Captain & Tennille
Captain & Tennille were a popular American music duo that achieved their greatest success in the 1970s with hits like Love Will Keep Us Together , The Way I Want to Touch You (1975), Lonely Nights (Angel Face) , Shop Around , Muskrat Love (1976) and Do That to Me One More Time (1979/80) celebrated. It consisted of the singer and pianist Toni Tennille (* 1940) and her then husband and arranger of the group, Daryl Dragon (1942-2019).
Started with the Beach Boys
Daryl Dragon began his musical career with the American pop band The Beach Boys . Singer Mike Love soon gave Daryl Dragon the nickname "Captain Keyboard" because of his skills; since then Dragon has called himself "The Captain". Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson in particular soon recognized Daryl Dragon's talent and began to work with him. Dennis Wilson and Daryl Dragon released the single "Sound of Free / Lady" in 1969 under the band name "Rumbo", which, however, only sold moderately. Dennis and Daryl still wanted to record an entire album. They worked on their songs during the tour breaks between 1970 and 1972, which they wanted to publish on the album "Poops / Hubba Hubba". However, the project was never realized; however, two songs from these recording sessions were incorporated into Beach Boys albums.
(Gerald_Ford_Library)_(cropped).jpg)
At the beginning of the 1970s Toni Tennille - who had been active as a background singer until then - also joined the Beach Boys stage band as keyboard player, and both musicians went on tour with the Beach Boys. They soon noticed that they got along very well, both musically and personally.
Further career
The career began slowly. They first appeared as "The Dragons" in Los Angeles. They recorded their first single "The Way I Want to Touch" at their own expense and distributed it through a record company they founded themselves. To do this, they sent pressings of the single to already well-known record labels, as they were hoping for a record deal. This move should pay off for the duo, who had already achieved considerable notoriety in California. A&M Records signed the duo, which was henceforth called "The Captain & Tennille".
Their first single, which they released on A&M Records, was a remake of the song "Love Will Keep Us Together" by Neil Sedaka . It brought an intoxicating success. The single sold over 3 million times and became number 1 as well as the most successful single in 1975 and also the best-selling single of their record company A&M Records.
Their debut album "Love Will Keep Us Together" - which includes a song written by Dennis Wilson and Daryl Dragon - rose to number 2 on the US Billboard charts and impressively underpinned the duo's success.
The duo landed further chart successes over the next five years and brought two more albums into the top 20 of the charts. Just at the time when interest in the duo was gradually waning and they had found a new record company with Casablanca Records, they landed their second No. 1 hit "Do That to Me One More Time" in 1980. However, they could never repeat the success of their debut works. When Neil Bogart, chairman of their record company, died in 1982 and the record company broke up, they were left without a record deal. CBS offered the duo a contract, but they did not fit into the company concept, which is why a contract was not concluded.
In the TV series Vegas they then had an eye for eye a guest appearance at a weapons exhibition.
After 1982 Toni Tennille began a solo career. In the early 1990s, Captain & Tennille returned sporadically to the stage, comeback attempts in 1995 and 2002 failed. In 2006 they released their last studio album to date, although this was also relatively unsuccessful.
Even during their solo career, Dragon and Tennille continued to work in the studio with other artists, Tennille as a singer, Dragon as a keyboardist and arranger. Mostly they were involved in projects by Beach Boy Bruce Johnston , as well as Art Garfunkel , Elton John and of course the Beach Boys themselves.
After 39 years of marriage, the couple filed for divorce in January 2014. In 2016 the autobiography Toni Tennille: A Memoir was published , which Toni had written with her niece Caroline Tennille St. Clair. In this book, the singer revealed not only the experiences of her career but also details about the failure of her marriage.
Daryl Dragon died of kidney failure on January 2, 2019.
