Candida (song)

In 1970 Hank Medress of The Tokens and Dave Appell were producing a song called "Candida" for Bell Records.[3][4] The composition was written by Toni Wine and Irwin Levine.[4][5] For the first recording of the song, the lead vocal was done by blues singer Frankie Paris,[3] in a style reminiscent of the Drifters.[4] Paris's performance was deemed unsatisfactory, and a new singer was sought for the track.[3][4] Medress believed that "an ethnic feel" would suit the song well.[6] He asked his friend Tony Orlando, whose heritage is Puerto Rican and Greek, to perform its lead vocal.[4][7]

Orlando, a former professional singer, had had two top-40 hits in the USA in 1961,[8] but later moved into the music publishing business; in 1967 Columbia Records chose him to manage their publishing division, April-Blackwood Music.[8][9] When Medress approached Orlando, he was reluctant to perform on a Bell Records single, as he did not want to jeopardize his job at Columbia.[3][6] Medress reassured him by saying they would use a band name for the release, and that nobody would know who the singer was.[3][6] Orlando finally agreed, partly because he believed the song would be unsuccessful and would not attract any attention.[10] He went into a studio with Appell and Medress, and sang his lead vocal over prerecorded tracks.[10] Background vocals were done by Wine and the Tokens' Jay Siegel;[3][4][11] Orlando was not present when these were recorded.[4] By different accounts, additional background singers may have included Ellie Greenwich,[4] Robin Grean,[4] Leslie Miller,[3] and Linda November.[11][a 1] Phil Margo and Siegel played instruments on at least one of the versions of the song.[3][4] The music of Orlando's version has been described as having "a lilting, sing-along groove".[8]

"Candida" was released as a single in July 1970 under the moniker Dawn, named after the daughter of either Jay Siegel[7] or Bell Records executive Steve Wax.[5][4] The single reached number one in Brazil,[12] Malaysia,[13] Singapore,[14] Spain,[15] and Sweden,[16] and the top ten in Austria,[17] Canada,[18] Denmark,[16] Mexico,[15] New Zealand,[14] Norway,[5] South Africa,[14] the UK,[19] and the USA.[20] It also reached the top twenty in Australia,[4] Belgium,[21] and Germany.[22] Billboard ranked the record as the No. 18 song of 1970.[23]

Jay Warner, author of American Singing Groups: A History from 1940 to Today, notes that the group the Corporation released a different version of "Candida" around the same time as Dawn's.[4] The Corporation's recording was produced by Bill and Steve James, and released on Musicor Records.[4] Warner believes that this version was based on an early, slower piano-and-vocals demo by Toni Wine.[4] A July 1970 capsule review in Billboard magazine of both Dawn's and the Corporation's versions categorized the latter's recording as possessing "a strong blues and Tex-Mex flavor", and stated that both singles had "equal sales and chart potential".[24] However, although for a short while it seemed there might be competition between the two, the Corporation's single did not sell well.[4]

Dawn's version was released on their debut album, Candida, in 1970,[1] and later on the Dawn compilations Greatest Hits, The World of Tony Orlando & Dawn, The Definitive Collection, and The Big Hits.[25] It has also appeared on various-artists compilations including Today's Super Hits, AM Gold: 1970, and Real 70's: the Polyester Hits, Disc One.[26]

Jesse Winchester is one of many singers who have covered "Candida".

Numerous musicians have covered "Candida", among them Andy Williams,[27] Jesse Winchester,[28] Jimmy Velvet,[29] Ray Conniff,[30] and reggae artists Owen Gray[31] and the Pioneers.[32] Foreign-language versions have included recordings in Portuguese by the Fevers,[33] in Spanish by La Tropa Loca,[34] and in German by Bata Illic[35] and Bernd Spier.[36]