Blondie featuring the enticing and voluptuous New Wave Songstress Deborah Harry will be performing for the first time at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater on Saturday September 24th.
Blondie’s 9th studio album called Panic of Girlsis set to be released on September 13th. Debbie Harry, Clem Burke and Chris Stein, along with newer band members Leigh Foxx, Tommy Kessler and Matt Katz-Bohen, will kick off the tour on September 4th.
Tickets went on sale Friday July 8th and are available for purchase right here.
Blondie was formed in 1974 by original guitarist Chris Stein and Miami- born Deborah Harry (now 66 years old). The band amassed huge Punk followings at New York’s famed CBGB’S, Max’s Kansas City (Debbie Harry was once a waitress there) and Mothers. Blondie’s overwhelming popularity led them to the studio where they recorded their first album called Blondie in 1976 - under the Private Stock label.
The band toured in 1977 with Iggy Pop and David Bowie in support of their first album.
In the summer of 1977 Blondie released their second album called Plastic Letters, followed by a tour of Europe and Asia.
They were considered to be a New Wave -underground band until the release of their third studio album called Parallel Lines. The album considered to be their best effort spawned huge hits like- “Hanging on the Telephone,” “Sunday Girl,” “One Way or Another,” and their Billboard Hot 100 number #1 mega hit “Heart of Glass.” The song was sneered at by Blondie faithful as a sellout to their rooted Punk and New Wave principals for entering the commercially successful world of Disco music. Nevertheless, the Harry/Stein penned chart topper went Gold and became Blondie’s trademark tune.
During my stint in radio as a deejay, “Heart of Glass” and Peaches and Herb’s “Reunited” became the most requested songs on the airwaves at that time.
Of course we were told to play the censored version of Heart of Glass... “Soon turned out I had a heart of glass”
And not the original album version of the song...“Soon turned out to be a pain in the ass.”
The uncensored version seemed minuscule compared to today’s FCC standards across the radio airwaves.
Over the next several years, Blondie became known for their eclectic music styles. While maintaining a New Wave base, the group ventured into Disco, Pop, Rap and Reggae.
In 1979, Blondie released their fourth studio album called Eat to the Beat. The album generated the hits “Dreaming” #2 in the U.K., Atomic #1 in the U.K. and “Call Me” (theme song from the movie American Gigolo) spent 6 weeks at #1 in the U.S. and became their biggest hit song.The album also went certified Platinum.
Blondie’s fifth album, Autoamerican spawned the Reggae-ish tune “The Tide is High,” another #1 hit in the U.S. and U.K. and “Rapture” another #1 hit. Released in 1981, Rapture was considered crucial in formulating Rap music. It was the first single with rap content to be a chart-topper in the U.S. The album went Platinum.
After the release of their sixth studio album called The Hunterin 1982, the band split-up and Deborah Harry pursued a solo career. The album produced their final U.S. hit called “Island of Lost Souls” before Chris Stein fell ill with a rare and often fatal genetic disease which led to the band’s breakup. Harry cared for Stein who eventually recovered.
Blondie reformed in 1997 and regained their popularity with the release of their seventh album called No Exit. The album produced the #1 hit single in the U.K. and 14 other countries called “Maria.” The album sold more than 2-million units worldwide.
Albums that followed were Live in New York, Livid, The Curse of Blondie, Live by Request, Live, Best Live and Live in Toronto.
Blondie celebrated their 30th anniversary in 2006 with their induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the release of Greatest Hits: Sound & Vision, a best-of collection that contained all their classic videos.
Blondie has sold more than 40 million records worldwide.
Their brand new album called Panic of Girls is set to be released on September 13th.
Blondie LIVE at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater is surely a rare and exciting event -and this show will definitely sell-out fast!
Buy my new book called Check the Gs –The True Story of an Eclectic American Family and their Wacky Family Business Order your copy NOW at http://rayshasho.com/ “Check the Gs is a delightful, heartwarming portrayal of an American family that lived the dream in their own animated, humorous and bazaar way.” … Melissa Brown Levine Independent Professional Book Reviewers
The Beach Boys brilliant Composer, Singer, Musician, Producer and Arranger Brian Wilson will be performing at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater on Saturday August 6th. Get ready for a night of Beach Boys classics and critically acclaimed solo accomplishments.
