Manny About Town
Karaoke: Ronnie’s Style

By Manny Meland

Manny and Ronnie Leonard at Ronnie’s Connection at the Shelborne Hotel

Every night from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., Ronnie Leonard backs up all those wannabe singers at his Ronnie’s Connection bar and lounge in the basement of the Shelborne Hotel on Collins Avenue and 18^th Street in Miami Beach. Ronnie’s unique karaoke also invites musicians, or more likely dropouts from band in high school, to find and play a suitable instrument, which he has collected and hung on the back wall of his stage.

Ronnie has a knack of involving you in the fun. To be at Ronnie’s is to be at a party. In 1968, Ronnie’s club was down the street at the Sea Isle Hotel, where he had a piano bar format. He provided his guests with shakers made of empty pop cans stuffed with beans that, when shaken, produced the rhythmic sound of the maracas. He would set the beat with his piano and make the can shakers his rhythm section. Everyone knew who would get up to sing or play and what song they did. He always attracted a good following. The hotel was happy to have a lively club and the program charmed the hotel’s guests, which encouraged many to return.

Ronnie Leonard with his wall of instruments

Other hotels tried to copy his program, however, few pianists could match his incredible repertoire. No wonder. Ronnie was born a showman. In 1934, at the tender age of three, after his grandmother fitted him with a sailor suit, he won first place in the popular radio program “Major Bowes Amateur Hour”. It was the “American Idol” of its day. Although he looked one foot tall, his voice was eight feet tall, and he remembered lyrics. His career took off. He has been singing ever since.

The crowning achievement of his career was his gig at the Miami Skyways Hotel near the airport on LeJeune Rd. Here he had a four-piece band backing him up. He packed the room every night. He always complimented the amateurs on their great performance,  followed by advice not to quit their day jobs. I followed Ronnie from the Sea Isle to the Skyways and was part of his cavalcade of stars. If you hung out at the Ronnie’s, you may remember the harmonica player he introduced as Mouth Organ Manny. His club was so successful that he was able to purchase a fifty percent share of the hotel. He had less success in later investments.

Ronnie realized that his business was show business. Fortunately, he never lost his voice or his gift as an entertainer. He still packs a room. Go on over and do your gig, or just have great fun, at Ronnie’s at the Shelborne.