Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast - 203. Tony Sandler

Episode Date: April 16, 2018

Gilbert and Frank track down one of their favorite performers, singer and recording artist Tony Sandler, who looks back on his turbulent childhood in Nazi-occupied Europe, his wild times in mob-run Las Vegas, his glory days as one half of "Sandler & Young" and his friendships with Sid Caesar, Sammy Davis Jr., Vincent Price and Phil Silvers (among others). Also, Louis Prima plays the Sands, Lauren Bacall makes her move, Elvis chases chorus girls and Sonny & Cher "entertain" the royal family. PLUS: Les Brown and His Band of Renown! Uncle Miltie lays down the law! Robert Goulet misses the boat! Dino does the boys a solid! And the poetry of Buddy Hackett!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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with 24 layers of croissant flakiness twisted with fancy donut fun. Get ready to go all out for less. Hello, everyone out there in radio podcast land. This is Kirk Hammett from Metallica, and you're listening to Gilbert Godfrey's amazing, colossal podcast. Run for your lives! hi this is gilbert gottfried and this is gilbert gottfried's, colossal podcast with my co-host, Frank Santopadre. We're once again recording at Nutmeg with our engineer, Frank Furtarosa. He's an original actor and popular vocalist who was one half of the legendary singing and dozens of countries, including the U.S., the U.K., France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Finland, and Denmark, to name a few. He's also sold out millions of records internationally.

Sold millions of records internationally. Yes, I know. He sold millions of records internationally and appeared on numerous TV variety shows throughout the 1960s and 70s, including The Dean Martin Show, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Joey Bishop Show, The Red Skelton Hour, The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, The Hollywood Hollywood Palace, and of course, the Sandler and Young Craft Music Hall, which he hosted with his longtime singing partner and friend, Ralph Young. He's also produced successful live productions, appeared in films, hosted television specials for PBS, and toured the

world in a one-man show on the life and music of one of his idols, Maurice Chevalier. In a career spanning seven decades, he's worked with and befriended dozens of well-known performers, Milton Berle, Elvis Presley, Phil Silvers, Lena Horne, Sid Caesar, and Vincent Price. Please welcome to the podcast an artist of many talents in addition to many languages, a man who once performed for the Pope, and had the good fortune to kiss former podcast guest Barbara Felden, the great Tony Sandler. Wow. That's what I'm most jealous of you for. Really, Barbara Felden? Yes.

Yes, he got to kiss Barbara Felden on the Kraft Music Hall. Yep, yep, yep, I did that. I did that. Nice job, Tony. Yes, thank you. Wow, what an intro. I'm tired just hearing it all. Thank you. Wow, what an intro. I'm tired just hearing it all.

Now, you've had and still continue had anything but a normal, stable upbringing. Exactly. Being born in Flanders, the flatlands in Flanders, I had no idea what was going to happen, and certainly not that I was going to wind up headlining in Vegas. I mean, you know, who could dream that as a little boy back in Flanders? And through circumstance and through, I guess, fortune in a sense, there's a lot of very talented people in the world, of course. And course and you know when you're singled out to make it that way that that's pretty special no doubt about it yeah you were one of eight kids tony you were telling me on the phone born in born in belgium

and flanders i was the fourth out of eight yeah yeah and i was seven years old when the germans invaded belgium i think that's what g what Gilbert was alluding to a moment ago. Yeah, how your life suddenly changed. So I just don't know how my parents did it, to have food on the table for close to five years of occupation, four and some months. And the Germans were ruthless, as you know. But there was an interesting aspect to that Flanders Flemish people are are in a sense considered Germanic and what Hitler wanted

to do after he invaded us he wanted to normalize actually as quickly as possible so kids went back to school immediately. Food was scarce. I mean, then when it really started to get ugly, when the English succeeded to get back to their island, 300,000 of them, in the beginning of the war, I clearly remember, actually, that one day when it was quiet, from total chaos, everybody trying to get to the coast, get to Dunkirk, and get on whatever they could get on

to get to England, 300,000 escaped, as you know. That's history. There was this quiet, and all of a sudden, this steel army came through. The tanks, the gleaming helmets, the boots, the fanfare. Can you believe it that they passed through our little village with a magnificent marching band?

The Germans. Just incredible. So at first we didn't know what hit us of course um but it quickly sunk in because for example if we were caught listening to the bbc or to churchill at the time you could be shot right there um it's just something that americans have never experienced luckily occupation so but contrary to what people would think actually um the closeness of our family was so strong the survival in a sense that this became like a a fantastic time for us. Survival and, well, there's much more to the story because when in 42 the Allies begin to bomb Germany,

they always passed over our head squadrons of American bombers. I mean, sky black with planes. And we knew as kids, we're laying in the ditch there watching as they went over our heads. And we knew when they went to Berlin, they went to Hamburg, or they went to Hanover or Frankfurt or München or Leipzig. We knew the direction they took from our point there where we were in Flanders.

So then on the way back, gentlemen, that was always something to see. Planes on one motor trying to make it back to England. Planes crashing all around us. One crashed, as I recall, I was maybe nine years old then about oh I would say a couple of hundred yards from where we live from our house and

the explosion and all that and my brother, my older brother Pierre ran and I was in the back. I couldn't run as fast as they could. They were older and he stumbled. I told that run as fast as they could. They were older. And he stumbled. I told that story to Frank the other day. He stumbled over a pilot boot with a foot still in it.

You know, it's incredible stuff. Unbelievable. By the way, I should also tell you that several of my immediate family were killed by Allied bombs. And that had to do with the German fortification of the West Coast, of course, all through railways. So, like clockwork, the Americans did carpet bombing. There was no precision bombing at the time, as you know. There was carpet bombing. There was no precision bombing at the time, as you know. There was carpet bombing.

So anything that was in the path was annihilated. And so we lost three or four of our immediate family in those bombing raids, yeah. Very sad. Well, that's a great interview, right? To start on a sad note. Well, your history is fascinating. We have to include it.

Yes. And now, well, like, they marched into your village, which I think you said you didn't believe they could actually make their way. You were like in the forest well no no no i mean flanders is a flatland you know yeah and uh actually i i was born in loa a little town uh about 40 kilometers from from from the seaside. But what was always interesting that Flanders was kind of spared in many ways, in a sense,

spared by the Germans. They were a lot tougher on the French or the Dutch, a lot tougher. And they tried to normalize. In fact, they recruited a lot of Fmish boys to go and fight for them in stalingrad and in leningrad which was incredible you know they found a way to what's the word i'm looking for to just get them on their side? Just amazing. Tony, one of the things that's fascinating in reading your story,

and this can all be found on Tony's wonderful website, by the way, TonySandler.com. There's a lot of biographical information about Tony. But one of the things that fascinated Gilbert and fascinated me was that the occupation was that you you the occupation was literal in your sense because you had a german soldier living in your home with your family at one point the next day uh after they invaded us after all that that gleaming armor and lammer and and pass through uh yes every household had a german staying there at night that was of course designed

to control the population of course and and and all that so we had this man that was sitting there every night came in around six and stayed until six in the morning and he slept on the floor or whatever i forgot but you know we had a pretty crowded house then uh eight kids father and mother and in the evening my father was um a very religious man ashil and there was always evening prayer there in the house and one night he was sitting there in the corner just watching the scene. And all of a sudden, tears were rolling out of his eyes, of that German guy. And he whipped out a photo of his family, his wife, and four kids. Which also shows you the other side of the story.

