Tony Camillo

Anthony J. "Tony" Camillo (August 11, 1928 – August 29, 2018)[1] was an American record producer, orchestrator and arranger.

Camillo, born in Somerville, New Jersey,[1] worked on many soul, pop and disco recordings of the 1960s and 1970s, including recordings by Dionne Warwick, Eric Carmen, The Stylistics, Dazz Band, Millie Jackson, Chambers Brothers, Peaches & Herb, Sha Na Na, Grand Funk Railroad, Stevie Wonder, The 5th Dimension, Martha Reeves, The Supremes, Parliament, and Tommy James.[2][3]

He co-produced and arranged Gladys Knight and The Pips' 1973 number one hit, "Midnight Train to Georgia", which was awarded a Grammy Award.[2] He co-wrote and produced the group's 1974 hit, "I Feel a Song" which was a Billboard R&B number one (#21 pop).

In the early 1970s, he spent some time working in Detroit with Motown and also the Holland-Dozier-Holland production team on their Invictus and Hot Wax labels before returning to his New Jersey base. In the late 70s and early 80s, he co-owned a recording label, Venture Records, whose biggest success came in 1982 with Canadian duo, Chéri. Their song, "Murphy's Law" reached #5 R&B, #39 pop.

Camillo also assembled the studio group Bazuka, which scored a Top Ten hit in the US in 1975 with "Dynomite".[4] The track peaked at #28 in the UK Singles Chart in June 1975.[5]

Later in his career, Camillo turned to writing and scoring for films, including the horror film Welcome to Arrow Beach (1974), the Blaxploitation film Hangup (1974), and the action movies The Survivalist (1987) and Night Vision (1997). In 1994, he founded Venture Music Group, a licensing group, and served as its CEO.[2] He operated his own studio in New Jersey for over 30 years until his death.

Camillo died on August 29, 2018 at the age of 90.[1][6][7]

References
  1. Anthony J Camillo 1928 - 2018 bongiovifuneralhome.com retrieved April 13, 2020
  2. Management Team at VMG Poised for Market Shift. Market Wire, July 2004. Accessed November 26, 2007.
  3. Tony Camillo at Allmusic.com
  4. Joel Whitburn, The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits. 7th edn, 2000
  5. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 90. ISBN 978-1-904994-10-7.
  6. "Producer Tony Camillo dies at 90; memorial service planned". Institute for Nonprofit News. Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  7. "Tony Camillo, 'Midnight Train to Georgia' Producer & Arranger, Dies at 90". Billboard. September 6, 2018. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
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