Born to a show business family, Dave White toured the country as a child performing with his
parents in a hand-balancing
act. During high school he founded the group "The Juvenaires," who
were discovered while singing on the corner
by John Madara and were later known as "Danny
and the Juniors," consisting of lead singer Danny Rapp,baritone,Joe Terry, second tenor, Frank
Maffei and first tenor Dave White. While with the group he co-wrote "At the
Hop" with John Madara
and Artie Singer, covered by, Frankie Avalon, Chubby Checker, Sha Na Na, Donny and Marie,
Uriah
Heep and Homer and Jethro to name a few. He then wrote "Rock and Roll is Here to Stay"
for Danny and The Juniors covered
by, Sha Na Na, Charlie Gracie, Tiny Tim and Jimmy and
Christy Mc Nichol amomg others.These songs were later featured
in many movies including
the award-winning motion pictures "Woodstock," "American Graffiti" and "Grease." In an
independant
production deal with Mercury Records, John Madara and Dave White formed Madara
and White Productions and composed"You Don't Own Me" for Lesley Gore, later recorded by
Joan Jett. This song was also covered by The Blow Monkeys, whose
recording is included in the
"Dirty Dancing" sound track album. This song is also prominently featured in "The
First Wive's
Club," performed by, Bette Midler, Diane Keaton and Goldie Hawn. Moving on to Decca Records,
he
and John wrote and produced "1-2-3" with Len Barry, later recorded by, Jan and Dean, Sarah
Vaughan, Ramsey Lewis, Jimmy Smith, Percy
Faith and Floyd Cramer to name a few, as well as
being performed by Ewan MacGregor in The PBS DVD, "The Polar
Bears of Churchill" and
George Michael in the DVD, "Live in Wembley Arena." It was then featured in the film
"Mr. Holland's
Opus." Madara and White also produced the musical track and wrote "The Fly" for
Chubby Checker. All of the aforementioned
songs have achieved gold and platinum status
and have also appeared in the films "American Hot Wax, " "Hairspray, " "Christine, "
"Birdy, "
"Mischief, " "Cuba," "Bliss" and "The Singing Detective" among others. Another one of their
collaborations, "Sadie
TheCleaning Lady," recorded by Johnny Farnham and written with Ray
Gilmore, reached number one in Australia. Dave
then wrote "TheThought of Loving You" recorded
by The Crystal Mansion of which he was a member. This song was also
recorded by Cher, The
Spiral Starecase, Astrud Gilberto, Wayne Newton, Lou Christie and The Manhattan Transfer. He
has
appeared in the Columbia motion picture "Let's Rock" with Danny and the Juniors and while
touring with them he had
the pleasure of performing at The New York Paramount with Alan Freed
and The Apollo in Harlem with "Jocko" Henderson. Some otherappearances include "American
Bandstand, " "Shindig, " "The Mike Douglas Show" and "The Pat Boone Show." His songs have
been
performed on TV shows such as; "American Idol," "Happy Days," "Laverne and Shirley,"
"Sonny and Cher," "Donny and Marie," "The
Muppet Show," "The Mickey Mouse Club,"
"Entertainment Tonight," "Late Night with David Letterman," "Larry King Live," "Fame,"
"Oprah,"
"Saturday Night Live," "The Today Show," "Good Morning America," "The 69th Annual Academy
Awards," "American
Dreams" and "Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica." Dave has arranged
and performed background vocals for Debby Boone and Bernadette
Peters, appearing with
Bernadette on "The Tonight Show" and "The Tim ConwayShow." His compositions have also aired
on
network commercials and in Off-Broadway shows including " The Fabulous Singlettes,"
"The Marvelous Wonderettes," "Suds,"
"Behive" and "GoodRockin' Tonight" (England). In 1992,
as an original member of Danny and the Juniors, he wasinducted intoThe
Hall of Fame and Walk of
Fame in his home town by The Philadelphia Music Alliance. In 2003, He and his group
were
inducted into The Vocal Group Hall of Fame in Sharon, Pennsylvania. His piano on which he wrote
some
of his hit songs, was donated to The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum located in
Cleveland, Ohio.He has acted
in community theatre, scored and scripted a TV pilot of a children's
show which aired on cable, directed and choreographed
a music video, lectured at a community
college and studied film scoring and orchestration at UCLA. He and his wife Sandra are
currently
actively engaged in writing, producing, and discovering new talent for their DRAMAWAVE label.