Of course. Which is crazy in a sense. But they replaced them. After they became too familiar with the family, they were always replaced. And we had some really a-holes in there too, I can tell you. Wow. Oh, so he didn't stay long, the first occupier.

No more than a couple of months I see and now what were the a-holes like what did they well they were obviously Nazis yes

it's redundant Gilbert Gilbert this guy was was just a regular soldier that didn't want to be there in the first place

he missed his family well yeah he didn't want to be there in the first place. He missed his family. Well, yeah, he didn't want to be there in the first place. And he was replaced by someone more harsh? Oh, yeah. Less sympathetic to your plight? Stern, SOB, you know, just terrible, actually. Frightful. Me, as a kid, I looked at this guy like, holy mackerel.

You know, or some of those guys. Did you guys, did the family have a radio in the attic? Did you guys have, you mentioned that you alluded to that before, did you have to sneak into the attic to listen to the BBC reports? Yes, we had a little radio and occasionally we heard boom, boom, boom, boom. That was the signal from the BBC in London. Boom, boom, boom, boom, right? the BBC in London, boom, boom, boom, boom, right? And there were commentators, and occasionally we heard Churchill. We heard him talk. But if they would have caught you, that would have been the end.

Fascinating. You originally, your family tried to escape on bicycles. family tried to escape on bicycles. Well, when the invasion came and the first time was there were artillery shells all over the place coming from the Germans to try to kill as many Brits and others that wanted to escape to England. And so during that period, my father got really, really so scared, so we grabbed everything we could on bicycles, and started running from the house, because the house was shelled too, our house. Not damaged too much, but it was shelled. So we wandered around for two, three days, which is just crazy. I mean, in circles, not knowing where to go until we came one

night we didn't know where we were going to sleep or what or what was happening that a German officer saw this whole family together and this guy had a heart somehow he showed us a barn where we could sleep at night you know it's just when you look at it all, when I look at it back after all those years, I really, Gilbert, I don't know what to say. That was, closeness of the family was our strength. And so after running around for two, three, four days, we went back home. All the windows were shattered and everything that, so we replaced that, and that was that.

Then we were occupied by the Germans, that was that. And what's interesting too is that here you were in this area where, like, you know, thousands of Jews had already been rounded up and taken out of there, and there was hardly any food, and you had Nazis living in your house, but you were told, just live normally, go back to everything like wasn't that the announcement you had that the nazis said all of you should go back home and to work and just behave normally see we had you know antwerp uh the diamond uh center of the world at the time was mostly controlled by Jewish people. You probably know that, Gilbert.

So interestingly enough, Mimi, my wife, for 60 years now, lived in Ypres, which is a town a little more closer to the North Sea from where I was. And her father, Gerard, was in the textile business, and he had a lot of Jewish connections because he dealt a lot with Jewish business people. So what happened there is that my wife came from a pretty wealthy family. Her father did very well in the textile business. My father was a proletariat.

He was a working man. And what happened there is that as soon as the Germans occupied Flanders, a lot of the top brass needed to stay somewhere so they took over big homes like my father-in-law's. They had a patrician house with actually there were 107

doors in that house. 107 doors. Because Mimi kept the keys of all those doors at one time. Wow. Here's what happened. They connected. They dined there.

They smoked cigars there. They ate caviar. They did all that stuff. And Mimi's mother was a hell of a cook, actually, a terrific cook. So they weren't forced actually, but there became a connection because most of those top brass people were not necessarily on the side of Hitler. It was kind of a very interesting dynamic

that happened there. And so they got to know each other very well. My father-in-law listened to those people, and some of those guys told him ahead of time that there was going to be a raid on this Jewish family or this Jewish family or another Jewish family. So what did he do? Gerard Vandenberg was his name, my father-in-law. He got those people, smuggled them because Ypres is only five or six kilometers from the French border, not too far from Lille, France. Lille, you heard of Lille, of course.

smuggled them into France, and through connections of some of the German officers, he put them in the mess of the German officers in Lille as cooks, in the kitchen. So those guys on top there, they never knew who was cooking for them. They didn't care if the food was right. So he saved close to, from what I have learned, close to 20 Jewish people from the concentration camps. So he was kind of a small Schindler in a way. Yes, yes, that's well. That's an amazing story.

It is, Gilbert, because after the war, when everything cleared, a lot of people jealous of the Vandenberg family because they did well during the war the um when everything cleared a lot of people jealous of the vandenberg family because they did well during the war uh they rounded them up they rounded up my my mother-in-law shaved her head in in the public square put him in jail and he lost all his rights and he was feeding the whole town by the way during the war. But jealousy, Gilbert, you know what that is. People get jealous. People said, why does he, can he do that and I can't?

That's just, that's the other side of the story. That's a shame. A man of principle. Man of principle. Yes. Of principle, very much so. Mimi must be very proud of her father. That's quite.

I was proud of this guy. And proud to you, too. It was quite an accomplishment. But strangely enough, and you would not believe that, Frank and Gilbert, it was some of those connections, those German connections, that brought me to my career in Germany after the war. Yeah, tell us about that. Because that's a very strange turn of events.

That's a strange opening of a door to showbiz. Yeah, can you believe this? There was a man by the name of, from Leonberg, which is close to Frankfurt there. He had an amusement park, this guy. His name was Weigel Schmidt, and Weigel Schmidt was a good man. And this guy, when I was already established as a singer in Flanders, took me to perform for him in Leonberg.

Can you believe this? And that's where Areola, who became a very strong German recording company, discovered me. And consequently, I recorded over 100 songs in Berlin for for Areola is that strange or what very strange Areola had built when I landed in Berlin it was totally bombed out 90 and Areola had built a um a studio in a basement of a totally destroyed building a large building something fantastic you know the germans and the technology was it was always there of course and areola was one of the finest recording studios in all of western europe in the basement of a bombed out city? Yeah, next to the wall. Because when we walked out,

when we walked out after a session or something, smoking a cigarette outside, we were right by the wall and we saw the little turrets and the Russians in every one of those turrets staring at us. And we couldn't give them the finger because they might have shot us too. at us. And we couldn't give them the finger because they might have shot us too. Of course. Yes, sir. When did you start performing on the French Riviera at the

Cafe Roma? That happened after I was established in Germany. You established in Germany on Areola Records and then Europe started opening up to you. What happened, Germany became Switzerland and Austria, where I was quite popular. Like I said, over 100 songs that I digitized,

they're all in a package here to be heard. They gave me the most magnificent orchestras there and choirs, and I have some terrific recordings that became very big hits in Germany. So here's this guy from Flanders that now becomes a hit in Germany. Now, the Flemish hate me. They say Tony Sandry always sings in another language. Yes, sir. Yes, sir.

