One Hit Wonders #22: “Heartbeat – It’s A Lovebeat” by The DeFranco Family (20th Century Records 1973)

Now that I’ve got horror movies out of my system (at least for a minute!), let’s switch gears to the saccharine sweet DeFranco Family, Canada’s answer to the Osmond Brothers, The Partridge Family, and The Jackson 5, who scored a #1 hit in 1973 with the bubblegum-pop “Heartbeat – It’s A Lovebeat”:

Siblings Benny, Marisa, Nino, Merlina, and Tony DeFranco had been making music together all their lives before a demo tape earned them a contract with 20th Century Records. 13-year-old lead singer Tony was groomed to be the Next Big Teen Idol, and his face was plastered all over the covers of teen magazines of the era: Tiger Beat, 16, Fave!, ad nauseam. The DeFranco’s popularity was brief however, as disco began taking over the airwaves, not to mention Tony hitting puberty and his liltingly light voice changing! The family became a Vegas lounge act for a couple of years before quietly leaving the music scene altogether.

And whatever became of would-be teen idol Tony? Well, he seems to have done well for himself, as he’s now a successful Southern California real estate agent with Southeby’s International Realty . Whadda ya know – a ‘teen idol’ story with a happy ending!

Tony DeFranco today – lookin’ good, Tony!