Andrew Gilhooley's Blog

When I was a youngster in the 1970s, I remember people of my mother’s generation and older being very keen on a local band called the Dragoni Brothers. They played widely around the North East at the time, mostly at clubs and smaller venues, though they did perform at both Newcastle City Hall and the Sunderland Empire.

The Dragoni Brothers were a dance band of a kind that probably doesn’t exist today. The band consisted of brothers Joe, Michael and Albert Dragone on accordion, organ and bass respectively, plus John Valente on mandolin and Frank Tatoli on drums. All were accomplished musicians.

The Dragoni Brothers’ repertoire consisted of nostalgic, easy-listening tunes such as “Moonlight Bay”, “The Happy Wanderer”, “Loch Lomond” and “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary”. Here’s a sample of what they sound like, “Never on a Sunday / Wheels” from their album “Meet the Dragoni Brothers”:

Listening to this, I’m reminded of the sound of the old Casio organs that had the automated single-finger accompaniment feature, and wonder if they were developed to emulate this style of music, which would have been popular at the time.

Local personality and BBC Radio Newcastle DJ Frank Wappat was a great champion of the band, and claimed that their 1974 debut single, a recording of the Catholic hymn “Faith of our Fathers”, was the most requested single on any of his radio shows.

The band released two albums. Their first, “Meet the Dragoni Brothers” was self-financed and released on Picador records. It is undated, though is likely from the mid-1970s.

Around 1977, the band released a single of a second Catholic hymn, “Flowers of the Rarest”, on which they were joined by the St. Anthony’s Girls’ School Choir. Their second album, “An Evening with the Dragoni Brothers”, was released on Rubber Records in 1979:

They also released a couple of other singles, “Dance Little Birdie” in 1981 and “Knees Up (Medley)” in 1982.

Precious little information about the group exists online, though you can hear “Faith of our Fathers” and its B-side “Sweet By and By” on YouTube. We do know that the Dragone family was in the ice cream business and owned ice cream parlours, vans and cafes in the Gateshead area.

According to the sleeve notes of their albums, the group began in the 1960s when the brothers were asked to perform at a New Year’s Eve party in a local club. They were subsequently invited to perform at a local charity show, and after that many of the group’s performances benefitted local and national charities, notably those for mentally handicapped children.

Despite their popularity, the group never turned professional or toured nationally, preferring to continue with their charity work and ice cream business in the North East of England. They remained active at least into the 1980s.

Do you have any information about or photographs of the Dragoni Brothers? Can you help flesh out this page? If so, I would love to hear from you – please get in touch via the Comments section!