Tell us again how many languages you speak. Well, Gilbert, I speak five fluently. Wow. I speak, I'm called

my native language, Flemish, French, because Belgium is divided into two languages, French and Flemish, as you know. I went to a French school.

I was going to become a doctor like my older brother and quit in the middle there because I made a recording that was called The Song of the Sea Athlete from the Sea in Flemish. And I was all of a sudden established in Flanders. That led me then on to other things and expand more and more. How did you decide? Why did you decide to change your name, Tony? You were born Lucien. My name is Lucien Joseph Santali. Now, can you imagine, Gilbert, for a minute,

that I keep Lucien Joseph Santali, and then I team up with Raphael Israel, which is Ralph Young. Yes. So can you see that on the marquee at the Flamingo in Vegas? Lucien-Joseph Santele and Raphael Israel. That doesn't work very well, does it? No, Sandler and Young scans a little better.

It seems like, right? And Ralph said, why does it have to be Sandler first and then Young? Could it not be Young and Sandler? I said, no, it sounds better, Sandler and Young. Sandler and Young. Well, tell Gilbert the funny part is they thought Ralph was the goy and that you were the Jewish fellow. Yeah, of course. Of course, Sandler is actually

a Jewish name. When I came to America, I met a lot of people, especially in the Boston area, Sandlers. Right? That's so funny. There's shoe manufacturers in Boston that are called Sandlers. Sandler family. And so, yeah, that was always

that was funny, too. I mean, they thought I was the Jewish fella and Ralph was a goy. So funny. And because there he is, a guy named Israel with the name Young, which sounds like the most Gentile name. Well, Ralph, you know where Ralph came from, right? No. Ralph came from the Ukraine, his family. He was what they call white russian oh and landed in new york and uh i know he was raised in the bronx oh he was born in the

bronx oh born in the bronx yeah i mean his his parents i guess uh emigrated from the Ukraine. So, yep. And how did you first meet up with him? What happened? One day in 63, a producer, an impresario from Milan came to me whom I knew through the years and said, Tony, I just got a call

from a producer in Vegas and he's looking for another singer for a contract for three months with the Casino del Parisho. I said, well, oh, yeah, okay, I'm listening. And he said, but you have to be in Milan tomorrow by 10. Now, Alassio is a ways from Milano, especially when you have to go through the mountain, little passes to get there.

There was no big autostrada there at the time. So I said, how am I going to do that? I have to perform here tonight, and then I have to be there at the time. So I said, how am I going to do that? I have to perform here tonight, and then I have to be there at 10, and then I have to be back to perform that same night. How am I going to do that? And I had a guy by the name of Pravetoni, a friend, who was an Italian fighter pilot

who had a terrific sports car. And I said, well, Giordano, what do you think? Can you get me to Milan tomorrow? You know Milan very well. I don't know Milano that well. He said, yeah, as soon as you're done performing here, I'll drive you. I said, you're going to drive me?

Yeah, okay. So after the show, we jump in this car. Four and a half hours later, we're in Milan. Slept a little bit, and he got me there at 10 o'clock. And whom do I meet? Frederic Capcar. Frederic Capcar is sitting in his office there. I walk in.

I had brought some stuff, some film work that I had done. I wanted to convince this guy that I was worth it, I guess. So he looks at me, Frederick looks at me, and in French he said, Comment tu mesures? Combien tu mesures toi? How tall are you? I said, 1 meter 87 centimeters. That's 6 foot 2.

He said, you want to go to Vegasgas you're hired i said well wait a minute he said yeah i have uh i hired uh a new yorker ralph young who is about six one and i wanted to match him next to next to leanien Renault. And that's an incredible story. And I called Mimi. Mimi was in Belgium. I said, Mimi, they want me to go to Vegas. What do you think? She said, go.

Let's go. That's what she told you to do. Let's go, she said. So I did have two small kids at the time, my oldest, Valerie, and Natalie. And that was a bit of a problem, but we solved that. They stayed with the grandparents for that time being, thinking, guys, that I was only going to go for three months, you know.

So after two weeks, the Casino del Parisho with Lean Renault starring was such a hit that Opcar came to me and said, I want you to sign a year's contract. And I said, Fred, jeez, I can't do that because I have so many pending stuff in Europe. I was going to go to Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen and contracts I had all over the place in Europe. And he said, why don't you try to postpone them and stay?

You know, this is such a big hit here, the casino, which it was. I mean, the Casino de Paris was a hell of a show. At the Dunes Hotel. At the Dunes, yeah, a hundred, a cast of a hundred. I mean, lots of people there. Mostly Europeans. Ralph was actually the only American in the whole group. And as Ralph actually tried to convince me, he said, come on, Tony.

He said, you stay here for a year and you go back to Europe. You were in Vegas for a year. That should be impressive for the people. By the way, when Ralph met me in Milan for the rehearsal for that show, Ralph came to Milano to rehearse for probably for a two-week period

and to the costumes and all the stuff that were all done in Milano and then flown over to Vegas. And I took Ralph because we had a couple of days off. You know, it was nonsense what we did in that show. I mean, after a day or two, I was so bored, you know, with the naked girls running around you.

And I don't know, you know, that was not what I did in Europe. I was headliner in Europe and I did my one-hour show. You can't imagine what that was. Of course. It was like a shock for me. Culture clash. Yeah. And I said to Raf, you know, I'm so bored here.

But he convinced me, Raf. He said, so, here I stay. And good post-ponctual, especially the Café Roma contract was always very lucrative for me. And this guy, the owner, flew into Vegas two times to convince me to come back. But I signed for a year. And during that year, Ralph and I started fooling around in the dressing room. That's when Elvis Presley came in and sat in our dressing room often because Elvis had his eye on a beautiful French girl dancer.

So Elvis would sit there. He had to be very young at this point in his life. He was, he was. Nice guy. From what i remember elvis you know i met him many times later but um he uh he sat there quiet in your dressing room that's the only place he could sit backstage to wait and uh while we were putting on our crazy costumes and doing all the stuff you did in that dumb show does footage exist of that show, Tony?

Can people see what that show was? Is there film? That I don't know, Frank. I'd love to see it. Yeah, I don't know. It was one of those lavish Yeah, I can imagine.

nude shows. Sure, sure, sure. Ralph was in Les Brown's Band of Renown, by the way, Gilbert, which is a pretty cool thing. Ralph, yeah. Ralph had established himself as what they call the king of the production singers.