Wilson, besides being the catalyst for The Beach Boys foundation, was also the bands keyboardist, bass player, and provided lead and backing vocals (harmonizing in falsetto). Brian demonstrated a remarkable gift for harmonic invention and complex vocal and instrumental arrangements.
In 1961, the three brothers – The oldest Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson - were joined by their cousin, Mike Love, and schoolmate, Alan Jardine (who was replaced by David Marks, before rejoining). The Pendletones changed their name to The Beach Boys and celebrated their first hit song called “Surfin’” on the local airwaves in their home state of California.
Surfin’ Safaritheir first album with Capitol Records reached #32 on the Billboard Album’s chart the following year. “Surfin’ Safari” became their first Top 20 hit.
In 1963, “Surfin’U.S.A.” became the Beach Boys’ first top 5 hit. The Surfin’ U.S.A. album became their first Gold-certified album hitting #2 on the Billboard charts. The Beach Boys released two more albums that same year (Surfer Girl,Little Deuce Coupe) again reaching Gold- certified status.
After President Kennedy was assassinated on November 22nd, Brian Wilson and Mike Love wrote “The Warmth of the Sun” as a musical reaction to the tragedy on the following day.
The Beach Boys began touring outside the United States in January of 1964. The Beatles first shows in America were on February 9th at The Ed Sullivan Theater and first live appearance at the Washington Coliseum in DC on February 11th of 1964.
In 1965, “Help Me Rhonda” became the group’s second #1 hit.
On May 16th of 1966, The Beach Boys masterpiece- Pet Sounds was released, spawning the Top 40 hits “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” and“God Only Knows.” The album is still considered one of the most influential records in popular music history.
Also in 1966,one of the most expensive productions for that era, “Good Vibrations” was completed. The single became their third #1 hit and first Platinum-certified million selling single.
After going to England, The Beach Boys were declared as the only true rivals to The Beatles.
Throughout the 70’s, The Beach Boys solidified themselves as America’s number one- fun and favorite band, giving us unprecedented releases like The Beach Boys In Concert and the double album compilationEndless Summer.
Throughout the 80’s and 90’s, The Beach Boys headlined (4) Independence Day shows on the Washington Monument grounds. On July 4, 1985, they played to an afternoon crowd of an estimated one million in Philadelphia and that evening they performed for over 750,000 people on the Mall in Washington DC. The Beach Boys also played at the Live Aid Concert, Farm Aid concerts, the Statue of Liberty’s 100th Anniversary Salute and the Super Bowl.
The Beach Boys were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. Brian Wilson returned to the studio in 1988 to release his first solo album called Brian Wilson.
In 1997, Wilson collaborated with his two daughtersCarnie and Wendy and released the album The Wilsons.
Brian’s release of Smile was the return to an earlier state of brilliance. The critics hailed the project. And in 2005, the track “Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow (Fire)” won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental. Brian’s most recent endeavors are the release of That Lucky Old Sun in 2008 and most recently Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwinfeaturing the classic songs of George and Ira Gershwin – "reimagined" by Brian in his inimitable style.
Brian Wilson’s show at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater should not be missed. It’s a rare opportunity to catch a glimpse of a legendary songwriter and a genuine pioneer of popular music.
Tickets for the August 6th show can be purchased right here.
Please don’t forget to order my new book calledCheck the Gs –The True Story of an Eclectic American Family and Their Wacky Family Business. Order your copy NOW at http://rayshasho.com/
After learning the exciting news on Wednesday that Houston based ExtremeTix had acquired Sarasota’s favorite annual music event, “The Sarasota Blues Fest,” my focus immediately turned to wondering about what a fantastic lineup of artists this could produce.
Since 1991, The Sarasota Blues Fest had consistently produced quality headliners like Gregg Allman, Son Seals, Booker T. & the MG’S, Dr. John, Elvin Bishop, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Buddy Guy, Little Feat and Maria Muldaur. But now with ExtremeTix coming to town and triggered by their Three Zebras Entertainment division, the Blues Fest may take on a whole new light and perhaps a brighter one for the cities of Sarasota and Bradenton as well.
