La Rosa was born in Brooklyn, New York. In 1947, at age 17, he joined the United States Navy after finishing high school, becoming a radioman. He sang in a Navy choir, at the officers club, and at bars to pay for his drinks.
The young sailor's Navy buddies managed to promote him to Arthur Godfrey - at the time one of America's leading radio and television personalities, and himself a Naval Reserve officer, whom the Navy often accommodated as a nod to the good publicity he gave the service. The Navy buddy most instrumental in this was George "Bud" Andrews, from Omaha, Nebraska, the seaman mechanic on Godfrey's airplane. While working on Godfrey's plane, Andrews struck up a conversation with Godfrey and told him that he really should hear his buddy sing. They arranged a time for LaRosa to audition in Pensacola, Florida, where LaRosa was stationed. Godfrey was impressed, offering La Rosa a job. Godfrey had LaRosa flown to New York to appear on his television show, with Godfrey ending the spot by saying, "When Julie gets out of the Navy he'll come back to see us."
Discharged from the Navy on a Friday, La Rosa went to Godfrey on the following Monday, and a week later, in November 1951, he appeared on Godfrey's variety show. He was a regular on both the morning Arthur Godfrey Time (broadcast on both the CBS radio and television networks) and the Wednesday night variety show Arthur Godfrey and His Friends.
LaRosa was joining a show that was extremely profitable for the new CBS television network. CBS owner William S. Paley disliked much of the show, in which a Time magazine article found Godfrey to be vulgar and "scatological". Hearing that William Paley thought the Godfrey TV show 'lacked movement,' Godfrey brought on a line of hula dancers and leered into the TV camera: 'Is that enough movement for you, Bill?'" But CBS management supported the show, which was extremely successful and inexpensive to produce.
La Rosa was on Godfrey's shows from November 19, 1951 to October 19, 1953. When Archie Bleyer, Godfrey's bandleader, formed Cadence Records in 1952, the first performer signed was La Rosa. Cadence's first single, which was also La Rosa's first recording, was "Anywhere I Wander". It reached the top 30 on the charts, and his next recording, "My Lady Loves To Dance", was a moderate success. As with the other "Little Godfreys", as the cast members were known, Godfrey had discouraged La Rosa from hiring a manager or booking agent, preferring to have his staff coordinate and negotiate on La Rosa's behalf. Godfrey's contracts with his artists, however, did not preclude them from doing so. After La Rosa's third recording, and a dispute with Godfrey over his failure to attend a Godfrey-mandated dance class required of all cast members (the singer claimed a family emergency), La Rosa hired his own agent and manager: Tommy Rockwell.
With hit recordings and his appearances on Godfrey's shows, La Rosa's popularity grew exponentially. At one point, La Rosa's fan mail eclipsed Godfrey's. A year after La Rosa was hired, he was receiving 7,000 fan letters a week. Godfrey did not react well to receiving a formal notification that LaRosa had hired Rockwell as his manager. After consulting with CBS President Frank Stanton, on the morning of October 19, 1953 (in a segment of the show broadcast on radio only), after La Rosa finished singing "Manhattan" on Arthur Godfrey Time, Godfrey fired La Rosa on the air, announcing, "that was Julie's swan song with us." La Rosa tearfully met with Godfrey after the broadcast and thanked him for giving him his "break". La Rosa was then met at Godfrey's offices by his lawyer, manager and some reporters. Tommy Rockwell was highly critical of Godfrey's behavior, angrily citing La Rosa's public humiliation.
The "humility" comment backfired badly on Godfrey. Stanton himself later admitted "maybe (the on-air firing) was a mistake." Comedians began working the phrase "no humility" into their routines. Singer Ruth Wallis, known for her raunchy double entendre novelties, recorded "Dear Mr. Godfrey", a biting satire on the matter, which made it to #25 on the Billboard charts in November 1953. Days after firing La Rosa, Godfrey also fired bandleader Archie Bleyer, owner of La Rosa's label Cadence Records, for producing spoken word records for Cadence featuring Chicago-based talk host Don McNeill, whose Don McNeill's Breakfast Club on ABC Radio opposite Godfrey's morning show was considered a direct competitor, even though McNeill's success was nowhere on a par with Godfrey's.