And that's as far as he went until he met me. And he acknowledged that many times during our career. But to go back a little bit, I took Ralph while we were rehearsing in Milan. I took him to Berlin. I took him to a studio in Brussels and all that, and he heard the stuff that I had done, and he, Ross said, Jesus. He said, I know so many people in America. He said, can I be your manager? It's funny, isn't that that's that's what it was yeah he saw an opportunity yeah well there it is and and you and uh ralph seemed like you liked each other from the start

you know what i discovered gilbert um i had been a choir singer as as you know, and I was very good at harmonizing, at locking my voice in, even when I was a soprano as a kid. And so when I started singing with Ralph, Ralph had that robust, beautiful bass baritone voice, you know, Ralph Young. voice, you know, Ralph Young. And when I locked, I could lock in my voice to that voice so close, so beautiful, so harmonious that actually it became a larger sound. You can hear that on our recordings, actually, when you listen to them. So I recognized that there was something special but then we came up with the quote livid

where he sings one song and I sing another in another language at the same time right that was our specialty where I sang Dominique Dominique right down upon the Swarovski River you know

far far away. And that was, but I'm getting ahead of my story, actually, because that only happens after we signed with Capitol. But here we are, and we create this act. And we're in the Catskills I remember we performed at the Neville or something

and we were such a hit actually you know the Jewish crowd in the Catskills at the time Gilbert I don't know but they were pretty rough those people

so as we walked to the stage through the audience one guy would grab my my my sleeve and say, are you any good? You know the atmosphere there in the Catskills. Yes. And so we really hit it so big there at the Neverleaf

that Ralph the next day said, I got to introduce you to lou walders lou ralph had worked with lou oh at the latin quarter at latin at the latin quarter for all those years and so we walk into lou walders office and lou is sitting behind his desk and ralph said lou this is my European partner, Tony Sandler, and we really were such a big hit at the Neville here. I really think we have something. And Lou Walters looked at us and he said,

Unbelievable. So I walked out of there and I said, Ralph, this is not going to work. You know, I have so many things I want to do in Europe. We walked Manhattan on a cold night, I remember. And I said, Ralph, I think I'm going back. But meanwhile, Freddie Fields. Oh, the famous Freddie Fields. Got in the picture.

And Paulie Bergen. And especially Phil Silvers. Phil heard this rehearse. I love Phil Silvers. Phil was just a magnificent man, you know. He saw you guys at the Dunes? Is that what happened, Tony? Not at the Dunes.

Already when we were working in a lounge at the Sahara in Vegas. Oh, you'd already moved to the Sahara. Well, yeah, that happened because after we put the act together, all of a sudden we got a little contract at the Sahara in the lounge. And with us at the lounge was Harry James. Where were Louis Prima and Keeley Smith performing? They were at the Sands. They were at the Sands. They were at the Sands next door.

Okay. See, the big room, it was Frank and the Rat Pack. Flamingo, where Rob and I headlined for all those years,

for 15 years, was next to the Sands. Right? But the Rat Pack, they didn't have a structured show like Rob and I had. They just walked on stage and were kidding around for an hour and a half.

And it was sometimes glorious, sometimes not. But, you know, that was the Rat Pack. Yeah. They didn't miss. Well, they never missed those guys. You know, they were such terrific entertainers, of course. But so it's Sahara. entertainer of course but so it's Sahara and I said Phil came Phil was in a headlining in the main room at Sahara when we were in the lounge and they gave us the first and the last shift

we were on at 2 30 in the afternoon where everybody is by the pool and And at night at 1.30 when everybody is tired and goes to bed, right? In between they had the other acts. So one night Phil Silvers, believe it or not, he had heard a rehearsal. Phil was on the stage at the end of his show that was packed with 800 people in the main room at the Sahara. And he said, folks, I don't know what you're doing after the show, but I'm going to get out of this sweaty tuxedo here

and I'm going to go and take a look at Ralph and Tony in the lounge, San Loren Young. So all of a sudden, from empty rooms at the Sahara Lounge, here we have a packed room after Phil's show. Who is there? Who is there is Polly Bergen and Freddie Fields. And we proceeded to entertain those people to the fullest. Freddie came to us.

He said, Polly is setting up a tour, and it would be great if she could have the two of you with her on the stage do part of your act and then also you know the picture again Polly in the middle Ralph and I on either side and that was actually the beginning of of the success of Sandor and Young without that we would have struggled or I would have been back in Europe. And so here is the Polly Bergen show. Now, Polly is booked at the Persian Room in New York, the class of the class at the time. It was in February 66, I think. And the room was packed with,

if a bomb fell on that room, there was no Hollywood left. I mean, everybody was there. And Freddie could do that. I mean, I cannot name any person that wasn't there. I mean, big actors, Edward G. Robinson, Vince Simonelli.

I mean, they were all there. Wow. And we proceeded to do a great show with Polly. And then Polly said, those guys don't need me. They're stars on their own, Polly said. And they brought us back in August of 1966 at the Persian Room to star Sandra and Young on our own. And that took

off like wildfire. From there on in, the Livingston, who was the president of Capitol Records, came between Ralph and I as we were sitting there and I said, boys, I'm going to sign you on Capitol Records. And after

that, we recorded all this fantastic thing that we recorded all this fantastic things that we did in the tower in Los Angeles the fantastic recordings I have them all here actually I just digitized everything there's 110

Sander & Young songs 110 wow the complete recording collection of Capitol Records recording stars Tony Sander songs. 110, wow. The complete recording collection of Capitol Records recording stars Tony Sander and Ralph Young. That's the first package here. And so

that's basically the story. We shot up like we did eight Ed Sullivan shows, three Red Skelton shows, the Dean Martin show. We did them all. A bunch of

Carsons too. Carsons. And then Gilbert, to go back to the Walters, Barbara Walters was on the Today Show with

Well, we should tell our listeners that's the daughter of Lou Walters who gave you the raspberry. While Gilbert tries to remember who our guest is. And what's your name?

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hand and pull me down it's the best i won't put up any fight because i'm easy live from nutmeg post we now return to gilbert and Frank's amazing, colossal podcast. But guys, why don't you talk a little bit so I can listen to you guys? You're telling the story very well, Tony. You Downs had you guys on the Today Show and fell in love with you. That was the craziest thing. One morning, they gave us 31 minutes on the Today Show performing.

Unheard of. We brought in a trio. Joe Craberry was our conductor then at the time. And the switchboard lit up. The girls at the switchboard said, we have never seen anything like it when we walked out of the studio. You know, it was just a total, very rewarding success. And, you know, so quick, actually, we got to the top.

That's just unheard of. I think we're both interested, aren't we, Gil, in the mob relationships in Vegas and what was happening at the time. A lot of our guests have said the mob treated them very, very well. Yeah, you can't find any celebrities who had any complaints about the mob. They treated us so well, Gilbert, but we had a little sign on the door at the Flamingo. I worked for the mafia for about like nine years there, you know, until things changed there, where corporations came in and all that. You remember that switch that happened in Vegas.

But there was a little notice on the door, no blue material. The mafia. Yeah. No blue material. These were killers who were offended by dirty words. Yeah, because we catered to the family type, you know, people, all the Midwesterns that flew into Vegas. That was then, you know, we packed those rooms with the flyover country. But they treated you fairly.

You and Ralph didn't mind doing business with them. Well, you never knew. We had our contract with the director of entertainment. We knew what was happening behind. They would come in occasionally and tap you on the shoulder and say, hey, great job. Thank you. That's all. That was it.

That was it. Because all the celebrities you read about or hear, and a few we've had on the podcast, who just said that that was the best their careers were.