Longtime Blues Fest executive producer Barbara Strauss will continue in her role and act as a consultant for future music events.
Strauss commented, “I am very excited to pass the torch to ExtremeTix and Three Zebras. I have been ready to move on to other projects for a long time. Finding a team as committed to blues and live music as ExtremeTix and Three Zebras is a dream come true for myself and Sarasota.”
Three Zebras Entertainment has been a leader in venue operations, tour management, event promotion and production with over 90 years of experience. ExtremeTix is a leading provider of innovative ticketing solutions with a broad range of event services. One of their local clients is Jannus Live in St Petersburg. ExtremeTix has branch offices in Tampa, Grand Rapids, Cincinnati and New York and services clients across the US and Canada.
The Sarasota Blues Festival has been an annual tradition and anticipated event in Sarasota for almost 21 years. Will the venue or anything else about the event be changing?
“The SBF has been a winning formula for more than 20 years. I see no need to make significant changes to the format or feel of the event. In our business we work with a lot of festivals and see a lot of great ones and some not so great. Barbara, the community and the local charities involved have done a tremendous job in every respect.
There will be no changes in venue in the foreseeable future.
We will continue to invest in order to bring the highest quality programming to the festival. I will expect that the festival may grow in future years perhaps to a two day event, but this is not certain.”
It's exciting to have Three Zebras Entertainment take over the duties of finding great headliners to play at Blues Fest. Can we expect even bigger name acts to perform?
“At Three Zebras we work with top names in the business. Access to these artists will most certainly help us maintain the high standards and traditions that Sarasota has come to expect.”
The Sarasota/Bradenton area is starving for entertainment. I've covered many events in the area and there’s always a huge influx of people at every event. (Even during a tough economy) Can we expect more festivals and shows scheduled around our area after your involvement with Blues Fest?
“I expect you will be seeing a lot more of us in South Florida.”
Do you know yet who will be headlining this year's Blues Fest?
“We have offers out for this year’s show but won't make any announcements until the lineup is at least partially confirmed. I will say it is going to be great.”
Thank you Charly and welcome to Sarasota.
The 21st Annual Sarasota Blues Festival will be held on Saturday November 5th, 2011.
Partial proceeds from the event have always been earmarked for charity. All Faiths Food Bank Backpack Program will be 2011’s recipient.
As soon as this year’s Sarasota Blues Fest lineup has been revealed, I’ll be announcing it here in my column. STAY TUNED!
I want to especially thank Charly Garrett and Deven Nongbri of ExtremeTix for their help.
ORDER my new book called Check the Gs -The True Story of an Eclectic American Family and Their Wacky Family Business at http://rayshasho.com/ You’ll LIVE IT!
"I found Check the Gs to be pure entertainment, fantastic fun and a catalyst to igniting so many memories of my own life, as I too am within a few years of Ray. So to all, I say if you have a bit of grey hair (or no hair), buy this book! It’s a great gift for your “over-the-hill” friends, or for their kids, if they are the history buffs of younger generations trying to figure out why we are the way we are." …Pacific Book Review
Joan Jett and The Blackhearts will be returning on July 13th to The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tampa. For those of you who didn’t get to catch her spectacular performance in Tampa back in February at Busch Gardens, now’s your chance to witness her captivating/exhilarating stage presence.
Jett and The Blackhearts always illustrate impressive performances whenever they’re asked. Not only does Jett sound like she did back in her heyday but she still looks the same too. Wait a minute, maybe this is her heyday!
Her most recent performance at Busch Gardens in Tampa attracted thousands of Joan Jett faithful. And Jett gratified the huge Tampa crowd with timeless- treasures like, “Cherry Bomb” “Bad Reputation” “School Days” “I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll” and “Crimson and Clover” to name only a few that were played from her celebrated setlist.
Joan Jett’s longtime musical partner and friend Kenny Laguna is usually up on stage playing keyboards with the band. Together they formed the independent label- Blackheart Records in 1980. Joan demonstrated her amazing entrepreneurship abilities, which complemented her amazing talent and alluring persona. Jett is also the producer for the bands Bikini Kill, Circus Lupus and The Germs.
