The journey began August 10, 1940 in Cleveland, Ohio as Richard Monda. Due to my mother's drive, both my sister and I began developing skills in song and dance. After many radio appearances in Cleveland we re-located to Hollywood, California where we performed on stage with Frank Sinatra, Danny Kaye, Abbott and Costello, and Dorothy Dandridge at the tail end of Vaudeville. The next step was films including, "The Glass Wall", with Gloria Grahame and Vittorio Gasman, and "Go For Broke", with Van Johnson. I had a starring role in "The Eddie Cantor Story" playing Eddie Cantor as a boy and was lucky enough to perform six songs and one dance sequence. Three years later I had a featured role in, "The Midnight Story" starring Tony Curtis. Although I continued acting in plays and films my interests were turning to academics, piano, and song writing.

My first record was released a year before I graduated with a degree in mathematics. When I heard it on the radio, I was hooked. Although it took over a hundred releases before I had a hit, I was driven to succeed. By this time, I had a wife and two children and times were tough. When my first song charted, Soul Drippin' by the Mauds out of Chicago, I gained a small foothold. Eventually my songs were recorded by Tom Jones, Gary Puckett and the Union Gap, Kenny Rogers, Engelbert Humperdinck, Frankie Laine, Sammy Davis Jr., The Standells, Papa John Creach, Wolfman Jack, The Righteous Brothers, Rufus, The Chi-Lites, Ringo Starr and others totaling around six hundred recordings.
 

My biggest selling record was one I produced myself under the name Daddy Dewdrop. Although I only had one hit under this name I did end up on the wall of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the One Hit Wonders room.

All of these twist and turns have brought me to where I am right now - making the music I have been waiting all my life to create. I hope you take the time to listen to the samples I included in the web site and let me know what you think.