Gilbert, the golden time. Yeah, absolutely. There was no interference, never. You were protected. You were, you know, there were some bodyguards that you never saw, but they were there. It was all kinds of stuff that was not obvious. But we were...

When you filled the room for them, Frank, you had it made. I mean, that's all you need to do. Fill the room and have them pull the slot machines. That's what that was. Were you guys given the keys to Rolls Royces

to use and homes with servants and cooks? Now you're talking. So now we're in Reno for Bill Harrah. Yeah, Bill Harrah. And Bill Harrah became a big fan. Actually, he would fly in with a private plane when we were in Orchco Hassett or something in the theater in the rounds on the East Coast. Remember those places? Oh, yeah.

3,000 seaters that we packed for a week. Can you imagine that? 3,000 seaters, you go in there for a week. Three times six, that's 18,000 people that you have to pull in. But Bill Harrow would fly in there with his private plane to see us. So we were on the contract with Bill Hara. And when you work for Bill Hara, he gave you each. Rav and I had a house.

We had two mates. We had a cook. And the Rolls Royce of your choice. The color of your choice. How about that, Gil? Wow. Living large, Tony. I had a light blue.

I love that car. I'm lucky if I have potato chips in my drink. Potato skins, right? I'm going to light my pipe. May I? Go ahead. Of course. You're the first guest we've had on who smokes a pipe.

Really? Only because we never interviewed Rudy Valli. Oh, yes. Our friend here in Minneapolis, John. John Seals is here with us. Yeah, he loves cigars. so I gave him a cigar. I think he finished it already, didn't you? I have another one downstairs, though.

What was Vegas like at that time? I mean, you were in the heart of it, Tony. I mean, you guys, you got the Rat Pack performing up the Strip. You've got Louis Prima and Keeley were at the Sands. We went to visit them often after, because they were on late. up the strip. You've got Louis Prima and Keely were at the Sands. We went to visit them often after, because they were on late. Keely and Prima, they did

a fantastic job, those guys. It was such fun, such atmosphere there. Louis, crazy. And we just lost her. I heard that. And then Keely, Keely, Rav, after everything was done, I moved here to Minnesota and Ralph went to Palm Springs. And Keely and Ralph became actually very, very good friends at the latter part of Ralph's life. Oh, that's nice.

Instrumental, I heard, in securing our star, the Sandra Young star on the Walk of Stars. She endorsed that very heavily. So, bless her. When I'm in Palm Springs, I'm going to find your star. Yes, sir. I'm there. I was going to say, it's Phil Silvers. You guys owed a lot to Phil Silvers, as it turns out.

That was a turning point. Absolutely. Absolutely. And That was a turning point. Absolutely, absolutely. And Phil was just a sweetheart, you know. When we talked the other day, Frank, you asked me the people that I have met in my life in show business, and I made the list here.

Oh, he's got a list. I love it. Well, I can't remember them all. I had to think twice, you know. You know, actually, people that I met and and became Phil Donahue, for example. Uh-huh. Remember Phil? He's here. I just saw him at a party.

You're kidding me. About a month and a half ago at a book signing, at a book reading. Sullivan, Griffin, Douglas, Donahue, Don's, Sinatra, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Milton Berle. Milton was also very instrumental in our career. Paulie Bergen. Lucille Ball became a good friend of my wife, Phil Silvers. Presley Carson, Liberace. Wow.

I mean, Liberace was a – I have several, several wonderful pictures with this guy. He was a sweetheart. He said, several wonderful pictures with this guy. He was a sweetheart. He said, I'm not so good at promoting myself. He said, I always – I'm very good at promoting other people. Liberace. Sweet man. Lino Horn, Ella Fitzgerald, Constance Towers. Remember her?

Sure. Red Skelton, who was magnificent. Al Martino, Goulet. Al Martino. Lovedlet. Al Martino. Loved him. Johnny Fontaine. The godfather. Robert Goulet walks up to me at the Sahara, and I said,

Allo, mon vieux, ça va? Tout va bien? He said, hein? I thought that Goulet spoke French fluently. I thought he was Canadian or something at the time. I rattled off something in French to him. I said, huh? Did not speak French, Robert Goulet.

Not much. Jerry Vale, remember him? Jerry Vale, loved him. Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand, Andy Williams. Andy and Ralph had a long career together. They knew each other from way before. When the Williams brothers and Ralph were very connected. Lauren Bacall.

You know what she did? She came to see us at the Plaza and she said to Val Irving, I want that Flemish flesh. Oh, jeez. That's fantastic. She liked me. Obviously.

I was pretty good looking at the time. Oh, yes. That's why she loved me. Betty Bacall. Sonny and Cher, I see here. We did the Waves Ball in Los Angeles and Bob Hope was the announcer

or the method of ceremonies and Polly Polly was there and Ralph and I and Sonny and Cher were performing for for the Royal Family for the Waves Ball. I don't know if you know what that is.

No. You know, Gil? Waves Ball. Yeah, that was promoted by the British Royal Family. So here is, can I tell that story? Sure. so here is can I tell that story? sure

it's Hope Bob Hope walks on stage and greets the people and said and here they are first Sonny and Cher

the people are still eating they're still munching so Sonny and Cher with their group walk on stage they tune their instrument

bling bling bling bling bling for about 10 seconds bling bling bling bling bling then they start playing they tune their instrument for about 10, 15 minutes. Then they start playing. And the first song, I think Sonny, Cher won't be happy to hear that story,

but the first song, people go, second song, third song, fourth song, boo. go. Second song. Third song. Fourth song. Boo. Fifth song. Boo.

Sixth song. Seventh song. They were booed off the stage. So I'm standing backstage with Bob Hope at Polly and Ralph. And it was like a little stairs coming down. And Sonny came down first, and then Cher comes last,

and she stares me in the eye. She said, I guess we bombed. Unbelievable. I never forgot that. How do you get booed off the stage at a benefit? That's a rough crowd. But wait a minute. The capper is this.

While they were on stage, the woman that was in charge of that whole affair rushed backstage and she said, Mr. Hope, Mr. Hope, you have to do something. They hate them.

You have to do something. And Bob Hope looked at her and he said, I have to do something? You hire them. You better do something. Wow, what a story. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I never forgot that one. That's a great one. You told me on the phone you were friendly with Sid Caesar, that you loved him. What was he like? Are you kidding me? Sid was a genius. Sid had the fastest, you know,

he was our guest on the, when we hosted the craft musical many times. I did a couple of skits with him that were just hilarious. And what a pleasure to work with this man. He was the cream of the crop. Sid, Sid Caesar. You know,

I knew Shecky very well, Shecky Green. Oh, Shecky loves Gilbert. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. But to tell you that, I knew Shecky very well, Shecky Green. Oh, Shecky loves Gilbert. Yeah. Okay, but to tell you, I mean, I never met a gentleman like Sincere. That's nice. That's nice to hear.

What was your experience of Jerry? Jerry? Lewis. Let's see. Oh, boy. I hit a nerve. Hey, he was always nice to us, okay? That's your line, Gilbert. Yeah, there are certain people that I'm always excited to use that line.