Click here for my review of The Joan Jett and The Blackhearts concert at Busch Gardens - Bands, Brew & BBQ entertainment showcase on February 20th of this year.
Tickets for Joan Jett and The Blackhearts performance at The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tampa are available by clicking here. But hurry because this show will most likely be selling out fast!
On a FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION NOTE;
Eddie Money- singer/songwriter/saxophonist will be performing a FREE concert at Lamb and Sutton Parks in downtown Palmetto for this year’s July 4th festivities.
Palmetto Mayor Shirley Groover Bryant says, “The Palmetto Community Redevelopment Agency is bringing Eddie Money in to promote our downtown business district and our beautiful parks. Palmetto businesses are being offered free spaces at the concert and fireworks to sell food and market their services and products. We want everyone to come and have a great time.”
The activities begin at 5PM; Eddie Money performs at 7:30PM. Bring your own chair.
Fireworks begin at 9:30PM at the historic Palmetto fishing pier.
In 1976, Eddie Money was introduced to legendary concert promoter Bill Graham and then the two became close friends. Graham became Money’s manager and mentor.
Graham said of Money, “Eddie Money has it all…not only can he sing, write and play, but he is a natural performer.”
In 1977 after signing a contract with Columbia Records, Money’s self titled debut album was released. The album went double platinum and featured classic radio mainstay hits like “Baby Hold On” and “Two Tickets to Paradise.”
Following his successful debut album (Reaching # 37 on the charts), Money continued to flood the airways with great hits like “Shakin’” “Think I’m In Love” and “Take Me Home Tonight" (Be My Baby) a collaboration with Ronnie Spector reaching number #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 from the album Can’t Hold Back. The album went platinum and also featured the hit “I Wanna Go Back.”
Eddie Money who is now 62 years old, has sold more than 28 million records.
RIP CLARENCE CLEMONS Jr January 11,1942- June 18,2011 We'll miss you "Big Man."
ORDER my new book called Check the Gs–The True Story of an Eclectic American Family and Their Wacky Family Business -TODAY at http://rayshasho.com/
Pacific Book Review says…“I found Check the Gs to be pure entertainment, fantastic fun and a catalyst to igniting so many memories of my own life, as I too am within a few years of Ray. So to all, I say if you have a bit of grey hair (or no hair), buy this book! It’s a great gift for your “over-the-hill” friends, or for their kids, if they are the history buffs of younger generations trying to figure out why we are the way we are.”
THE TURTLES featuring Flo (Short for “The Phlorescent Leech” and who is really Mark Volman) and Eddie (Who is really Turtles frontman Howard Kaylan) are headlining the Happy Together Tour 2011. Remarkably, the tour recently celebrated its 25th anniversary and still remains one of the highest grossing tours.
The Turtles were one of the most unprecedented bands of the swinging psychedelic sixties. Despite the accustomed music biz entanglements with management and record executives (White Whale records) the group’s aptitude for creating idealistic feel-good music pacified millions during turbulent times.
The Turtles have sold over 60-million records worldwide and remain a mainstay on classic hits radio. They generated countless Top 40 radio classics. “It Ain’t Me Babe” “Happy Together”“She’d Rather Be With Me” “You Baby” “Elenore” “She’s My Girl” and “You Showed Me” are just a few of their continual string of chart topping hits.
After The Turtles disbanded in 1970,Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan became members of Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention. The tenacious duo went on the road as Flo & Eddie, then became radio stars, and continued as session’s players for legendary performers like John Lennon, Marc Bolan and T. Rex, Stephen Stills, Keith Moon, Alice Cooper, Bruce Springsteen, Blondie, Duran Duran and The Ramones to name just a few.
At the age of 44, Mark Volman decided to go back to school. In 1997, he graduated Magna Cum Laude and Valedictorian at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. While touring and teaching at LMU, he finished his Masters in Fine Arts with an emphasis in Film Studies and Screenwriting. Mark is now Professor Volman and Coordinator of the Entertainment Industry Studies program at Belmont University in the Mike Curb School of Entertainment and Music Business.
