Local singer says it’s never too late to do what you love

Frank Campana and singer Johnny Mathis

Agoura Hills personal talent manager Frank Campana, in his senior years, has a lot to smile about lately. He’s waited much of his life to record his second album and he recently finished it.

Campana’s love for music is displayed on his office walls, which are covered with photographs of him posing with his idols. Singers like Mel Torme and Johnny Mathis are among the many. With each picture is a story and each story begins, "This is one of my dearest friends …"

Campana asks his acquaintances on occasion to join him for lunch at his son’s restaurant, La Pasta in Agoura Hills. Proud of his son’s dream-turned-into-a-success, Campana points out a picture Tony Bennett signed with the inscription, "To La Pasta, the best Italian food in California."

Dreams keep you going, Campana said. But most of his life, he said, wasn’t spent singing as he would have liked it. Most of his life was spent managing the careers of other singers. Campana watched and helped other people reach their dreams.

From the sidelines he personally witnessed fans who crowded around big stars like Bennett and Frank Sinatra. Campana was so close to being in the spotlight, but yet so far.

While a teenager in New York where Campana was born, he sang in big bands and was soon asked to be the featured vocalist in the Black Hawks Army Band during World War II. But Campana later had to make money to support his family and was obligated to postpone his dream as singer.

"My desire was secondary," Campana said. "My family came first."

Campana sold clothing in a department store for five years, but began his career in personal management when Richard O. Link, (who managed Andy Griffith, Frankie Avalon and others) asked him if he wanted a job as his associate. Campana gladly accepted the offer. "I had to get out of the ‘rag’ business, he said. And he got his start making money in music.

Campana worked with CBS as their national promotion manager and as their East Coast promotion and advertising manager for 17 years.

In 1971, Campana started his own personal management group in New York, and in 1976, he moved his offices to Agoura where he’s been ever since.

But Campana would always have his dream in the back of his mind; he often wondered if he’d ever pick up a microphone again.

Asked if Campana had hard times and discouraging moments in his life, he quickly answered yes.

But he spent little time elaborating on difficult times and switched gears to explain how he got out of his slumps.

Being a part of the music business kept him moving down a positive path and the thought of recording another album kept him on his feet.

Recently, Campana’s business was doing so well financially and managerially that it enabled him to take a break and record the album he always wanted to make.

"I wanted senior citizens to enjoy hearing some of the records that they don’t hear today and that they were familiar with years ago," Campana said, such as "Night and Day," "I’m in the Mood For Love " and "One For My Baby."

Campana feels nostalgia is coming back today. Trends and TV shows from the 50s through the 70s are being brought back because people want the quality that was produced back then.

If Campana were to sing again, he said, he wanted to sing the songs from his era and the songs he loved so much; the same kind of songs that inspired his original dream.

Campana recorded his new CD about six months ago aided by the musical talents of the album’s producer Darryl Kennedy. Kennedy plays 16 instruments and was responsible for every piece of music on the CD excluding Jim Robak’s fluegle horn performance in one of the cuts.

Campana’s dream came to life with more energy than he ever thought possible. Each classic song he sings has the big band sound of yesteryear, but also a jazzy sound from today.

After 56 years, Campana has picked up where his dreams left off. Who says seniors can’t still go after their dreams, he asked. Campana knows more now about life and music than ever, he said.

"I love singing, I love music, I’ve been in the music business all of my life and I’m coming full circle now," Campana said.

As he rehearsed for a live show he later performed at St. Jude’s Catholic Church last month, Campana said he was a bit nervous. But after the show, he said it was like riding a bike.

"I haven’t done a show in a long time," Campana said, "but it all came back to me." Many people, he said, talked to him at church the Sunday after the show and complimented his performance and the new CD. "I felt like Frank Sinatra," he said with a smile.

"If this album is a success—and I hope it will be—I’ll make another one," Campana said. "But if it’s not a success, then I did what I wanted to do."

Campana’s new CD is called "Memories of Love." It will be soon be available music stores nationwide.