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Artist
Toni Harper
12+ albums
jazzvocal jazzfemale vocalistamerican1960s
about
Toni Harper (born June 8, 1937 [1]) (aka Toni Dunlap) is a former child singer, who retired from performing at the age of 29. After learning dance under Maceo Anderson, Harper was cast by the choreographer Nick Castle in Christmas Follies, at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in 1945. She later went on to perform on stage with Herb Jeffries and Cab Calloway. Harper recorded "Candy Store Blues" in 1946, which became a platinum record, appeared twice on Talk of the Town (later the Ed Sullivan Show) in 1949, and made her third and final appearance on the show in 1950. After success as a child singer, Harper recorded her first album, Toni, for Verve Records in 1955, with the Oscar Peterson trio. She made two further albums in 1959 and 1960, Lady Lonely and Night Mood, for RCA Victor. Harper toured Japan with Cannonball Adderley in 1963, and appeared in the 1965 film How to Stuff a Wild Bikini [4], before retiring from performing in 1966. Discography: 1955 Toni (with Oscar Peterson) 1959 Lady Lonely 1960 Night Mood User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