The firing did not hurt La Rosa's career in the short run. Ed Sullivan immediately signed La Rosa for appearances on his CBS Toast of the Town TV variety show, which sparked a feud between him and Godfrey. La Rosa's first appearance on Toast of the Town following the firing got a 47.9 Trendex rating,[citation needed] and La Rosa would appear 12 more times on Sullivan's show that year.
Shortly after he left Godfrey, La Rosa's third recording, "Eh, Cumpari", hit #1 on the Cash Box chart and #2 on the Billboard chart, and La Rosa got an award as the best new male vocalist of 1953. "Eh, Cumpari" was followed by another major hit, "Domani". For thirteen weeks during the summer of 1955, La Rosa had a three-times-a-week television series, The Julius La Rosa Show, featuring Russ Case and his Orchestra. The Julius La Rosa Show aired in an hour-long format in the summers of 1956 and 1957 at 8 p.m. Eastern on Saturdays on NBC as a seasonal replacement for The Perry Como Show.
In 1981, Peter Kelley, who handled Godfrey's commercial bookings, suggested the host reunite with cast members from his morning show and record a reunion album. Though Godfrey initially balked, recalling his disputes with LaRosa and other cast members, he agreed to a meeting, and was amenable to having LaRosa participate. LaRosa, feeling sufficient time had passed, was also amenable. At the meeting, held at Godfrey's Manhattan office, Godfrey brought up the firing and asked LaRosa why he didn't tell the 'truth' as Godfrey saw it: that LaRosa had asked to be released from his contract and Godfrey had obliged. When LaRosa started to respond by reminding him of the dance class dispute, Godfrey exploded in anger. LaRosa left, and any talk of the reunion show ended forever.
La Rosa tired of revisiting the Godfrey affair, in part because it had been rehashed so many times, but he was also known to declare publicly Godfrey was in fact the one individual who made his career, but La Rosa always added, "He wasn't a very nice man (to me)."La Rosa appeared on a range of television shows including The Honeymooners in 1953, What's My Line?, The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom, The Polly Bergen Show (two episodes, including the 1957 premiere), The Merv Griffin Show and Laverne and Shirley in 1980. He starred in the 1958 film Let's Rock. In 1977 he hosted an unsold game show pilot for NBC called "Noot's Game".
In the 1980s, La Rosa received a non-contract, recurring role in the NBC soap opera Another World, for which he was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor in the Daytime Emmy Award.
La Rosa eventually moved on to a long-time disk jockey position at New York's WNEW and continued to sing and occasionally record. As late as 1999, LaRosa was a disc jockey on WNSW hosting "Make Believe Ballroom Time". La Rosa, profiled by jazz critic and composer Gene Lees, has continued to work clubs and release records and compact discs. New York Times film critic Stephen Holden says: "His singing is very direct and unpretentious - he can wrap his voice tenaciously around a melody line and bring out the best in it." He has also been a frequent contributor to comedian Jerry Lewis's marathon annual Labor Day telethon programs for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, often hosting the New York outpost of the shows.
In 2008, LaRosa said "Music is 'a very egotistical thing.' 'It makes me feel good' and fortunately, I have the capacity to make people feel good who hear me feeling good.'"
LaRosa lived in Westchester County, New York.
La Rosa's name was used in a joke by Coach in the sitcom Cheers, in the episode "Friends, Romans, And Accountants".
