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Dominick P. Costa (July 10, 1925 – January 19, 1983) was a United States pop music arranger and record producer best known for his work with Frank Sinatra. Costa was born in Boston to an Italian American family. He had several siblings. His daughter Nikka Costa is a singer. As a child he took a keen interest in learning the guitar and became a member of the CBS Radio Orchestra by the time he was in his teens. In the late 1940's Costa moved to New York City to further his career by becoming a session musician. He played guitar along with Bucky Pizzarelli on Vaughn Monroe's hit recording of "Ghost Riders in the Sky." It was around this time that Costa started experimenting with combinations of instruments, producing musical arrangements and peddling them to a few notable big bands. It was this self-promotion that caused two young up and coming singers to notice his work. Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme invited Costa to write some vocal backgrounds for their future recordings. He agreed, and thus began a winning association between the three that led to them joining a new record company being headed up by Sam Clark as president: ABC-Paramount records. It was here that Costa accepted the position of head A&R man as well as chief arranger and producer. Many hits were to follow, not only with Lawrence and Gorme, but with Lloyd Price, George Hamilton IV, and Paul Anka. Many hits followed in succession until Costa found several of his own instrumental recordings becoming huge hits, including Never on Sunday and the Theme from the Unforgiven. Costa was also voted number one in Cash Box magazine as the most popular recording arranger and conductor. It was at this time that Lawrence, Gorme, and Costa left ABC to join the United Artists label. Costa continued to produce and arrange as well as put out instrumental albums. During this time Frank Sinatra had formed a new recording label called "Reprise", and hired Costa to arrange one of his albums, Sinatra and Strings, released in 1962. This set of standard ballads would remain one of the most critically-acclaimed works of Sinatra's entire Reprise period and Costa's largely string-based orchestrations were outstanding, but he was rarely called upon to write in a similar style again during the long association with Sinatra which followed, as the singer concentrated on more contemporary projects with him. Among the standout tracks on Sinatra and Strings are the spine-tingling All Or Nothing At All, an unusual verse-only Stardust (in absolute juxtaposition to the many chorus-only versions of the song), a ballad rendition of Night and Day which provides a lovely contrast to Sinatra's more familiar big band version, and - perhaps above all - the stunning recording of Come Rain Or Come Shine, which is a frequent inclusion on "Best Of" compilations from Sinatra's Reprise years and, with its atmospheric, muted trumpet intro and its dynamic, bluesy string interlude, is an extraordinary tour de force on the part of Costa. The following year, in a further sign of his growing stature, Costa was asked to arrange the charts for a Sarah Vaughan album, Snowbound. Later on in the mid 60's Costa moved from New York to Hollywood, formed his own company DCP International, scoring big with the labels artists Little Anthony and the Imperials. Heading toward the later 60's Frank Sinatra called upon Costa to do more work for him. After a while it was becoming quite apparent that Frank was making Costa his new main arranger, and the work with Lawrence and Gorme abated. During this period Sinatra culminated with one of his biggest hits arranged by Costa and written by Paul Anka, entitled My Way. Costa continued working for Sinatra conducting in Las Vegas as well as arranging his records when he suffered a heart attack and needed bypass surgery. After recovering, he returned to a hectic schedule of arranging for a bevy of famous people, including Sammy Davis Jr.. In the late 60's Costa started working with MGM records and Mike Curb producing and arranging The Osmond Brothers hits, as well as having a hand in Sammy Davis' Candy Man as well as Petula Clark's My Guy. In the early 80's Costa scored again as an artist with a hit with his 10 year old daughter Nikka entitled Out Here On My Own. The two were planning a follow up when Costa suddenly died of a heart attack in New York City. Costa's ability to write string lines earned him the soubriquet the "Puccini of Pop."
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