Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 40

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1 11 11111 "I IIIH.I I.IILi ilJIl I I J. Ill II.IHJIJUI UimmU Ml) "II J'l ir Pi i Wyanl CountsAssociated Press Tony Bennett: "The enthusiasm that is coining from all these young people is Just starling out 1954. Tony gets his MTV Why Bennett is a hit with the nose-ring generation. ByEdMasley It began innocently enough with a parody of "New York, New York" on "The Simpsons." Now, after more than 40 years in the business, Tony Bennett is fast becoming the hippest man ever to take the stage in a three-piece suit. Sure, Sinatra does a better stage dive, but Bennett's the one hanging out with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, touring with the Lemon-heads, dropping by the Ed Sullivan Theatre just to sing the top entry on David Letterrhan's 10 most singable names list.

He's even scheduled to do one of those MTV Unplugged things later this month with Dinosaur Jr's Mascis, of all people. "He's, like, timeless in a way," says Jon Stewart, who recently experienced Bennett-mania firsthand when the singer stormed the set of Stewart's MTV talk show. "I mean, he was performing on a plywood stage with Suicidal Tendencies posters up behind him, and-he The singer in 1988. totally transformed it into an intimate nightclub, you know? I don't know what it is. He just transcends somehow." Jancee Dunn has interviewed the man no fewer than five times, most recently for the latest issue of Rolling Stone.

She's seen the alternative nation's ruling elite stand in line to shake his hand at the MTV Music Awards, and she's seen him respond to all the attention by remaining remarkably true to his own way of doing things. "He shows up to all these events, but he's still Tony," Dunn says. "You know how Sinatra went through that embarassing 70s phase where he tried to cover Beatles songs and young himself up, and it bombed? It's not like Tony's doing that." His latest effort, in fact, is a Grammy-winning tribute to the late Fred Astaire, harldly a world-class bid at capturing the youth vote. So maybe the kids are responding to his charm or his class. It could be they just recognize real talent when they hear it.

Michael Kastelic of the Cynics thinks it's the singing. "He still has a great voice, especially compared to a lot of other people who are stickin' around from that period like Frank," he says. "I kind of think Tony Bennett still has more of his mind and more of his voice left, at least from what I've seen." Bennett always has been one of pop music's greatest vocalists. Lis-' tening to him phrase that line Seepage 15, col. 3 tary general of the United Na? tions.) The veteran vocalist also displayed his great sense of humor last year by walking onstage at the MTV Awards in a rapper's baggy shorts and baseball-style jersey.

Bennett credits his rising popularity among the twentysomethirig generation to savvy management decisions by his son, Danny. "He really has got me going with all the young people now," Bennett said. "All the alternative stations have picked up on me as a result, and the enthusiasm that is coming from all these young people is fantastic." It took a while for Bennett to become convinced that Danny was making the right moves. "I had no idea what he was doing at first. He had me on SCTV, then I did the first and David Letterman, and I said, 'What are you And he said, 'Just trust The younger generation "was a lot more with it than their parents realized," Bennett said, and his son was convinced they would appreciate his father's style.

"When I started performing in front of them, doing all these alternative rock station parties during the holidays, I couldn't believe the reaction," Bennett said. "If they see someone who really means what they're doing and working hard, and wanting to please them boy, they come right back at them," he said. "It's really fascinating. In fact, I told See page 15, col. 1 said, "and they were sitting around a fire and they were all in unison singing 'I Left My Heart in San To me that was it." The 67-year-old singer said hav- ing his signature tune sung by those GIs meant even more to him because he had experienced the same homesick feelings while serving in the infantry during World War II.

On March 1, Bennett picked up his fourth Grammy Award for "Steppin' Out," an album featuring songs by the great entertainer Fred Astaire, beating Barbra Streisand's "Back to Broadway" in the best traditional pop vocal performance category. "Wasn't that something?" the self-effacing singer said of his latest award. "I couldn't believe it." His longtime friend, Frank Sinatra, received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the same ceremo- ny. "I was just thrilled," Bennett said of Sinatra's latest honor. "He's always considered me his best friend and he's been my best friend, right through the years." Sinatra, who once called Ben-' nett "the best singer in the business, the best exponent of a song," congratulated his pal by sending him an engraved watch.

"He really moved me, more than anything in the press," Bennett said. "I'll Wear the watch for the rest of mv life." The day after the show, Bennett appeared on the David Letterman show and flexed his vocal cords on the top entry in a list of "the 10 most singable names." (The winner? Boutros Boutros-Ghali, secre Reborn Tony Bennett is having the time of his life. By David Vonke The Toledo Blade Tony Bennett has received countless honors in his four-decade career, including a fourth Grammy earlier this year, but the award he cherishes the most is not a gold record or statuette or plaque handed out at a formal awards ceremony. "I've had a lot of wonderful things happen through the years," Bennett said in a telephone interview from his New York home. "I've done five command performances for royalty and I've sung for seven presidents." But the greatest honor, the singer said, came unexpectedly one day in the late 1960s when he picked up a newspaper and read about a group of American soldiers stationed in Vietnam as the war was winding down.

"They were defeated and they mora fcann Karl ynrl thms UJPffl till VVWIW 1VV1III LUU UIIU IIIVJ TT VI 1 1 very, very homesick," Bennett 2 'Aprils 1994.