Abbe Lane
Dubbed "the swingingest sexpot in show business" in a 1963 magazine profile, va-va-voom pop singer Abbe Lane remains best remembered for her marriage to bandleader Xavier Cugat, whose influence extended across the series of Latin jazz-inspired LPs she recorded for RCA. Born Abigail Francine Lassman in Brooklyn, NY, on December 14, 1932, Lane made her radio debut at age four, and by 16 was appearing on Broadway in George Abbot's Barefoot Boy with Cheek. In 1949, she signed on with bandleader Vincent Lopez's television showcase, where she later met Cugat. Not only did Cugat hire Lane away from Lopez, but he made her his wife in 1952 -- with him she emerged as a star, translating her palpable sexuality to become a nightclub sensation as well as a fixture on television variety shows.
Lane made her Hollywood debut in renowned director Budd Boetticher's 1953 Western Wings of the Hawk, followed a year later by Ride Clear of Diablo. In 1955 she and Cugat toured Italy, where she co-starred in the film Lo Scapolo, but her attempts to promote the project were nevertheless complicated when Italian television network RAI called her "too sexy" to appear on air. Similarly, CBS television network censors objected to her planned wardrobe for an appearance on The Jackie Gleason Show, and she was instructed to wear something less revealing.
When the live Xavier Cugat Show premiered in 1957, Lane was front and center, and a year later she co-starred opposite Tony Randall in the Broadway musical Oh, Captain! However, her existing recording contract with RCA Victor restricted her from appearing on the original cast album. Lane was nevertheless a regular presence in record stores throughout 1958, issuing her debut effort, Be Mine Tonight, a collaboration with mambo giant Tito Puente, as well as The Lady in Red, which paired the singer with arranger Sid Ramin. Cugat also contributed to 1959's Where There's a Man, Lane's final RCA date. During this period she also regularly traveled back and forth to Italy, where her husband was involved in film and television production, and appeared in a series of low-budget features including Totò, Eva e il Pennello Proibito and Il Mio Amico Jekyll.
Lane signed to Mercury in 1961, releasing a self-titled LP backed by Cugat. Her final full-length, The Many Sides of Abbe Lane, followed in 1964, the same year the couple divorced. Lane remained in the public eye throughout the 1960s, guest-starring on prime-time series ranging from The Man from U.N.C.L.E. to The Brady Bunch, but her career flagged throughout the decade to follow, and in 1983 she made her final big-screen appearance in Twilight Zone: The Movie. In 1992 Lane unexpectedly resurfaced with But Where Is Love?, an autobiographical novel about a Broadway ingénue who falls in love with a Latin bandleader.
© Jason Ankeny /TiVo
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Cugat Plays Continental and Popular Movie Hits
Xavier Cugat And His Orchestra
Pop - Paru chez Sepia le 11 août 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Where There's a Man
Jazz - Paru chez RCA - Legacy le 17 sept. 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Greatest Hits
Jazz vocal - Paru chez Vintage Masters Inc. le 1 juin 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Malagueña Salerosa / Latin Twist
Musiques du monde - Paru chez JB Production CH le 8 avr. 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Óyeme Mamá
Amérique latine - Paru chez Svetlana Novojilova Shulguina le 19 oct. 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sway (Live On The Ed Sullivan Show, March 20, 1955)
Musiques du monde - Paru chez SOFA - AV Catalog DD le 4 janv. 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
From Miami to Cuba
Abbe Lane, Tito Puente, Xavier Cugat
Amérique latine - Paru chez Academia Royal le 3 févr. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brazil/One Note Samba/Quando Quando Quando (Medley/Live On The Ed Sullivan Show, March 20, 1966)
Jazz - Paru chez SOFA - AV Catalog DD le 7 août 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sus Grandes Exitos (Remastered)
Pop - Paru chez Rama Lama Music le 13 nov. 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Lady in Red (with the Sid Ramin's Orchestra)
Jazz vocal - Paru chez Moon Beams Records le 7 févr. 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen/And When I Die/Saved (Medley/Live On The Ed Sullivan Show, November 15, 1970)
Pop - Paru chez SOFA - AV Catalog DD le 26 août 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Be Mine Tonight (with Tito Puente and His Orchestra)
Jazz vocal - Paru chez Moon Beams Records le 17 sept. 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pan, Amor y Cha Cha Cha
Musiques du monde - Paru chez Bela Records le 12 avr. 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mambo At The Waldorf! (Remastered)
Musiques du monde - Paru chez RevOla le 19 août 2019
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Be Mine Tonight
Abbe Lane, Tito Puente & His Orchestra, Sid Ramin & His Orchestra
Pop - Paru chez Ace of Noise le 17 sept. 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Malagueña Salerosa / Hava Naguila
Divers - Paru chez uni-lprecords le 18 mai 2023
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Lady in red (Remastered)
Musiques du monde - Paru chez RevOla le 30 juill. 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
I Didn't Know What Time It Was (Live On The Ed Sullivan Show, October 4, 1964)
Pop - Paru chez SOFA - AV Catalog DD le 19 févr. 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The River Seine (La Seine)
Abbe Lane, Tito Puente & His Orchestra, Sid Ramin & His Orchestra
Pop - Paru chez Remington le 1 nov. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Nocha De Ronda
Abbe Lane, Tito Puente & His Orchestra, Sid Ramin & His Orchestra
Pop - Paru chez Remington le 1 nov. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo