I remember getting a transistor radio for Christmas from Santa Claus. That was the beginning. I must have been around 10 or 11 years old. Chicago sported two Top 40 stations, WLS and WCFL. So I constantly listened, and started to try and pick the hits myself. Bobby Vee, Elvis, Ray Charles, Gary U.S, Bonds, Tokens, Chubby Checker, what I liked seemed to find favor with most of my friends. But then my world stopped in 1963 when I heard “I Want To Hold Your Hand.” My sister and I had been given an acoustic guitar from our two aunts for a combined birthday present. I was struggling with Peter Paul and Mary songs on that guitar, until I heard the Beatles. Learning became my passion… Once I figured out that tuning my guitar to a piano would allow me to play with the records, I was off to the races. Our poor household had to hear me figuring out every note of every Beatle song for years. Grammar school, led to high school, and lots of rock bands to play in, always learning from other guitar players. With a Chick Evans scholarship to college, I had time to get my degree and to begin to write songs. The day I finished my last exam, I was on a flight to LA to get into the music business. After I arrived, I had the privilege of being introduced to Russ Regan who opened the door for me and helped me get a job at Record Merchandising, with Sam Ginsburg. I learned about radio promotion, sales, returns, invoices, DJ copies, and whatever else I could absorb. After helping get Barry White’s first single on KHJ, Russ and Paul Lovelace brought me into 20th Century Records to do national promotion. There I met Ambrosia and forged a life long friend ship with one of the most talented bands in the country. I ended up leaving 20th for stints at TK Records and Atlantic/Atco Records. But Ambrosia chased me down, asked me to join their journey and help them produce their next album. That was a dream I had had for years, and now I had my opportunity. So with Freddie Piro and the band, I spent six months rehearsing and recording what was to become ONE EIGHTY, for Warner Brothers Records. It contained “You’re The Biggest Part Of Me” and “You’re The Only Woman.” Both songs found huge success and all of the sudden there were new horizons opening up for me. Ambrosia put me in place to produce other artists, which I did, doing two albums for Ron Alexenburg and Handshake Records; Bruzer and The Berlin Airlift. Subsequently Joel Newman, Peter Schwartz and I started a promotion company that led me to Jeff Scott who I produced for Epic. I also was in the studio with Rank and File, James Harmon, and Lenny Williams. And all of this time I was assessing songs and their potential. But radio promotion called me back, and after several years hiatus I was brought into Curb records, breaking acts like Delbert McClinton and Lyle Lovett through radio. When Curb elected to abandon Top 40 I found a home with Lou Maglia at Zoo Entertainment and helped bring Tool, Matthew Sweet, Green Jelly, and Max-A-Million to the top of the charts. During my tenure with Zoo I discovered a 13 year old kid out of Shreveport and recorded five songs with him in New Orleans. He became blues, guitar sensation Kenny Wayne Shepherd. Another huge opportunity presented itself when Greg Thompson at Elektra Entertainment in New York called and asked me to join him as VP of Promotion. I made the move. On my vacation time and weekends I flew to Memphis and helped Kenny Wayne record his first album “Ledbetter Heights”. While at the House of Blues studios in Memphis I arranged a track with Kenny titled “Deja Voodoo” which became his first hit single. Back at Elektra we had a hot streak with Metallica, Third Eye Blind, Natalie Merchant, Tracy Chapman, Staind, Missy Elliott, Busta Rhymes. I learned how a major company is run under the watchful eye of Sylvia Rhone, one of the top executives in the business. After six years in New York, Greg Lawley approached me to work with him back in LA in a creative role. I jumped at the chance. He offered me the opportunity to write and record with artists and it helped me to hone my writing skills. Our first artist was Brently Gore, a great singer, songwriter, who welcomed my input, songs, and ideas. Writing songs is a gift, and one that you have to nurture and take care of. It isn’t something you take for granted. And you have to learn what you are creating, but when you hit a good chorus, chord change, or melody, it is the heart in you that will recognize it. And if one song out of five is good, you are on the right path. It is my pleasure to offer you songs that have been in the making since I first listened on that transistor radio, since I first walked into KHJ radio and tried to convince the music director to play “Heart Beat It’s A Love Beat”, or when I bet my dear friend Russ Regan that Timmy T “One More Try” was a hit. It comes from within and goes out to whoever is listening. You just hope they hear what you are feeling.