The Happy Together Tour 2011 will be unpacking and setting up for a terrific show on July 19th at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater. Headlining this year’s tour is -The Turtles featuring Flo & Eddie. Other legendary performers on the tour are -The Association(“Windy” “Cherish” “Along Comes Mary”), The Grassroots, (“Let’s Live for Today” “Midnight Confessions”) The Buckinghams(“Kind of a Drag” “Don’t You Care” “Susan”) and Mark Lindsay former lead singer of Paul Revere & the Raiders (“Kicks” “Just Like Me” “Good Thing” “Indian Reservation” “Arizona”).
Tickets and further information aboutthe Happy Together Tour 2011 can be found here.
I was able to speak with Mark Volman and Mark Lindsay of Paul Revere & the Raiders courtesy of Jeff Albright from the Albright Entertainment Group. Here’s my interview with Professor Mark Volman of The Turtles/Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention.
Professor Volman, thank you for spending some time with me today. I think it was admirable that you went back to school after a brilliant career in show biz.
“I’d never imagine that it would end up the way it has. I didn’t have a plan to do it that way, I think once I got into school everybody sort of pointed me in that direction. The University pointed me in that direction in terms of realizing the possibilities of being able to do it because the school was open for it. That really kind of opened the door with that opportunity and at that point, I finished my Bachelor’s degree and was approached by the Dean at one of the LA Universities who said that they would really like me to teach there but I would need to have a Masters. I was really excited about teaching there so I made the commitment to continue with my Masters and with that commitment I was allowed to teach as long as I was going for my Masters.”
You went back to school when you were around 45 years old right Mark?
“I think so, because I graduated with my Bachelor’s degree in 1997 and I was 50. It took me about four and half years to finish my Bachelor’s degree. And then I did two years of Masters.”
You were also class Valedictorian correct?
“That was totally a shock. I was a Valedictorian in 1997; I graduated on the Dean’s list for four years and I was actually Magna Cum Laude, then I was Alpha Sigma Nu, which is the Jesuit equivalent of Phi Beta Kappa, there’s only 4% of a graduating class that makes that, so I think there was two of us in our graduating class. And all of that was quite a shock to me because I had done so poorly in high school.
Yea, my first few years of high school were no picnic for me either. I hung around the long haired guys, skipped school, and all I cared about was going to rock concerts.
“I was very much involved in the surfing part of it; the guys that were the surfers were the hip guys and they didn’t care about school. That’s where I got all my drive to be a failure.
It was a lot better going back to college because I think I reached a maturity in education and it really helped me accomplish a lot. And I had a reason, the end result in front of me was significant, and that was a big thing instead of saying that I was going to college to get a degree, I was getting a college degree so I could teach.
I really didn’t understand the politics of academia but once I got into it, it definitely was an eye opener and it helped me in the music business because it made me realize that the politics in the music business weren’t really that different then the politics that were going on at the university. And now that I’m at the university and the job I have now, I’m part of the problem. I’m an entire chair and I run a department instead of just being one of the professors who can kind of come in -which I really love doing which was coming to work, teaching and leaving. I have a lot more administrative responsibilities in terms of hiring professors and actually creating courses for the major that I have been given this responsibility for and so that has been an eye opener and has really made me long for the days when I can get back to just teaching.”
A lot of professors can teach the theory behind the topic or major that they are teaching, but you actually lived it.
“I’m the manager of The Turtles since the last three decade and the fact that we’re out on a 30-city tour with all of these artists, and the fact that we’re going out with Dweezil Zappa, the fact that we’re repackaging our music and on a year to year basis I’m living exactly what I’m teaching.”
Do most of the students know about your history with The Turtles and Frank Zappa?
“Well the university sort of plays that on when there promoting the university for the parents who are considering spending their money. I think that part of the foundation that they use is we are a university that prides ourselves for having people in place that actually are in the music business so I am one of the things that they use as part of the propaganda, there’s no doubt about that. I’m actually getting paid to go to other universities to teach because now people are realizing financially that there is a reason why Belmont had been so successful. We have 1500 students studying one part of the music industry. Weather its songwriting, entertainment industry or technical, the technical aspect with the engineering; I think a lot of universities are starting to realize that they can do that from where they are.”