Torero
Julius La Rosa Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I met him on a bus in Barcelona
We kinda got to talkin′
But he did all to talkin'
I asked him what he did in Barcelona
In sunny Barcelona
And this is what he said
Of this there is no doubt
For everywhere I go the people shout
Hey torero
Make way for Don jose the great torero
In Spain I am a famous Caballero
I fight the bravest bull in all the land
With the flip of the hip
Of the music of the band
I cha cha
The bull him, only if he gets in my way
Torero, torero ole
He bragged about the many senoritas
Who showered him with flowers
With big bouquets of flowers
He told me that in Hollywood
They want him to be like Marlon Brando
The great big movie star
But as he left the bus
He met two men in white
He shouted as they took him out of sight
Hey torero
Make way for Don Jose the great torero
In Spain I am a famous Caballero
I fight the bravest bull in all the land
With the flip of the hip of the music of the band
I cha cha,
The bull is so confused because I cha cha
I never kill him, only if he gets in my way
Torero, torero ole
Ole
The lyrics to Julius La Rosa's song Torero tell the story of a man who meets a torero, or bullfighter, on a bus in Barcelona. The torero boasts about his fame and success, claiming that he is a famous caballero in Spain and that he fights the bravest bulls in all the land. He even claims that Hollywood wants him to be like Marlon Brando, the great movie star. However, as he leaves the bus, he is taken away by two men in white, leaving the singer to wonder about the torero's fate.
The song presents an interesting commentary on fame and success, and the idea that it can be fleeting. The torero's fame, while impressive, ultimately leads to his downfall. The upbeat, cha-cha inspired rhythm of the song adds to the playful and somewhat frivolous tone of the torero's boasts, emphasizing the idea that his fame and success may not be as meaningful as he thinks. Overall, Torero is a fun and catchy tune with a deeper message about the perils of fame.
Line by Line Meaning
Hey chico, one more time
The singer is addressing someone and asking them to repeat something.
I met him on a bus in Barcelona
The singer explains how he met the man he's talking about.
We kinda got to talkin'
The singer describes the conversation he had with the man.
But he did all to talkin'
The artist implies that the man he met talked a lot during their conversation.
I asked him what he did in Barcelona
The artist tells us what question he asked the man he met.
In sunny Barcelona
The singer adds some description to the location they're discussing.
And this is what he said
The singer signals that he's about to quote what the man said.
You are fortunate my friend
The man compliments the artist.
Of this there is no doubt
The man emphasizes his previous statement.
For everywhere I go the people shout
The man claims that he's famous.
Hey torero
The man quotes people calling him by his nickname.
Make way for Don jose the great torero
The man repeats his nickname and adds a title to it.
In Spain I am a famous Caballero
The man explains that he's famous in his home country.
I fight the bravest bull in all the land
The man talks about his profession and his bullfighting skills.
With the flip of the hip
The man describes one of his moves during bullfighting.
Of the music of the band
The man talks about the music played during bullfighting events.
I cha cha
The man describes another move he performs during a bullfighting event.
The bull him, only if he gets in my way
The man explains that he only kills the bull if it attacks him first.
Torero, torero ole
The man repeats his nickname and adds an exclamation common in Spanish bullfighting events.
He bragged about the many senoritas
The artist says that the man he met boasted about his love life.
Who showered him with flowers
The man claimed that he received a lot of flowers from his lady admirers.
With big bouquets of flowers
The man specifies the size of the flowers he received.
He told me that in Hollywood
The singer says that the man talked about Hollywood.
They want him to be like Marlon Brando
The man claims that Hollywood wants him to become a famous actor like Marlon Brando.
The great big movie star
The man describes Marlon Brando's status in Hollywood.
But as he left the bus
The singer signals a change in the situation.
He met two men in white
The singer describes two men the man met after leaving the bus.
He shouted as they took him out of sight
The artist tells us that the man yelled as he was taken away.
Torero, torero ole
The man repeated his nickname and exclamation before leaving the scene.
Writer(s): Dick Manning, Al Hoffman, Orig. Ital. Nisa, Orig. Ital. Music: Carosone
Contributed by Eva A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.