Discography
Studio albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
 US
|
|||
| 1975 | Love Will Keep Us Together |
US2  (104 weeks)US |
|
| 1976 | Song Of Joy |
US9  (61 weeks)US |
|
| 1977 | Come in from the rain |
US18th (15 weeks)US |
|
| 1978 | Dream |
US131 (30 weeks) US |
|
| 1979 | Make your move |
US23 (24 weeks)US |
More studio albums
- 1981: Keeping Our Love Warm
- 1982: More Than Dancing (released only in Australia)
- 1995: Twenty Years Of Romance
- 2002: More Than Dancing… Much More
- 2006: The Secret Of Christmas
Compilations
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
|
US
|
|||
| 1977 | Greatest hits |
US55 (12 weeks)US |
More compilations
- 1980: 20 greatest hits
- 1981: Scrapbook
- 1993: A&M Gold Series: Captain & Tennille
- 1997: Captain & Tennille
- 1998: A&M Digitally Remastered Best
- 2001: Ultimate Collection
- 2005: 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Captain & Tennille
- 2005: Songs of Joy: The Complete Captain & Tennille Collection
- 2005: Saving Up Christmas - Tahoe Snow
- 2013: ICON
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 CH
|
 UK
|
US
|
|||
| 1975 | Love Will Keep Us Together Love Will Keep Us Together |
- | - |
UK32 (5 weeks) UK |
US1 (23 weeks)US |
|
| Por Amor Viviremos |
- | - | - |
US49 (6 weeks) US |
Spanish version of Love Will Keep Us Together
|
|
| The Way I Want to Touch You Love Will Keep Us Together |
- | - |
UK28 (6 weeks) UK |
US4th (17 weeks)US |
||
| 1976 | Lonely Night (Angel Face) Song Of Joy |
- | - | - |
US3 (19 weeks)US |
|
| Shop Around Song Of Joy |
- | - | - |
US4th (16 weeks)US |
||
| Muskrat Love Song Of Joy |
- | - | - |
US4th (20 weeks)US |
||
| 1977 | Can't Stop Dancin ' Come in From the Rain |
- | - | - |
US13 (12 weeks) US |
|
| Come in From the Rain Come in From the Rain |
- | - | - |
US61 (7 weeks) US |
||
| 1978 | I'm on my way dream |
- | - | - |
US74 (6 weeks) US |
|
| You Never Done It Like That Dream |
- | - |
UK63 (3 weeks) UK |
US10 (22 weeks) US |
||
| You need a woman tonight dream |
- | - | - |
US40 (10 weeks) US |
||
| 1979 | Do That to Me One More Time Make Your Move |
DE33 (10 weeks) DE |
CH5 (8 weeks) CH |
UK7 (10 weeks) UK |
US1 (27 weeks)US |
|
| Love On A Shoestring Make Your Move |
- | - | - |
US55 (7 weeks) US |
||
| Happy Together (A Fantasy) Make Your Move |
- | - | - |
US53 (6 weeks) US |
||
More singles
- 1977: Circles
- 1980: This Is Not The First Time
- 1980: Keeping Our Love Warm
Video albums
- 2005: The Ultimate Collection
- 2007: The Christmas Show
- 2007: Captain & Tennille in New Orleans
- 2007: Captain & Tennille in Hawaii
- 2007: Songbook
literature
- Stambler, Irwin: The Encyclopedia Of Pop, Rock And Soul . 3rd revised edition, New York City, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989, pp. 95f - ISBN 0-312-02573-4 .
Web links
- Captain and Tennille at Discogs (English)
- Website of the band
Individual evidence
- ^ Diana Reese: Captain and Tennille, musical duo of the '70s, divorcing after 39 years of marriage. The Washington Post, January 23, 2014, accessed March 29, 2014 .
- ↑ http://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/celebrities/article73072257.html
- ↑ Daryl Dragon of Captain and Tennille Dies at 76 NBC Miami January 2, 2019
- ↑ a b c Chart sources: DE CH UK US
- ↑ Music Sales Awards: US