Between all your duties as a College Professor and managing and touring with The Turtles, it doesn’t sound like you have much leisure time.
“I think my wife said the other night, it was the first time in our eleven years of being married that I had like one month off and it really bugged her. It’s much better when I’m either touring or at school because I can do the things she does. These months it’s sort of like I wake up and go okay what are we doing?”
What is your take on the music business today as compared with the 60’s?
“It’s moved on so much. I think you and I grew up in a time that is an antiquated system now. I don’t think the systems are worst, they are different. I think the phase that we are in is much faster, the entertainment system gets to the immediacy and that’s what they have today that we didn’t have. A movie being released now and within almost three weeks it’s available on DVD. Then a CD will be available from the movie and then a video game and everything else. I mean that is the fantastic part of what the music business is today. I think we have to stop referring to it as the music business and open up the scope to the concept of entertainment industry business. If we can just take the semantics of the language than the music business is doing well. It really is. The sales of music is up for the artists today, the live concert business is booming, I mean The Eagles, Lady Gaga…I mean the biggest tour in the world is still out there drawing people, I mean McCartney is packing houses, U2 is making over a half a billion dollars by the end of this year. So I think the music business has just changed.
All of the genre’s are now a very healthy part of television, commercials, motion pictures, and video games, I think today is probably bigger and more successful than it’s ever been. I think it’s an exciting time for a young entrepreneur as long as he doesn’t restrict himself to making a record and going out doing 14 concerts and seeing if the record starts to do good. I think it’s more of… I’m going to get into the entertainment industry as an entrepreneur; I have to think of myself now in that respect because I can’t count on the big companies to pick me up and make me big. I think that’s the one thing that we’re sort of seeing is that the demand now is for a young musician, singer or songwriter, performer, touring, show, all of those things have to have a lot more of a plan to it. And I think that’s what I’m sort of basing my classroom study on. I want my students to think way beyond the recording art form.
I think a music star is only successful because he lets the people around him become successful and he will become a byproduct of that.”
The Happy Together Tour celebrated 25 years recently.
“Song for song, entertainment dollar value, it’s probably one of the best tours to see. It’s close to three hours of recognizable hit songs performed by the voices that recorded them. And the key is that it’s by people who still enjoy doing it. And it’s a low priced ticket compared to everything else out there. And so if you’re a fan of music from that particular era this is where you get your money’s worth. And there are a lot of memories that are kind of unleashed.”
Ringo Starr and his All Starr band are only on their 11th year; do think Ringo got the idea for his tour from you guys?
“Of course he did. That was not his idea that was not even our idea. I mean that was Dick Clark’s idea. Those package tours, the reason they’re great is that you get a lot of bang for your buck. And even then you take the tour that we have and put it up against Ringo’s… I think our tour for the price is a better tour.
Howard and I when we put Happy Together we wanted to have a show that had artist who didn’t just show up, they came and they performed with an energy and vitality because they care about being there.”
The Turtles were one of my favorite bands ever, you guys were American and you dressed liked we did but were a lot cooler. And so many great Top 40 Hits on my favorite station- WPGC Good Guys radio. My favorite Turtles song was “She’s My Girl.”
“We were like every other high school band. We didn’t have like a superstar look; we didn’t have a 16 magazine cover, I think what we did have that played out in the background of everything was we were on such a small record label which had positive elements and negative elements. The negative elements were we didn’t have the promotions and financial fire power to compete against The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. The Buckinghams were on CBS, Mark Lindsay was on Columbia and CBS, The Grass Roots were on ABC Dunhill. The Turtles were on White Whale. I think the benefit of the small record was that our records were not made by studio musicians. So the positive was because we didn’t have any money the record company couldn’t afford to do anything but make our own record. So we played on every record that made it to the radio. There’s no Hal Blaine, there’s no Larry Knechtel, there’s none of that -Tommy Tedesco all those famous people who have books written about them because they played on every record. I mean The Grassroots are the same band that made The Byrds records and those records were made by the same guys who made The Beach Boys records. We didn’t have that luxury, I think that because of that there’s an endearing quality to The Turtles. Probably like The Beatles, that endearing quality is that we played the music that became our signature.
