N E A L
S M I T H
LEGENDARY DRUMMER
AND CO-FOUNDER
of THE ALICE COOPER GROUP
(ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME MEMBER)
Legendary Alice Cooper Group drummer Neal Smith released a new album on June 1st, 2020. Neal’s new Retro Pop album is titled “POP 85/95” signifying the music style and time period in which Neal wrote these songs between 1985 and 1995.The songs and album concept are totally sexy and politically incorrect. Neal’s “POP 85/95” songs represent all aspects of relationships, falling in and out of love in a simpler bygone era before Coronavirus, politically correctness and the new world disorder.
With the onslaught of glam hair bands and heavily homogenized rock of the 1980’s, Neal Smith, Hall of Fame Drummer and founding member of the original Alice Cooper Group, was looking for a new direction for his songwriting. Inspired by another drummer, songwriter, singer Phil Collins, Neal turned from writing hard rock to a slicker, more pop rock songwriting style. In the late 1980’s he took four of his new songs into the studio and recorded them. One of the songs “Secret Eyes” helped land a recording deal with newly formed record company called Grudge Records. Along with Dennis Dunaway (Alice Cooper fame), Joe Bouchard (Blue Oyster Cult fame), Charlie Hune (Ted Nugent fame) and lead guitarist Jay Jesse Johnson (also known as “Triple J”), a new band called “Deadringer” was formed and signed by Grudge Records. Deadringer recorded an album in 1989 called “Electrocution Of The Heart” featuring the single “Secret Eyes.” The album and Deadringer were all short lived after Grudge Records quick demise. After Deadringer and well into the 1990’s, Neal continued writing songs with Jay Jesse Johnson (“Triple J”) in this pop rock style.
Decades later, well into the New Millennium, Neal was searching through his archives of music and found those songs that he composed and recorded with ‘Triple J” between the years of 1985 and 1995. Inspired by “Triple J’s” amazing lead guitar work, Neal polished the songs and brought them back to life with the help of two of his best friends, Peter Catucci (bass guitar of Killsmith) and Rick Tedesco (guitarist/engineer). Now, much to the excitement of his fans worldwide, Neal Smith’s “POP 85/95” is available digitally and on CD!
N E A L
S M I T H
POP
85/95
Neal’s new Retro Pop album
Purchase POP 85/95
at
For more information about
Neal Smith
Discography
Solo
Platinum God (1999)
Cinematik (2001)
Cinematik: One Full Moon
Away (2002)
Killsmith: Sexual Savior
(2008)
Killsmith Two (2011)
Killsmith & The
Greenfire Empire (2014)
With
Alice Cooper
Pretties for You (1969)
Easy Action (1970)
Love It to Death (1971)
Killer (1971)
School's Out (1972)
Billion Dollar Babies
(1973)
Muscle of Love (1973)
1969 Live at the Whisky A
Go-Go (1994)
Welcome 2 My Nightmare
(2011)
Paranormal (2017)
With Billion Dollar
Babies
Battle Axe (1977)
With
Plasmatics
Beyond the Valley of 1984
(1981)
With
Buck Dharma
Flat Out (1982)
With
Deadringer
Electrocution of the
Heart (1989)
With
Ant-Bee
Lunar Muzik (1997)
With
Bruce Cameron
Midnight Daydream (1999)
With
Bouchard, Dunaway & Smith
Back From Hell (2001)
BDS Live in Paris (2003)
With
Hollywood Vampires
MY NEW BOOK IS FINALLY OUT!
ENTITLED
THE
ROCK STAR CHRONICLES
SERIES ONE
CHRONICLES, TRUTHS, CONFESSIONS AND WISDOM FROM THE MUSIC LEGENDS THAT SET US FREE
…Order yours today on
Hardcover or E-book
at bookbaby.com
Featuring over 45 intimate conversations with some of
the greatest rock legends the world will ever know.
CHRIS SQUIRE... DR. JOHN... GREG LAKE... HENRY MCCULLOUGH... JACK BRUCE … JOE LALA… JOHNNY WINTER... KEITH EMERSON... PAUL KANTNER... RAY THOMAS... RONNIE MONTROSE... TONY JOE WHITE... DAVID CLAYTON-THOMAS… MIKE LOVE... TOMMY ROE... BARRY HAY... CHRIS THOMPSON... JESSE COLIN YOUNG... JOHN KAY... JULIAN LENNON... MARK LINDSAY... MICKY DOLENZ… PETER RIVERA ...TOMMY JAMES… TODD RUNDGREN... DAVE MASON... EDGAR WINTER... FRANK MARINO... GREGG ROLIE... IAN ANDERSON... JIM “DANDY” MANGRUM... JON ANDERSON... LOU GRAMM... MICK BOX... RANDY BACHMAN… ROBIN TROWER... ROGER FISHER... STEVE HACKETT... ANNIE HASLAM… ‘MELANIE’ SAFKA... PETULA CLARK... SUZI QUATRO... COLIN BLUNSTONE… DAVE DAVIES... JIM McCARTY...
PETE BEST
THE ROCK STAR CHRONICLES
BOOK TRAILER
BOOK TRAILER
BOOK REVIEW
-By Literary Titan (5) STARS
The Rock Star Chronicles, by Ray Shasho, is a splendid book written by a music enthusiast who has poured their heart and soul into it. It’s a story of a boy who loved rock music, and his obsessive passion of it earned himself the name Rock Raymond. He went to school but instead was schooled in all matters of music while his peers were buried chin-deep in coursework. He then became a radio DJ and has now compiled a book on all interviews he held with Rock gods who raided the airwaves back in the 70s and 80s. It’s a compilation of interviews with outstanding vocalists, legendary guitarists and crazy drummers in the rock music scene. Each interview gives a reader an in-depth view into their personal lives and the philosophies that guide their lives which all serve to humanize these great icons. For readers who are old enough to call themselves baby boomers this book will bring old memories back to life. Millennials, on the other hand, may think of this book as a literal work of the Carpool Karaoke show.
The Rock Star Chronicles is a book I didn’t know I was waiting for. To come across a book that will talk me into trying something new. One brave enough to incite me to venture into new frontiers. This book made me a believer- I am now a bona fide Rock and Roll music fan.
Ray Shasho masterfully gets the interviewees talking. He smartly coaxes answers from them with crafty questions designed to get a story rolling out of them. The artists talk about diverse issues ranging from music, politics, and their social engagements. Having been on the music seen all his life, Ray Shasho knows the buttons to press, how to get them comfortable about talking about their lives.
The book’s cover is befitting of its subject matter with the leather look offering a royal background to the golden letter print. It speaks to how high a level rock music holds in the pecking order- arguably, modern music as we know it has originated from blues and rock music. The second noteworthy thing is the use of high definition pictures to reference the musician being interviewed in every sub-chapter. This ensures that the book is for both original rock and roll lovers and aspiring new ones. Together is makes for a refreshing and consistently enjoyable read.
I recommend this book to rock music enthusiasts, aspiring musicians wondering what it takes and all readers curious to learn new things by going back in time.