Frank Guida and his wife Carmela T. “Millie” Guida were prominent figures in the Norfolk arts and business communities in the latter half of the 20th century. Frank is most remembered for his work as a music composer and producer and for creating what he dubbed the “Norfolk Sound,” which characterized a number of hit records from the early 1960s featuring Jimmy Soul, Gary U.S. Bonds, and other artists. Frank J. Guida was born in Palermo, Sicily on May 26, 1922. At age two, his family immigrated to the West Bronx neighborhood of New York City where he grew up.  Millie (born Carmela Teresa Addesso on Sept. 11, 1924) who also grew up in New York City and graduated from Evander Childs High School. While in school, she attracted the attention of her teachers for her extraordinary singing voice and was strongly encouraged to study voice at New York's Juilliard School of Music, but World War II and marriage put her on a different path. She and Frank were married in 1942 and soon after Frank enlisted in the US Army. He was stationed at Port of Spain, Trinidad, where became interested in calypso music and performed as the “Calypso Kid” in the USO. After the war, he returned to NYC and continued his singing career performing at calypso clubs in New York’s Harlem neighborhood. The Guidas moved to Norfolk in 1953 and opened Frankie’s Birdland, a popular record store featuring jazz, R&B and pop music records. Beyond that Frank was active in the local music scene promoting and managing musical acts and ultimately opening a series of recording studios. He had a Friday Night radio show on local station WLOW and hosted Frankie’s Jazz Workshop on WTOV-TV Channel 27. He owned several record labels including Legrand and S.P.Q.R. He was an advocate for the local and national Italian American community, a business leader, and at times an outspoken commentator of Norfolk’s City Council. For his work in promoting cultural and business ties between the United States and Italy, he was awarded the title of "Cavaliere" by the Italian Republic. After raising a family and living a fulfilling career in Norfolk Frank passed away on May 19, 2007. Millie passed the following year on March 20, 2008. Frank Guida’s career as a hit-maker began in 1959 when he co-wrote the song “High School U.S.A.” with Joe Royster and recorded it with Tommy Facenda on vocals. The song reached #28 on the Billboard Hot 100 later that year. But it was the following year that Guida rose to greater notoriety as a producer with the release of “New Orleans” featuring Gary U.S. Bonds and which introduced Guida’s characteristic overmodulated sound to the world. “New Orleans” reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 1960, and in 1961 Guida had his first #1 hit with “Quarter to Three” (Gary U.S. Bonds). Guida and Bonds had several more Billboard hits in 1961-1962. Guida again had a #1 hit in 1963 with “If You Wanna Be Happy” co-written by Joe Royster and Millie Guida and featuring Jimmy Soul on vocals. Frank's achievements in the arts, business, and cross-cultural endeavors made him a true Renaissance man, a description that would have pleased him given his life-long admiration of Leonardo DaVinci.

Note written by Madeline Dietrich