Frank Loconto, songwriter to politicians, dies at 92

Songwriter and political commentator Frank Loconto, who wrote jingles for governors and congressional hopefuls, died Wednesday at a nursing facility, according to his friends and family.

Loconto, who lived in Tamarac, was 92.

In 1986, the news agency United Press International credited that his biggest hit, as of that date, was “The Bob Graham Song” from 1978, when Graham sought a spot in the Governor’s mansion. It became known as “The Graham Cracker Song” and CSPAN aired it when Graham belt it out publicly.

“Bob Graham is a cracker!” the song goes. “Be a Graham Cracker-backer!”

Loconto told UPI that year that Graham frequently sang the ditty to himself at public appearances, “much to the chagrin of the press and his staff,” Loconto said. “All campaigns need a little bit of levity.”

Graham won that race.

“Frank had a great voice, and musically very talented,” said former Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler. When he was mayor he had Loconto sing patriotic songs at several events. “He was a kind, kind person. He never said a negative thing about anybody. He was so positive.”

Loconto sang with his brothers Art and Pete under their stage number, the Lane Brothers.

They got their start singing at the Grossinger’s, the famed hotel in New York’s Catskill Mountains, when they first got a manager, according to their family.

In the late 1950s, they recorded “All Day, All Night, Marianne” for RCA.

When Loconto turned to customized ditties for politicians, that included Pat Robertson, TV evangelist and Republican presidential hopeful, and the lyrics and music for “Drug Free Society” for former Broward Sheriff Nick Navarro’s anti-drug campaign, among countless others.

His wife told The Miami Herald in 1989 that she got tired of her husband turning on the lights in the middle of the night when he got an idea, so she bought him a tape recorder to keep beside the bed.

“Frank can record in the middle of the night now,” Phyllis Loconto, who is also a former Port Everglades commissioner, declared. “He can even tap tempo in.”

The Lane Brothers appeared on “The Tonight Show,” “The Mike Douglas Show,” and “The Jackie Gleason Show,” according to his brothers Rick and Bob Loconto.

Frank Loconto also spent years hosting CountyLine on BECON television, giving political commentary.

He only started to slow down about two years ago when he was diagnosed with colon cancer that had spread, his brothers said Wednesday.

Frank Loconto was born in Cambridge, Mass., to a railroad track foreman and a housewife, one of six boys and four girls. A Korean War veteran, he came to Florida in 1964 because his parents retired and he wanted the family to be together.

He is survived by his wife and step-daughter, Alisa Lucas, of North Carolina. Funeral services are pending.

Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at lhuriash@sunsentinel.com. Follow on Twitter @LisaHuriash