Fans were shocked after news broke in 2014 that ‘70s musical duo the Captain & Tennille were splitting after 39 years of marriage.
Also stunned: Toni Tennille, who had no idea that hubby Daryl Dragon, aka the Captain, was going to post the news through a cryptic announcement on their website.
“I had basically been undercover for eight years,” says Tennille, whose voice still maintains its warm Alabama twang. “Then this happened, and it’s so different from when Daryl and I were well known. Everything goes around the world in one day. For one day, we were the No. 1 trending topic on social media, which just shocked the heck out of me.”
She also learned how fast news cycles in today’s world.
“Luckily, the next day, Justin Bieber got himself arrested for doing something in Miami, bless his heart,” she says with a chuckle. “It kind of quieted down after that.”
Addressing gay rumors
Well, not that much. The Dragons had lived in Prescott since 2008, and media and the paparazzi soon flooded the town. The tabloids had a field day. Some speculated the high cost of health insurance was the reason for the split. The Enquirer went another path and wrote that Tennille was gay and “has had a girlfriend for years.”
Tennille says that the tabloid sent “a gal that walked to my front door, and I wouldn’t talk to her. If I were a lesbian, I would have no problem saying it, but I’m not.”
All the noise and rumors are one reason for this month’s publication of “Toni Tennille: A Memoir,” a compulsively readable book that looks at the singer’s life and career and digs deep into her marriage with Dragon. People magazine ran an excerpt; coming up will be an appearance on NBC’s "Today" show, a gig at the Daytime Emmy Awards and book signings around the country.
It’s pretty high profile for a woman who has enjoyed her time away from the show-biz A-list.
“This is pretty uncomfortable for me,” admits Tennille, 75. “But I understand what I need to do to make the book a success. But I really liked my life in Prescott. My friends allowed me to be regular there. They just let me be a person, so I could get up in the morning and head (out) with bed hair and no makeup on. It was a wonderful, relaxing way to live.”
Living the high life
Prescott was a long way from the glamour of the ‘70s, when the couple hosted their own network variety series, filled large venues and scored six million-selling singles and several gold and platinum albums. The records, which highlighted his clever production techniques and her soulful vocals, included such tunes as the sensual R&B crossover “Do That to Me One More Time” and “The Way I Want to Touch You,” as well as energetic fare like “Lonely Night (Angel Face)" and “Love Will Keep Us Together,” their 1975 breakthrough and, eternally, their signature tune.
But even in their heyday, she writes, they were not considered cool. She says that after the duo won record of the year at the 1976 Grammys, they were asked to be the guests of honor at their label’s post-Grammy party. The hitch: They weren’t even invited to the bash until they took home the trophy.
“We were considered sugar-plum pop although I always knew there was more to us than that,” says Tennille, who points out how the couple was one of the few White acts to appear on “Soul Train.”
“I just wrote the songs I wanted to write, and I never worried about whether it was hip or not.”
Separate bedrooms
According to the book, their marriage was rocky from the beginning. Dragon is presented as quirky, controlling and distant, and he seems unable to return his wife’s affections (the couple always maintained separate bedrooms). Tennille deals with him in clear-eyed fashion, and says she never intended to cast him as a villain.
“I don’t want Daryl to be blamed for anything,” she says. “A lot of things that happened in my life are because I wanted him to be something that he couldn’t be. That’s on me. But I will tell you, I was never even tempted to cheat on him, because I never met a man that could measure up to him in spite of all the things that made him so impossible to live with.”
In Prescott, she would meet weekly with a therapist who helped her view things from a new perspective.
“I can’t blame Daryl; I blame myself. He just couldn’t be what I’d dreamed he could be. I could never open that door and show him that he could have that kind of loving life I had with my family.”
Dragon, 73, who has a Parkinson’s-like disease, remains in Prescott. Last September, Tennille moved to Lake Mary, Fla., to be near her family, including her niece and co-writer, Caroline Tennille St. Clair. She laughs when she's asked if she’s looking to date.
“Oh, no, no, no,” she says. I'm very happily set in my ways. I have a very loving, wonderful family. And if I were looking to date, my ideal date would be a wonderful gay man who loves theater, movies and fine restaurants, and didn’t care about the rest of it.”
Follow Randy Cordova on Twitter: @randy_cordova
'Toni Tennille: A Memoir'
Toni Tennille (Taylor Trade Publishing, $21.95)
