Peter Antonio was a young guitarist/recording artist for United Artists and Verve Records. His early career was devoted to writing hits, producing solo artists and bands, as well as performing internationally. He recorded the guitar instrumental “Stampede” with Scarlets’ band member John Sanzone, in 1959. This record is probably the first ever “Surf Guitar”, and Dick Dale should be proud! Over twelve artists have covered it to date. Peter Antell was a teenager when he joined “The Chants” and became “Pete Antell”. They embarked on an European tour with their MGM Records hit “Respectable”, and played in St. Moritz, Italy, for Jackie Kennedy’s concerts and TV engagements. He recorded in Milan, Italy, as “Pete Antell” and “The American Twisters”, and had hits on Vedette Records along with producer Armando Sciscia. He was also featured in “Mondo Caldo di Notte”, an Italian film. After returning to America, Pete and John Linde founded Survey Music. This company offered hundreds of songwriting and production projects in NYC’s emerging rock and pop scene. It was a company that re-defined the Pop Record Industry. Survey Music was responsible for records for Cameo-Parkway and ABC-Paramount as well as Columbia, Elektra and MGM. It also produced records for Columbia, Elektra and Liberty. Many of these projects were recorded at Long Island’s famous Ultra-Sonic Studios. Pete found it by accident and introduced it to Billy Joel and other artists such as Janis Ian and Shadow Morton. Tina Turner and Ronnie Spector were among the artists who recorded Pete’s songs. Pete Antell was a recording artist and had two pop hits: “Night Time”, which stayed on the Top 40 charts for eight weeks, and “Keep It Up,” which was co-written by John Linde. His records of “What Are Boys Made Of?” by The Percells and “Shaggy dog” by Mickey Lee Lane are also his.
