JOE DOLCE MUSIC THEATRE (US)

Born: 13 October 1947
Real name: Joseph Dolce

Joe was born in Painesville in Ohio, an area on the outskirts of Cleveland. His parents immigrated to the States after the Second World War. His grandmother was Sicilian. Dolce’s mother was a waitress and his father a carpenter, soldier and professional 10-pin bowler. After finishing school Dolce went to study architecture at Ohio State University where he met Carol Dunlop who was related to the family that started Dunlop Tyres. Dunlop introduced Dolce to folk music, poetry and literature. This in turn led him to join a band called Headstone Circus whose line up included a guy called Jonathan Edwards. Edwards would later go on to have a number 4 hit in the US in 1971 with a song called ‘Sunshine’. In 1976 Dolce married Australian Zandie Acton and in 1978 they moved to Australia where he wrote ‘Shaddap You Face’, inspired by phrases his grandmother used. The song was recorded at a studio in West Melbourne and first performed in a marijuana house in the Fitzroy suburb of Melbourne. The song caught on and by the end of November of that year it was sitting at the top of the Australian charts where it stayed for 8 weeks. By the end of 1981 it had become a global smash hit, topping the charts in numerous countries. It would famously (or infamously in some people’s opinion) sit at the top of the UK charts for 3 weeks preventing Ultravox’s ‘Vienna’, which many regarded as a far more deserving song, from reaching number 1. Dolce’s follow up single, ‘If You Want To Be Happy’ managed to get to 7 in Australia, but was largely ignored by the rest of the world. In the mid 80s he co-wrote a song called ‘Intimacy’ which featured in the soundtrack to the Arnold Schwarzenegger film ‘The Terminator’. After this he began concentrating on writing poetry and essays. His work includes an article on art censorship called ‘Shaddap You Facebook’. He has continued to record music, but no longer writes comic songs like the one which made him famous.

Date of entry	Song	Peak (weeks at 1)	Weeks
20-Feb-1981	Shaddap You Face	1 (9)	17
		Total hits	1
		Total weeks	17

Biggest climber awards	1
Star rater climbs	2
Biggest fallers	0
Weeks with oldest in the charts	6
Longest run in the charts (weeks)	17
Weeks with more than 1 in the charts	0
Biggest gap between hits (weeks)	0
Top 30 points ranking	378
Top 20 points ranking	=298
Top 30 points	440
Top 20 points	270