ (That I Love You)”, “Just a Little Closer”, and “Sweetheart of my Student Days”.

In 1931, Rudy Vallée had a #2 hit with “When Yuba Plays the Rhumba on the Tuba”, a #3 hit with “Life Is Just A Bowl of Cherries”, and a #4 hit “Would You Like To Take A Walk”. The following year, “Brother Can You Spare A Dime” became another number-one hit for him. He had several #2 hits in 1932 with “I Guess I’ll Have to Change My Plan”, and “Lets Put Out The Lights”. Other Top Ten hits include “How Deep is the Ocean” and “Strange Interlude”.

His other Top Ten hits include “Just An Echo” (#3 in 1933), “Everything I Have Is Yours” (#3, 1934), “On The Good Ship Lollipop” (#4, 1935), “The Old Sow Song” (#6, 1937), and “Oh, Ma, Ma” (#5, 1938). In 1938, “Vieni, Vieni” was his fourth and final number-one hit. In 1947, Vallée’s “The Whiffenpoof Song” was a #7 hit for Bing Crosby and Fred Waring. Between 1928 and 1939, Rudy Vallée had 49 Top Ten hits across the USA. Between 1929 and 1976, he appeared in over forty films. Vallée also appeared on The Ford 50th Anniversary Show, The Johnny Carson Show, The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, What’s My Line?, Batman, Petticoat Junction, and Here’s Lucy. He died in 1986 at the age of 84. For his work in radio, Vallée was inducted into the Vermont Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2011.

“Talk To Me” is a song about a guy who wants more than just getting kisses, and watching their lover scurry away. He also wants conversation.

“Talk To Me” peaked at #1 in Schenectady (NY), Endicott (NY), and Minneapolis/St. Paul, #2 in Hull (QC) and Salt Lake City, #3 in Washington DC and Phoenix, #4 in Dearborn (MI), #5 in Albany (NY) and San Diego, #6 in Boston, #7 in Burlington (VT), Toledo (OH), Portland (OR), Chicago, and Milwaukee, #8 in Los Angeles, #9 in Anaheim (CA), and #10 in Red Deer (AB).

In 1960, Sinatra appeared in the Academy Award nominated film Can-Can. In 1961, Sinatra received four Grammy Award nominations for the single, “Nice ‘n’ Easy”, and one for Album of the Year for Nice ‘n’ Easy. 

In 1962, Sinatra received another Grammy Award for “The Second Time Around” for Record of the Year. That year he appeared in the Academy Award nominated film The Manchurian Candidate. In 1963, Frank Sinatra received a Best Actor nomination at the Golden Globe Awards for his role in the comedy film Come Blow Your Horn. At the April 8, 1963, 35th Academy Awards, Frank Sinatra was the host of the event.

In 1966, Sinatra won a Grammy Award for Best Vocal Performance, Male for “It Was A Very Good Year”. The song topped the Adult Contemporary chart in the USA. As well, he won a Grammy Award for Album of the Year for September of My Years. In 1966, Frank Sinatra had a comeback with “Strangers In The Night” which reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1967, he won a Grammy Award for the song in both categories Best Vocal Performance, Male, and Record of the Year. He also won an Album of the year Grammy Award for A Man And His Music.

He followed up with three more Top 30 hits: “Summer Wind” (#25) which was a #1 Adult Contemporary chart hit, “That’s Life” (#4) which was another #1 Adult Contemporary chart hit, and “Something Stupid” in a number-one duet on the Hot 100 with his daughter Nancy Sinatra. The latter recording earned Frank and Nancy Sinatra a Grammy nomination for Record of the Year. In 1967, Frank Sinatra had his sixth consecutive number-one hit on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart with “The World We Knew (Over And Over)”.

In 1968, Sinatra received two Grammy Award nominations for Francis Albert Sinatra & Antônio Carlos Jobim in both categories Best Vocal Performance – Male, and Album of the Year.

In 1970, Frank Sinatra earned a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Vocal Performance – Male for “My Way”. And in 1997, he received a second Grammy nomination for “My Way” in the Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals in a duet with Luciano Pavarotti.

His final Top 40 hit was in 1980 with “Theme From New York, New York” which peaked at #32 in the USA and #4 in the UK. For the recording, he received two Grammy Award nominations for Record of the Year, and in the Best Pop Vocal Performance – Male category.

In addition, Frank Sinatra had charted three holiday singles into the Top 20: “Jingle Bells”, “White Christmas” and “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”.

Over the decades, Sinatra appeared in over sixty films. In 1970 he received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Academy Awards for his “outstanding contributions to humanitarian causes.” And in 1971, Sinatra was honoured at the Golden Globe Awards with a Cecile B. DeMile Award for Lifetime Achievement. In 1975, Frank Sinatra co-hosted the 47th Academy Awards on April 8, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles.

In 1995, Frank Sinatra won a Grammy Legend Award. That year he received a Grammy Award nomination in the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance category for the album Duets. Then in 1997 he won a Grammy Award in the same category for the album Duets II.

As well, Frank Sinatra has received three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. One in the Motion Pictures category (1600 Vine Street), a second in the Recording category (1637 Vine Street), and a third in Television (6538 Hollywood Blvd). Over the decades, Frank Sinatra appeared in concert in Canada on  occasions. This includes appearances in Calgary, Gander (NL), Hamilton, Montreal, Ottawa, Stephenville (NL), Toronto and Vancouver.

Over the decades, Sinatra appeared in over sixty films. In 1998, Frank Sinatra died at the age of 82.

October 2, 2024
Ray McGinnis

References:
“Frank Sinatra Obituary,” BBC, May 16, 1998.
Tony Oppedisano, Sinatra and Me: In the Wee Small Hours, (Scribner, 2021).
Kitty Kelley, His Way: The Unauthorized Biography of Frank Sinatra, (Bantam, 2010).
Robert Sullivan, Remembering Sinatra: A Life in Pictures, (Time Life Education, 1998).
Charles L. Granata with Nancy Sinatra, Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording, (Chicago Review Press, 2003).
“Frank Sinatra – Concert dates – Canada,” setlist.fm.
Michael Pitts and Frank Hoffman, The Rise of the Crooners, (Scarecrow, 2002).
“Eddie Snyder – Obituary,” Telegraph, March 31, 2011.

CKCH 970-AM Hull (QC) Top Ten | February 6, 1960