Highlights from the Past 56 Years
1958
I was born on April 18th, 1958, the same year that John Lennon's mother was run over by a drunk policeman. Coincidence? Let history decide.
1967–74-ish
Took piano lessons, music theory, and ear training through Trinity College of Music, London system. Sounds impressive but it all took place in a small home in Costa Mesa, California. My teacher Robert Dick also gave me free chiropractic treatments. Really.
1975
A friend of my mother asked if I'd like to help out on a movie shoot at the beach for a docudrama called Lonely Autumn starring Jack Albertson as a gopher where the producer had such a low budget that they could only hire people for free (there's an oxymoron for you). I jumped at the chance thinking that they might not have a budget for music and I could make them an offer they couldn't afford to refuse. It worked. They liked my music. I was asked to create about 7 or 8 segues which I recorded on the equipment at Orange Coast College where I was taking music classes. The show aired on ABC TV later that year and once in 1976.
1977: Summer
Made my first master recording at the Golden Goose in Huntington Beach of a song I wrote with Glenn Lipson called Disco Doll. We had 7 or 8 live musicians, mostly friends, half of whom were late, and some of whom couldn't read music. The drummer couldn't keep a beat so while we were paying for studio time waiting for the others, the conga player gave him a lesson. It paid off.
1977: Fall
Moved to Hollywood into the DeMille Manor, a small, run-down apartment complex on Argyle north of Franklin. I almost immediately got a job selling tickets at the Pantages Theater a few blocks away. A few days later, I was walking home from work with my ghetto blaster—that's what everyone called boom-boxes back then—and naively decided to walk unannounced into Total Experience Recording Studios where the two people there (a guy and a woman on a couch) stared at me like I had just committed a mortal sin. I said, "Hey, does anyone want to hear a song I wrote?" After a pregnant pause, they looked at each other. The guy motioned for me to press play on my blaster—at least that's how I interpreted his barely decipherable gesture. After about 20 seconds, he got up from the couch and without a word, waved for me to follow him. We walked into the main studio recording booth. He said, "Take out the tape." So I did. He played it over the huge monitor speakers and then said, "Would you like to collaborate?" I said sure. He introduced himself as Edwin Starr who sang on a big hit song called WAR which was huge. Right then and there we sat down at the grand piano and we tried to come up with something but our writing routines were totally different so nothing came of it.
1983
I got a call from a talent booking agency I was signed to that worked with an agency in Japan called Washington Kikaku. One of their acts dropped out about a week before their start date and they asked if I could be ready to sing and play piano in Japan in a week. I said yes even though I had never done it before and had no repertoire. I learned about 60 songs in a week, flew to Tokyo and performed there for a month followed by Takamatsu for two weeks, and then Hakone for two weeks and back to Tokyo where I roomed with a classical guitarist from Argentina who brought fresh yerba mate with him which we drank daily while commiserating/coexuberating. I bought a Yamaha DX7 there, one of the first keyboard synthesizers.
1983
Star Search grand prize winner Kenny James performed my song Sushi in the Kremlin at the Queen Mary Jazz Festival. My friend, Diane Varga made it happen. I have no idea why they put my reggae song in the jazz festival. Diane, evidently, had some sway.
1987
I was asked by Steve Berman (now Steve Horwitch) to musical direct a musical revue called Batson in the Belfry featuring the incredible songs of John Batson. It ran at the Ford Theater for about a couple of weeks to packed houses.
1988
My song, Sushi in the Kremlin was released in Germany on Baierle and Polygram Records on the German soundtrack to the movie Mystic Pizza, which was totally different than the US version. That's my rather loose connection to Julia Roberts although I secretly was more attracted to Annabeth Gish. They also released a single LP of the song which included another one of my songs, The We Generation, on the flip side. Later that year, on a bus going from London to the ferry that went to Belguim, I sat behind two Irish young adults who listened to Sushi… and got into a heated argument because one loved it and the other hated it. Fists were waving but they contained themselves…for Irishmen. Later on the Ferry, I played it for a bunch of teenagers who just wanted me to go away. The song didn't phase them. One of them listened to The We Generation and went crazy. Apparently, in their small German town it was a hit. Everyone then asked for my autograph.
