Billie Walter

It was August of 1970 and I was still working at Klein Record Distributor in downtown Pittsburgh.  I loved working there because I was around music all day and the atmosphere was casual.  I had started out in the warehouse pulling records for the record stores but had since been promoted to secretary.  Different sales reps would come in on a daily basis to promote their new records.  They were always friendly with me because I was the one who gave the radio stations their playlists, based on what was selling the most.

It was on a Thursday afternoon when Tom Cozzie, a sales rep, came in and asked me if I wanted to have dinner with him and Ron Dante.  The name didn’t mean anything to me at first but then he told me that Ron was the singer who had been the voice for the hit single Sugar Sugar. He handed me Ron’s new album Ron Dante Brings You Up to show me what Ron looked like.  Well, it wasn’t exactly a blind date and he was cute, so I accepted.

I was supposed to meet them that night at a restaurant.  At the time I didn’t own a car and was still taking the bus to get back and forth to work.  By the time I got home that evening it was pouring down rain and I decided to stay home.  The next day, Tom came in and was really mad that I had stood them up but was willing to give me another chance.  I was supposed to meet them that night.

Another rep came into the office that day and he also had a new singer in town that he wanted to introduce me to.  His name was David Cassidy.  He was about to launch a new TV show called The Partridge Family as well as an album.  When I saw his picture, I also wanted to go out with him.  There was no way that I could not show up for dinner with Tom and Ron, so I turned down the offer to meet David.  I was thinking to myself, “Why didn’t they come into town a week apart?”

I had just turned twenty and I was single.  Friends were always introducing me to single guys so it was not that unusual.  Meeting famous people, yes that was unusual but neither of these guys were really famous yet.

At dinner that evening Ron and I got along great.  It was Ron’s 25th birthday the next day and he was appearing on a television show called “Come Alive.”   He would be performing his hit single Sugar Sugar as well as a song from his new album.  It was an American Bandstand type of show and he asked me if I wanted to come along and dance in the background while he was performing. I was pretty excited.  This was the first time that I appeared on television and I had had so much fun.

After Ron returned to New York he called me and invited me to come up for a visit.  WOW!  Up to that point the best invitation I had ever gotten was dinner.  I liked Ron a lot so I accepted his invitation.  On August 30, 1970 I hopped on a plane and flew to New York City.  Ron picked me up at the airport in a limo.  I had never been in a limo before so I was pretty excited.  We headed to the hotel where he had booked me a room.  Needless to say, this was the nicest hotel room I had ever seen.  It was huge and luxurious.  I spent ten days in New York with Ron and we did all kinds of fun things.

Since Ron had to be in the studio for recordings, occasionally I would be on my own for the afternoon.  I liked New York so much that I decided to look for a job while I was there.  I just knew that I would love living in the city.  Since I was working for a record distributor and loved being around music, I decided to try and get a job with a record company.  Since Atlantic Records was one of the biggest at the time, I decided to try there first.  My thinking was, “might as well start at the top!”  I arrived at Atlantic Records and entered the building.  I asked the receptionist if they had any job openings.  She made a phone call and then sent me upstairs to Pat Mulligan’s office.  After chatting awhile, Pat basically asked me two questions.  Can you type and take shorthand?  Yes!  Can you start Monday?  Yes!  After my visit with Ron, I flew home and packed the few articles of clothing that I owned and returned to New York to start my new life and my new career.

Ron and I stayed friends and dated occasionally after I moved to New York.  On March 3, 1971 Ron invited me to go to Puerto Rico with him for the weekend.  It was very cold in New York at the time and sounded like the a perfect get-away for a weekend.  While our relationship wasn’t a long term love affair, it was a very special relationship in my life.  I had the opportunity to spend time with an incredible guy and to experience some very special times.  Thinking about our time together always brings a smile to my face.  Thanks for the memories, Ron!

If you want to learn more about Ron Dante visit his website at www.rondante.com.