Well, he was always nice to me. Yeah. And that's about all I'm going to say about that. We'll read between the lines, Tony. Okay. But Sid was a totally fun guy because you hear stories that Sid Caesar could be very closed off from people. And depressed. Yeah.

Yeah. Well, but you know what? They had such a fast mind. You know what he could do? He could imitate a language very well. You heard him do that, I'm sure. Yes. Sure. So one day we did a sketch where I spoke every language that I speak in fast successions.

You know, like we were having a conversation. I said, hello, mon vieux, mais qu'est-ce qui se passe aujourd'hui? Qu'est-ce qui s'affaire aujourd'hui? And he would repeat in garbage French. But everybody else that didn't speak the language said, son of a gun. This guy talks French. But everybody else that didn't speak the language said, son of a gun, this guy talks French. They didn't know. Of course, I knew it was all garbage.

But he could imitate whatever syllable I spoke or in German. I said, and he would jump on that and make it sound like, and he was the only one that I ever met in my life that could do that. So people that don't speak the language say, son of a gun. He was gifted. Yeah, he was brilliant at doing that. Hey, am I doing okay, guys?

You're doing wonderful. Excellent. We want to ask you, doing wonderful we want to we want to ask you go ahead gil you want to ask him about peter lori was you remember anything of peter lori he was on the craft music hall with you and ralph do you have any memory of him tony not much of him no much more of uh of uh victor borge yeah uh victor. Victor was a genius. And, of course, Vincente Pricce. Vincent Pricce. Vincente Pricce.

I like that. Tell us about Vincent Pricce. That's one of Gilbert's favorites. Well, another total gentleman. You know, great cook, by the way. Oh, yeah. He got together with me me with my wife and they were uh uh sharing uh all kinds of of things you know for the kitchen he he was really a phenomenal cook vincent but

what a gentleman again there's this you know there's one thing guys i don't know whether that's at all possible but i would certainly like like to retrieve the 12 shows that I did, that I hosted for Kraft. I only have eight of them, and I get no response from NBC or from the Kraft people as to where the others are. Oh, that's interesting. You'll have to tell me which after we get off the air, so to speak. You'll tell me the four that are missing, Tony.

I'll see if I can help you track them down. I mean, a lot of times those TV shows would just discard. We hope they weren't erased. Yeah. That's always the case, right? Yeah. You know, they were probably on two-inch or one-inch. I don't know.

Well, the early Carson shows were – a lot of the very early Carson shows were a race. The first one with Groucho doesn't exist. But let's hope that's not the case here. Entire series. Maybe, Frank, they have some pneumatics. I don't know. I will look into it. I promise you that.

Yeah, because there were, like like entire series that were just dumped. Yeah, isn't that something? Yeah. Go ahead, Tom. And Gilbert, they would be still very entertaining for people for certain channels. I guarantee you, because those were very well-constructed shows. And all the guest stars we had from Ella Fitzgerald to Lena Horne, you name it.

Terry Thomas. Yeah. Tell us something about him. Well, you had to stare at his teeth always, his front teeth. I said, Jesus, why can't you fix that? He built a career on it. He was a funny man.

Of course, of course. What about Uncle Miltie? You said that Burl was close to you and Ralph. Milton, we were on his show. And Milton was sitting in his dressing room in his robe with his socks down. And on the back of his robe, it says, the greatest. That's Milton. On the back of his robe, it was written, the greatest.

So we're rehearsing a piece called, Ralph and I were doing a French-American medley where I sing French songs, kind of intricate stuff for doing a French-American medley where I sing French songs, kind of intricate stuff, for about a five-minute piece that was really kind of clever. And so where that counterpointal stuff comes in with songs that people would never imagine would match together, sung at the same time, like you wanting to sing side-by-side with me. Yes. Which we're going to do. Stay tuned with me yes which we're gonna do stay tuned oh we're gonna do that but so so here we're working in the studio the cameras are on

everything and the director comes down from his perch up there and he comes to us and he says boys i was just thinking uh maybe uh this is a little long and maybe we should cut it from here to there and then add this to that and all of a sudden the door flies open from Milton's dressing room and he goes straight

to this guy and puts his finger right on his chest. He said, you dumb son of a bitch. He said, leave those son of a bitch. He said, leave those boys alone. You have no clue what you're trying to do here. This is perfect. This is structured. And this guy

with his tail between his legs. That was Milton. Yeah, that was Milton. And I've tried to show some restraint for a few minutes. But you know what Milton Berle is famous for? Yeah, for stealing everybody's jokes.

Well, that was one thing. That was one. Yeah. The other thing, he was supposed to be incredibly well endowed. Well, I think we just lost John Seals. Gilbert, I should have seen that he was wearing his robe. And I didn't see that. I didn't see any, any Birling Birlong there.

I didn't see anything. You missed out. Yeah, I missed out. Oh, you guys. We've had at least three guests who've seen it. It's legendary, Tony.

Yeah, I can't say anything. It had its own management. But he was sure a craftsman, this guy. um for all the times that i encountered milton uh i have very very fond memories of this man how about dino excellent yeah the nicest quietest fella nevergging, never coming on strong. Just, by the way, there is an intro that only Dean Martin could have given us. It's somewhere on a tape where he introduces us.

I've never heard an introduction like that. So he was convinced about the San Réunion worth, the San Réunion entity, very much. Here is just about the most exciting musical act to come along in a long time. These two guys have become a smash hit and for a very good reason. They deserve to be a smash hit. Ladies and gentlemen, Tony Sandler and Ralph Young. What can you do for an opening number that hasn't been done before? Why even sing an opening number?

They usually are Such a bore Folks in the know Say You're style of a show With You She was A wonderful you

That's the rule While others would say They're riding today When you're down And I lift up your head And shout There's gonna be A great day

We will return When you're down and out, lift up your head and shout. There's gonna be a great day. We will return to Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast after this. DQ presents the sound of a genius idea with the new Smarties Cookie Collision Blizzard. It's the sound of your favorite Smarties Blizzard. Oh, but how could it get any better than this colorful classic think dq think i've got it add delicious cookie dough and carry the two times a flavor coefficient equals the new smarties cookie collision blizzard hurry in for the new smarties cookie collision blizzard this genius treat is only a dq for a limited time dq happy tastes good. Introducing TD Insurance for Business with customized coverage options for your business. Because at TD Insurance,

we understand that your business is unique, so your business insurance should be too. Whether you're a shop owner, a pet groomer, a contractor, or a consultant, you can get customized coverage for your business. Contact a licensed TD insurance advisor to learn more. What about Sammy? You knew Sammy too. Sammy became a good friend of mine. Can you believe that? This was, in my opinion, one package of an ugly little guy who had more talent than anybody uh you know he had more talent in his pinky than a lot of people in show business and he was a nice guy and he was at the time married to a main brit i think we had many a cup of coffee together uh and he was extremely

interesting because of my European background. You know, and then that was at the time that Sammy acquired a British accent. Do you remember that, Gilbert? Oh, yes. Yes. Do you remember that? That was kind of the funniest thing you ever saw. He had a few affectations, Sammy.

