Tony Orlando and Dawn (originally known as Dawn, and later as Dawn featurin… Read Full Bio ↴Tony Orlando and Dawn (originally known as Dawn, and later as Dawn featuring Tony Orlando) was a pop music group from New York City, NY, USA that was very popular in the 1970s. Their signature hits were "Candida", "Knock Three Times","Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'Round the Ole Oak Tree", and "He Don't Love You (Like I Love You)".

In 1970, Tony Orlando was a retired cover singer. He had two Top 40 hits in 1961 and another in the later half of the decade as the lead singer for the studio group Wind, but he had not had any further success for the rest of the decade. He stopped singing entirely, publishing music for Columbia Records instead.

Orlando discovered a song, "Candida," which he decided to pass on recording. After an insistence that he dub his voice over the male vocals in the original track, he had the single released on Bell Records as performed by "Dawn", so if the record did not succeed, he would not be known as the lead vocalist. The background singers were Sharon Greane, Jay Siegel, and Toni Wine, who co-wrote the song. After single hit #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, Orlando decided to change career tracks.

While "Candida" climbed the record charts, Orlando discovered that there were six touring groups that called themselves "Dawn". As he assembled his new group, the name "Dawn featuring Tony Orlando" was chosen to be their new name.

He chose singers Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent Wilson to sing with him after he recorded "Knock Three Times" which hit #1 in early 1971. The group waited until 1973 for their next #1 single, "Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'Round the Ole Oak Tree." In terms of sales, this single was the most successful in the group's career.

The group's next single,"Say Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose" (from their concept album Dawn's New Ragtime Follies) went to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. CBS gave the group a television variety show in the summer of 1974, after The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour ended its run. The show was in the same vein as its predecessor, and became a Top 20 hit. It ran until December 1976.

With a new name ("Tony Orlando and Dawn") and a new record label (Elektra), the group continued their string of hit singles during the show's run hitting the Top 10 on the Hot 100 and/or Adult Contemporary Charts including "He Don't Love You (Like I Love You)" (a reworking of Jerry Butler's "He Will Break Your Heart") which went to #1. A remake of the Sam Cooke song "Cupid", was the group's last Top 40 single on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1976. "Sing" reached #7 on the Adult Contemporary Chart in 1977 and was the last Tony Orlando & Dawn single until 1991's "With Ev'ry Yellow Ribbon (That's Why We Tie 'Em)".

Orlando is still a popular appearance performer. Hopkins made a very successful acting career for herself in series like "Gimme a Break", "Family Matters", and "Half and Half". A DVD compilation from the variety series was released in 2005 along with the group's catalog of albums on CD. Tony Orlando & Dawn released "A Christmas Reunion" that same year.

To Be With You
Tony Orlando & Dawn Lyrics

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I think it’s about time I told you this
I don’t even know if you realize how I feel

To be with you
One hour of each morning
Would thrill me no end
I need you so
I want you more than you know

Oh when I’m alone
I feel the touch of your feel
So softly on mine
Please say your mine
And come back here to me

To feel your arms
All closed around me inside
My heart wakens up
I still feel your touch
Oh my love

Ooh your such a thrill
I’ll never leave you no no
I love you so

To be with you
To be with you my love

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of To Be With You by Tony Orlando & Dawn express the longing and yearning of the singer to be with someone they deeply care about. The singer suggests that it’s time to confess their sentiments as they doubt if the other person understands how they feel. They convey that being with the other person, even for an hour every day, would be a source of immense joy and excitement. The singer emphasizes that they need the other person more than they know and pleads with them to return to them and profess their love mutually.

The lyrics convey the intense emotional connection the singer feels, even when they’re alone, and reminisces the gentleness of their lover's touch. The singer desires to be embraced and enveloped in the arms of their lover, causing their heart to flutter back to life. In the end, the singer affirms their undeterred love and adoration for the other person and reiterates their desire to be with them.

To Be With YouTony Orlando & Dawn Lyrics

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To Be With You
Tony Orlando & Dawn Lyrics