This is a video clip of Armand Assante lipsinking from the
movie "Looking For An Echo" Kenneth Rosenberg was born on December
9, 1943. He grew up in Belle Harbor, in the New York City borough
of Queens. Kenny was a charter member of Jay & the Americans,
where he changed his name to Kenny Vance.
He continued with the Americans during their 11 year stint.
He launched a new phase in his career in 1978 with the release of the
film American Hot Wax, which depicted events in the life of rock n'
roll radio pioneer Alan Freed. Vance wrote "Hot Wax Theme" for
the score, appeared in the movie as Professor La Plano and led his
fictional group, the Planotones, in a performance of "Rock and Roll
Is Here to Stay." He also produced the soundtrack album, which made
the Top 40. Within months, he was represented again in movie theaters
with National Lampoon's Animal House, producing the soundtrack album,
which also made the charts. In 1992, Vance re-formed the Planotones, his
fictional group from American Hot Wax, as a real group to sing the doo
wop music he loved. The group consisted of other music business veterans
with similar taste: Murray Weinstock (formerly of the Fifth Avenue
Band); songwriter Garry Bonner (co-author of the Turtles hit "Happy
Together"), who joined in 1994; Angel Rissoff; and Johnny Gale.
This is a non-profit, informational web page, meant to be a
reminder of the music we listened to 50 years ago. Use of copyrighted
material is consistent with the "fair use" provisions contained in
section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976; the use of copyrighted material is
of a nonprofit, educational nature, intended for the sole purposes of
research and comment and does not significantly negatively affect "the
potential market for or value of the copyrighted work(s)."