"My best friend at the time was Simone Cerrone, a high school girlfriend of mine from Cheektowoga, NY, who worked in Las Vegas as a beautician. She did Wayne Newton's mom's hair as well as Ann Margaret's. Simone and Wayne were good buddies. Jerry Newton (Wayne's brother) had a lounge act at the Freemont Hotel in 1963. I dated him occasionally. The four of us all ran around together.
"Simone and I loved to dance and the Nashville Nevada had the largest dance floor in town, not to mention great music to dance to. We went there to dance a lot. As I was dancing, I noticed this cute little guy singing on stage and I caught him watching me... several times. During the band's break, he came over and invited himself to sit at our table and offered to buy us a drink. I remember smiling as he introduced himself (as if we didn't know who he was). After several more meetings at the club, he finally asked me out and gave me a ride home. I had an apartment in Vegas and had 2 little boys (Ricky and Geno) from a previous marriage.
"While we were dating, Wynn was a disc jockey at a local radio station. He would often play songs just for me and dedicate them to me (in special code that only he and I would understand). We also often double-dated with Bobby Bare and his wife, Jeannie.
"We decided to get married, but Wynn's schedule was so busy, we ended up getting married - in between sets with the band- on the Vegas strip in a little chapel.
"Wynn
was a bit of a 'momma's boy' and he was
afraid to tell his mom about our marriage. He lived with his
mom and his sister, Beverly. His mom was very protective of
him. So even though we were married, I had to go back to my
apartment, alone. After a few months, he finally got up the
nerve to tell his mom that he had married again and he told
her, 'by the way, there is a baby coming soon, as well'.
(editor's note: It's no wonder my grandmother never liked me very much) ;-)
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