Yeah, but deep inside, you know, he was a great guy. And at the time, he had lost his eye there in Bakersfield in a big accident. Sure. That was sad. What kind of comics opened for you guys? I know Myron Cohen was one of them. Myron. Oh, Myron.

Myron Cohen. Quiet, nice fella. Always dressed beautifully. Always elegant. Oh, yeah, Myron. God, was he funny. And he, like, started out as, like, a salesman. Yeah, he was a salesman, yeah.

Did you ever meet him, Gil, when you traveled? No. What a truly funny man. But, Gilbert, this guy was so consistent. He knew where his lines were and where they worked. He worked his audience to perfection. That was always a home run with Meyer. Always.

Always a home run. It was always like very slow drawn out and then hysterical take his time getting there yeah he was deliberate always pretty deliberate and but yeah did you ever work with buddy hackett oh buddy his face tony's face just fell. No, no, no, no. I'm going to reveal something about Buddy. Buddy also became a kind of a close confidant with me. Can you believe that?

Wow. Yeah, and we played tennis together. And Buddy was not a very good tennis player. Imagine. And Buddy was not a very good tennis player. I can imagine. But when we played doubles, he had a forehand and I was on the right to usually use my backhand. You know, you imagine.

So when a ball came that I could easily reach with the backhand and hit it out of the park, one day we were playing up where in New York, it was I think in the Boston area. So we're playing and it's going pretty good. So he hits the forehand and I hit the backhand, I go to the

net, I smash this and we win. But all of a sudden the ball comes here and the ball came actually pretty closer to him than to me, so I knew that I can really rip it with a backhand, which I did. And Buddy looks at me, he said, he said that that was my ball.

I said, what are you talking about? That was my ball. That was my ball. I said, what were you talking about? That was my ball. But Buddy, I don't know if you know that fellow, so that's what I wanted to get to. He was a poet. I don't know if you know that.

He wrote poetry. No, I did not know that. Buddy wrote beautiful poetry and would call me sometimes at night at 3 o'clock sobbing. He was a very sensitive soul, Buddy Hackett. Wow. Yes, sir. Who knew that? No. I'm revealing that to you, and probably nobody would reveal that, but that's it.

That was Buddy Hackett. Not a portrait that's been painted of him before. No. Deep soul. We heard he had a penchant for handguns. But that I don't know, but this man had a deep soul. That's nice to hear. I confided in me often about very sensitive

stuff, yeah. That was Buddy Hackett. Boy, that I'd never heard anything. Well, you can take it from me. I know it. What about Joey Bishop? That's the last one I'll ask you. Sweetheart.

You like Joey Bishop, too? Joey was a sweetheart. Well, you got along with everybody, Tony. No, why not? I mean, those people were, like I said, like you said, Gilbert, they were certainly nice to me. I said, like you said, Gilbert, they were certainly nice to me. The other thing, Gilbert, hey, I was the European, remember? I was amongst all the Americans.

I was the European. I was the guy. On top of that, I was the goy. You have to understand that and those people accepted me like i was their equal and or and and had admiration for what we did now how would you feel i mean of course you know i was really the intruder they know we're all immigrants i i immigrated here later than other people became a proud American citizen in 71 after I had to go through rigorous tests

with an old judge the old judge is asking me there were three people when I was sworn in in America there was a Vietnamese girl and I think a Puerto Rican cab driver or something and me and this judge is asking me all the questions. Lengthy, are the Supreme Court judges appointed or elected? I said, they're appointed. How do you know that, he said, the judge. I said, well, I learned it. You know, I learned when I came into the United States, English was my fifth language, but I learned to speak English, right? I spoke four other languages before, but I was sure to

come to America and speak damn English. How are you going to thrive in a country if you don't speak the language? And that was all there was to it. And, you know, we're performing somewhere in Michigan, 1,500 people in a pretty big room packed. In the middle of the show, Ralph stops the show and said, folks, I have an announcement to make. My European partner, Tony Sandler, just became an American citizen.

And that room erupted in a five-minute standing ovation in 71. Think of that. That's not too long ago, right? Not that long ago. Forty, forty-six years. Gilbert, what do you say, Gilbert, to that? No, that's an that I wish was on film.

I hope that happens today. Well, that's what I'm trying to tell you, fellas. Yes, unfortunately, a lot of anti-immigrant sentiment here now. I'm not anti-immigrants, but come in the right way, and then I did. And when Ralph Young I'm not anti-immigrants, but come in the right way. And then I did. Yeah.

Yeah. And when Ralph Young hit 65, which back then was considered the official retirement age, and he decided to leave the team. And regretted it. Oh. Yep. He regretted it because he realized that out of the limelight,

that's a different story. When the phone stops ringing, you people know that, when the phone stops ringing, that's pretty you're when the phone stops ringing that's pretty drastic we all know that right yes and ralph came back to me he said i i quit too early i said yes you did but contrary to what was in the papers there was no fight there was no discord. Ralph just came to me and said, I can't do it anymore at 65. Now, mind you, at that time, I was only 49. Right?

Right. So I continued, of course. Yeah, you did a lot after that. And then you guys reunited in 2001. Well, I did a show called Swinging Down Memory Lane, right? In Minneapolis. Yeah. A beautiful show with big band and choir and the whole damn thing. Well, I did a show called Swinging Down Memory Lane, right? In Minneapolis. Yeah.

A beautiful show with big band and choir and the whole damn thing. And I invited Ralph, and he came. And for the last time, Ralph and I, with the choir behind us, sang Dominique, Dominique, Dominique. Son of a, to sample my way down upon the Swanee River. And the whole room erupted at tears. There were tears in the audience. What I wouldn't have given to be at that last show, Tony,

and seeing you guys one last time. I didn't know he regretted it. That Ralph regretted it? Yes. Oh, yeah, very much so. Did he ever want to talk to you about reteaming? No, that, you know, Cammy contacted me right after that. They knew I had been a single performer before, and they contacted me,

and I started doing extensive touring by myself for Cami. I covered the country. I did 200 a year or something. Just a phenomenal rate. And I surround myself with excellent female singers and did, for example, an evening of Lerner and Lowe. I did an evening of Cole Porter. I did an evening of Irving Berlin, which is all on tape, by the way. I have this one-hour specials of that stuff. And that was not only lucrative, I didn't have to split the money anymore. Right on. I love your version of on the street where you live, by the way, Tony,

since you bring up that Lerner and Lowe special. Is that pretty or what? It's beautiful. What you do with it is wonderful. Yeah. And you're going to have to plug your collection at the end of this. Well, I'd love to, guys.

You know, it's going to be available. I have the package of 12 discs of Capital, all freshly digitized again, beautifully digitized, actually almost better than the original. What can be done today? You know that. And certainly you know it, my friend here. My engineer is right next to you there.

And then Ralton, who was Ross and my company, we recorded another 10 albums. So it's a total of about 220 songs. And this is kind of the prototype thing. I don't know how it is. Okay, so it's not available yet. You're working on making it available. It's going to be available to my website, TonySander.com.