Entrepreneurship was not taught in universities when we came up. We had to understand Entrepreneurship with The Turtles break up and becoming singers with Frank(Frank Zappa) then coming out and becoming Flo & Eddie, and working with kid’s music like Strawberry Shortcake and writing commercials for record companies and becoming disc jockey’s. Howard and I became exactly what you and I were speaking about. We wrote comedy at NBC, we created music for Strawberry Shortcake, we worked for Miss Universe productions and we were writing for radio. It was a unique experience but without that experience in the recording business we might not have had the career that we had.”
Have you written your memoirs, plans for writing a book?
“Howard and I are doing exactly what you would imagine and that is we’re each writing a book. I think Howard’s book will be a little bit more traditional, as it will be kind of a tell-all on the Turtles history. I think my philosophy on the book that I’m working on is about a middle aged ex rock & roll star who decides to go to college at the age of 44 and why? And the fact that I went from a1.9 high school GPA to class valedictorian at the age of 50. I think that’s a very unique story that I want to tell.”
And your parents got to see you do that right?
“My folks watched me graduate in May of the year 1997 and then my mother died in July and my father died in November. So they did get see their dream to see at least a son in college.
I’m fascinated over the relationship that you and Howard have held all these years. It’s amazing that you’ve stayed together, you’ve worked as a business, as a team, and that’s really difficult to do.
“And I think the third part of that is I truly believe we’re still really good friends. But I think it has a lot to do with that we’ve put our lives in such a place where our touring, our ownership of our recordings, our reissuing of our songs, and the success that it has had on-line and the fact that we own our music has given us a prospective that a lot of artists don’t get. The fact that we can license a song and we actually benefit from the reissue and the fact that it’s on-line when somebody downloads our music we actually get it, we are the record company.”
You guys actually sued a few hip hop acts for playing your music right? (De La Soul)
“I think there’s a difference of opinion when it comes to ownership but I don’t think that’s limited to hip hop artists. I think there’s a lot of people who are uneducated about what illegal downloading and intellectual property is. My feeling on that is that we as an education system don’t teach that and because of that young people download and don’t understand who their undermining. I think it’s gotten better but I think the problems have gotten bigger. The problems are not just with music now; the problem is now in books, motion pictures, television, and the reproduction of a lot of things. I think the problem is that there are a lot of threats about illegal downloading but we don’t do anything really about it.”
What was the transformation like from the commercially successful top40 airplay Turtles to Frank Zappa’s experimental - progressive rock/Jazz fusion Mothers of Invention?
“I think there are kind of two answers there. All the success factors that we had with The Turtles, I think that made it not as big a change as you’d imagine. Frank was just so big; I mean he was such an enigmatic individual and he was such a bona fide genius. I think there probably in rock & roll maybe three really geniuses of our maybe lifetime and I would have to say Frank because of his unique genre, there’s never been anybody like him, before him, or after him.
For the creative part of it, I think that we probably grew more as singers and performers than we knew we were capable of. In The Turtles we were always good Pop band, sang great music on stage, had a great show, but I think when it went to the Frank Zappa era the show part of it -we learned more about theatrical parts of our abilities in terms of improvisation on stage, the elements that took place onstage tying together the visual and auditory parts of our show. We did some music that we sang in other languages, there was a tremendous testing in terms of integrity and how much we could bring to this. Frank really gave us so much room, it wasn’t just Frank Zappa, it was Frank kind of said join me in doing this thing and so we all really brought what we did to it and that was a really interesting band. I mean there was George Duke and Ian Underwood, Aynsley Dunbar; Donnie Preston I mean it was a very unique group of individuals brought together.”
Professor Volman, I could talk with you all day, you’re a fascinating man and I’m in awe of all of your incredible accomplishments in life thus far. Thank you so much for spending your afternoon with me today and I look forward to meeting with you in person on July 19th at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater for the Happy Together 2011 Tour.
“Ray, it’s been my pleasure, I’ll see you at the show.”
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