Captain & Tennille

Captain & Tennille were an American recording duo whose primary success occurred in the 1970s. The husband-and-wife team were "Captain" Daryl Dragon (1942–2019) and Toni Tennille (born 1940). They have five albums certified gold or platinum and scored numerous hits on the US singles charts, the most enduring of which included "Love Will Keep Us Together", "Do That to Me One More Time", and "Muskrat Love". They hosted their own television variety series on ABC in 1976–77.

History

Background and early collaboration

In 1972, Toni Tennille was the co-writer of an ecology-themed musical, Mother Earth. At that time, Daryl Dragon (son of composer Carmen Dragon) played keyboards as a member of the Beach Boys, where he got his stage name "Captain Keyboard" because he wore a ship captain's hat while performing. When Tennille's show was preparing to move from San Francisco's Marines Memorial Theatre to Southern California's South Coast Repertory, a call was put out for a replacement keyboardist. Dragon was between tours when he heard about the opening, met Tennille in San Francisco to audition, and landed the gig.

Dragon later reciprocated by recommending Tennille to the Beach Boys when the band needed an additional keyboardist, and they hired her. She toured with them for a year, and has since been known as the Beach Boys' one and only "Beach Girl."

Realizing their collaborative potential when the tour was over, Tennille and Dragon began performing as a duo, The Dragons, at the Smokehouse Restaurant in Encino, California. They started to become popular in the Los Angeles area and, borrowing on Daryl's Beach Boys nickname, renamed their act to the more dynamic Captain & Tennille. Their early version of the Tennille-penned "The Way I Want to Touch You" became popular on a local radio station which led to several offers from a number of record companies. They ultimately decided to sign a recording contract with A&M Records.

Mainstream success

thumb|upright|[[Cashbox (magazine)|Cashbox advertisement, May 17, 1975]]

Their first hit single, a rendition of Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield's "Love Will Keep Us Together", reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart nine weeks after its 1975 debut, and went on to win the Grammy Award for Record of the Year. It sold over 1 million copies and was awarded a Gold disc by the RIAA on July 1, 1975. Tennille paid tribute to Sedaka in the recording when she sang the overdub "Sedaka is back" at the ending. The duo successfully mined the Sedaka songbook a number of times over their career. Two of their other hit singles were the Sedaka co-writes "Lonely Night (Angel Face)" and "You Never Done It Like That". Their Spanish recording of "Love Will Keep Us Together", "Por Amor Viviremos", also charted in 1975; it was the first time two versions of the same single charted simultaneously. Tennille and Dragon included renditions of several other Sedaka songs on their albums.

Tennille and Dragon married on November 11, 1975. A wedding date of Valentine's Day 1974 had long been erroneously reported: On their television variety show, Tennille claimed they were married on Valentine's Day, as did the February 14, 1976, edition of Casey Kasem's American Top 40 radio show.

Over the next few years, Captain & Tennille released a string of hit singles mostly from their first two albums Love Will Keep Us Together (US #2, 1975) and Song Of Joy (US #9, 1976) including "The Way I Want to Touch You" (US #4), "Lonely Night (Angel Face)" (US #3), "Shop Around" (US #4), and "Muskrat Love" (US #4).

200px|thumb|left|Tennille performing at the White House, 1976

In July 1976, they were invited by First Lady Betty Ford to perform in the East Room of the White House in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II and President Gerald Ford during the country's bicentennial celebration.

Such was the level of their popularity that they were given their own television variety show. The Captain and Tennille TV show aired from September 1976 to March 1977 on ABC. It featured musical numbers and comedy sketches performed with various guest stars. The show finished in the Nielsen ratings tied at 41 for the 1976-77 season with The Rockford Files and Chico and the Man. Despite decent ratings, it ranked #19 among the network's shows and was canceled by ABC. Other, lower ranking shows on the network were renewed.

Tennille filed for divorce from Dragon in the State of Arizona on January 16, 2014, after 39 years of marriage. Dragon was unaware of the termination of his marriage until he was served with the divorce papers. The divorce documents referenced health insurance or health issues, and Tennille had written in her blog in 2010 that Dragon's neurological condition, known as essential tremor, was characterized by such extreme tremors that he could no longer play keyboards. Dragon later stated that some of his health problems were the result of errors in dosing his medication.

In 2016, Toni Tennille, Tennille's memoir (co-written with niece Caroline Tennille St. Clair), was published. In it, Tennille painted an unflattering picture of Dragon and their years together, writing that he was controlling and emotionally distant. "I can say without exaggeration that he showed no physical affection for me during our very long marriage," she wrote, claiming that the couple always slept in separate bedrooms.

Dragon and Tennille remained close friends until his death from complications of kidney failure on January 2, 2019, in Prescott, Arizona. Tennille was at his side when he died.

Discography

Studio albums

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"

! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:12em;"| Title

! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:15em;"| Album details

! scope="col" colspan="5"| Peak chart positions

! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:13em;"| Certifications

! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| US

! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| AUS

! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| CAN

! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;" | JPN

! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| UK

! scope="row"| Love Will Keep Us Together

Released: May 23, 1975
Label: A&M Records
Formats: LP, 8-track, cassette

| 2

| 63

| 8

| —

US: Gold
CAN: Platinum

! scope="row"| Song of Joy

Released: February 27, 1976
Label: A&M Records
Formats: LP, 8-track, cassette

| 9

| 20

| 8

| —

US: Platinum