Great. Yeah. Great. Well, he's no Ralph Young, but are you feeling adventurous, Tony? Well, who's going to be the adventurer, me or him? You. You, my friend. Okay, you start it.

Give me a tone. Oh, we ain't got a barrel of money. Maybe we're ragged and funny, but we travel alone, singing a song side by side. Don't know what's coming tomorrow. Maybe it's trouble and sorrow But we'll travel the road Sharing a load Side by side Through all kinds of weather

What if the sky should fall? As long as they're together It doesn't matter at all When we both are the same together. It doesn't matter at all. When we both got the job by then, parted, we were the same as we started just traveling alone,

singing a song. Side by side. That was beautiful. You guys. That was beautiful. Tony, are you feeling honored? Absolutely. I think he's putting something else in his pipe now.

I don't want to team up. I don't want to split the money, but that's fine. I remember growing up, it was like there were a million variety shows. Oh, yeah. And Sandler and Young seemed like they were on practically every night. Every one of them. Mm-hmm. Yeah, Hollywood Palace. Well, there were. Mm-hmm. Yeah, Hollywood Palace. Well, there were some we didn't even mention.

Hollywood Palace. Yeah. Carson, Merv Griffin, Mike Douglas. Oh, the Mike Douglas show. I have an affinity for Philadelphia, of course, because I must have done 50 Douglas shows. We were always on the Douglas show. Yeah, yeah.

Even my beautiful mother, Valentin, who had eight kids, was on the Mike Douglas show. Can you imagine that? That little woman from Flanders, so proud of her son, was on the Douglas show. And you know who was on that same show? Who? President Nixon.

Oh, wow. That's bizarre. I know you were on the Hollywood Palace with Adam West. Yeah, but here is my youngest daughter, Natalie, sitting on Nixon's knee. Oh, boy. And she had two teeth missing. It was around Christmas. And she sang, oh, I want to fuck with my two frown teeth. You know, on Nixon's knee.

I love that. I love it. No, Sandler and Young was everywhere. I told you, my mom, my 90-year-old mom is a fan. How did you guys find me again? How did we find him? I think through Gino Salamone. Yeah, that's how we found you, both of us.

Since we started the show, your name's been coming up. I've been thinking, yeah, we were thinking, yeah, Tony Sand sandler we have to get him we've been saying it for about a year that's what my wife says i got to get him and lauren bacall apparently and oh and that gets me to another thing you were pretty popular with all the ladies back then. Don't tell my wife that, but I was. How could he not be?

He speaks six languages. He's playing to sold-out crowds all over Europe. Oh, my God. You must have been in demand, Tony. Well, I was, guys, but, you know, I was always pretty respectful in my life I was raised that way and I made a lot of friends really true friends

you know that have been friends for all those years I just got a note here Ingrid Bergman is that it? Bergmangman is the one you talk about i never met her but uh you know i wanted to make a point here a little bit um fantastic craft fellas in france like gilbert b, Yves Montand.

One exception, Maurice. Maurice Chevalier made it big in America because of films. But look at Aznavour, all those fantastic talents. Love Aznavour. Jacques Brel. Never really came true, believe it or not, to the general American public, and I did. I'm kind of the only guy there from Flanders that Tony Sanders became a notion amongst millions of people.

And it probably had to do with the many Sullivan shows that we did, because on Sundays there was only one show, right? And everybody watched the Ed Sullivan show. And I did eight of those. So that continuous appearance of Ralph and I on all those different shows, the afternoon shows, and certainly Murph was very instrumental too. That kept on going for all those years. And so it's kind of when I look back at my career and the recognition I got in this wonderful country of ours. I mean, I'm a very grateful fellow.

Okay. As a late comer to the United States and how I was accepted. How would you feel? That's a nice thing to hear. You have gratitude for every bit of the journey and all the successes. None of it was lost on you. Well, total gratitude.

Good for you, Tony. Good for you. Well, we have gratitude that you decided to do this for us. We're thrilled that we got to meet you. We hope you'll consider us two new friends. Oh, absolutely. No doubt. And I'm looking we got to meet you. We hope you'll consider us two new friends. Oh, absolutely. No doubt. Good.

And I'm looking forward to singing another song. We may leave Gilbert out of the next one. Now, I'm going to put you on the spot. I heard you singing Aznavour's She. Yeah. Could you do a couple of bars for me? You want it in French or English? Either one.

It's a song I adore. Toi, pareil de mille et un attrait. Je ne sais jamais qui tu es. Tu sembles si souvent de visage et d'aspect. Toi, c'est pas badi, da-da-da-da She may be the face I can't forget A trace of pleasure or regret May be the treasure or the price I have to pay She may be the song that summer sings

May be the chill that autumn brings maybe a hundred different things and in the measure of a day beautiful wow what a treat thank you thank you tony now there was one song. You're going to make him do another one? I always remember my father humming this one. Yeah? I think it was, you know, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da. Well, that's La Vie en Rose. Oh, okay.

La Vie en Rose. Any way you could sing any of that. Of course. Now, there you go. Quand elle me prend dans ses bras, elle me parle tout bas, je vois la vie en rose. He sounds great.

Tony, you sound wonderful. Well, the voice is still there amazingly at 85. I always use my voice properly. And I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I'm still recording, by the way. Good for you. Oh, wow. And you know what I'm recording?

You wouldn't believe it. Not rap. And you know what I'm recording? You wouldn't believe it. Not rap. Frank, I am working with Dave Gross, who's my accompanist. He is on the East Coast. Dave Gross is great.

He's a jewelry art. Has stayed my friend. He conducted for San Antonio for many years. And I'm working on completing an album that I did of Schubert songs. Oh, wow. All in German. And I need four more songs. And before I kick the bucket, guys, I'm going to finish those four songs.

And if I didn't think that the voice is still there to do it as perfect as possible, I wouldn't do it. Bless your heart. I mean, we're not experts, but he sounds wonderful. Oh, yeah. You know, we're not musicians. We're not engineers. But to us, you sound as good as you ever did. Well, thank you.

Thank you very much, guys. Well. Well. I think most of our audience would agree you're not as strong as your own as you are with me. I love you too, Gilbert. You guys.

We've been talking to one half of the great team of Sandler and Young and a guy who's great on his own, Tony Sandler. Tony, thank you so much for this. Thank you. Thank you. We'll see you again. We're friends forever. Okay? Thank you.

Oh. together, it doesn't matter at all. When they've all had their quarrels and parted, we'll be the same as we started, just a-travelin' along, singin' a song, side by side. But we'll travel along, singing a song Side by side, let's do the cha-cha-cha But we'll travel the road, sharing our own Side by side, let's do the cha-cha-cha Through all kinds of weather What if the sky should fall?

Just as long as we're together It doesn't matter at all When they've all had their quarters and parted We'll be the same as we started Just a-travelin', singing a song, side by side. Side by side. Thank you. Special audio contributions by John Beach. Special thanks to Paul Rayburn, John Murray, John Fodiatis, and Nutmeg Creative. Especially Sam Giovonco and Daniel Farrell for their assistance.