Singer Wayne Newton renews legendary Vegas residency — and records one for the Gipper
LAS VEGAS — Veteran crooner Wayne Newton’s latest “Danke Schoen” for his longtime friend President Ronald Reagan took form on a nippy night in an area recording studio.
There, amidst an array of electronics and under the watchful eyes of a producer, an engineer and Newton’s wife, attorney Kathleen McCrone, the 82-year-old known as Mr. Las Vegas laid down the vocals for “This Is America,” a song the hit biopic “Reagan,” starring Dennis Quaid, inspired.
“Ronald Reagan was a dear friend of mine,” Newton told The Post in an exclusive interview. “I loved him dearly. He was a dear friend. I went on the road when he was running for governor to do shows for him and also both times he ran for president.”
He added, “I found him personally one of the nicest, most genuine people I had ever met, even being in politics and the rest of it.”
Viewing a rough cut of the movie — which topped streaming sales charts on its release last month — the man with more than six decades of performing on the Las Vegas Strip under his belt was deeply moved.
“When they brought the film here — they showed it to us way before it was finished — I found myself sitting there with tears coming down my face,” Newton said. “Since he meant so much to me and everything he stood for meant so much to me, I decided any way I can be a part of this project, I would pay to do it.”
Reagan “was just such a genuinely nice person, and what he said he believed, and he wouldn’t let himself get sucked into calling other people names and the rest,” Newton added.
He said Reagan, who left office as California’s governor in 1975, ran for president five years later because “he wanted to see the happiness on people’s faces again.”
“Reagan” producer Mark Joseph, founder and CEO of MJM Entertainment Group, said “This Is America” has its roots in Ronald Reagan’s own words.
“They took a lot of the phrases that Reagan used to say and incorporated them into the song,” Joseph told The Post. “It’s kind of a throwback, it’s kind of a nostalgia piece, and Wayne is from that era, and so he was the perfect person to connect the dots and bring that era to today.”
The producer, who also created companion compilations for the smash 2004 hit “The Passion of the Christ,” said Curb Records will release two albums: one featuring songs used in the film and the other “a collection of songs inspired by the movie.”
The albums will be released soon, he said, as Newton’s contribution “is our second-to-last track” for the “inspired by” collection.
And Newton isn’t stopping with this song. He told The Post he’s just signed for another year’s residency at the Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel and Casino.
“I started in Vegas at 15,” he said. “I just celebrated 65 years of appearing in Vegas. It’s going to be 66. I have no plans to retire. If my voice gave way and I couldn’t give people the kind of show that they deserved, then I would hang it up. But I’m having too much fun.”