1993-94
Moved to Seattle for a year-and-a-half where I stayed with Kurt & Leslie Asplund, two patrons of the arts (me being the art part) as well as talented musicians and great people. We formed a 9-member a cappella jazz group called Tapestry from Baha'i musicians in the area. The brilliant Tim Pierce directed and we gigged around the most beautiful place on earth. One of the best years of my life.
1995: Summer
I organized a tour through over 100 cities in the U.S. performing my original songs and selling my CD's. Later they called them living room concerts. The largest crowd (about a thousand) was at a Baha'i Conference in Green Lake, Wisconsin where I alternately shared the stage with Red Grammar, Seyforth (Paul Kurokawa) and Jenkins, and Jaimi Findlay among others. The smallest concert was in Indiana, Pennsylvania where no one showed up. The hostess urged the one Baha'i college student in the area to come over. Her name was Jia-Yi and she became my wife for ten years.
1995: Fall
Through the Asian Baha'is, I organized a 3-month tour through Taiwan, Macau, Hong Kong, and the Philippines, doing living room concerts. The Baha'is there arranged everything. I lost my voice in the Philippines but everyone in the audience played music so we all jammed. The title song of one of my albums, A Sacrifice to Thee, was performed by a local Baha'i, Allen Cantos, who sang the s*** out of it. A few days later in Hong Kong, I stayed with Paul Meredith, a fine musician, who helped me organize a concert where I wouldn't have to sing much. I mostly sang everything an octave lower than usual in my basso profundo voice lent to me by the insidious virus I was trying to shake. We opened the concert with the Beatles song that goes, "What would you do if I sang out of tune, would you stand up and walk out on me?" After that, nobody dared to leave. I then rapped a song I wrote (There's another oxymoron. Aren't they fun?) called My Voice. Some of the lyric went: One day in Manila from the stifling smog, my voice disappeared, the notes fell like a log. Once I could croon just like the Velvet Fog; now I can’t even do a good Kermit the Frog.
1998-2002
Won seven songwriting awards from various songwriting competitions for gospel (4 including a grand prize), pop, reggae, and a children song. Ironically, I made no money from the first place awards (5) but I got a $1,000 check having placed as one of three runners up in the 1998 John Lennon Songwriting Competition.
1999
I was offered rap artist deal by gangsta rap producer Deff Trapp (John Robinson) in Houston. At the time I was working as a graphic designer at a print shop in Houston and I had done three CD covers for John's company, which included artists like Tupac and Li'l Kim, when I rapped him the one rap tune I wrote called "At the Black Angus" which I wrote for a Black Angus Christmas party over a decade before. He wanted to hear my demo so I went to his Studio and he played it three times, flipped his wig and wanted to sign me right then and there. I told him I wasn't a rap artist but he could have one of his artists record it. To make a long story end, it didn't work out.
2003
I won a First Place award in the undergraduate Louisa Stude Serofim Composition Contest for my String Quartet No. 1: The Prophet of Shiraz. It was performed in the Moores Opera House the next year. Thrilling beyond words.
2005: May
I graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelors Degree in Music Composition from the Moores School of Music at The University of Houston. During the graduation ceremony, I cried on stage for I felt that life would never be as fun and rewarding again. I was wrong.
2005: Summer
My music history teacher Dr. Remson asked me if I'd teach a music history and music theory class for the American Festival of the Arts during a music summer camp for teens. I took the challenge. It was a learning experience for me. I'm not so sure about the students; half of them didn't want to be there. Talk about your A.D.D.! I felt more like a shepherd than a music teacher.
2007
Wrote the world's shortest musical: Captain Positive at 5:45. It's not that much of a hyperbole; it has a beginning, middle, and end replete with an instrumental section for a dance number (or whatnot). A review by Greg Hofmann is in the upper left two entries.
2008-ish
My ex-wife, Jia-Yi, asked me if I'd write a song for my daughter's third-grade class for a presentation at a big ecological conference at College of the Canyons in Valencia where she taught. The result was This Planet which was so successful, the class was asked to perform it at about 4 other events around town. That poor third-grade teacher, Ms. Trafecanty, gets beaucoup brownie points.
2009
I sent an audition CD to the BMI Workshop in New York and received a letter saying the staff would like to interview me in person. I told them I couldn't afford to fly to New York (let alone live there, which I didn't tell them) so I missed a potentially great opportunity. However, a friend, Brian Woodbury, told me about the Academy for New Musical Theater in North Hollywood. I signed up for their core curriculum class and had maybe the best year of my life, so far.
2011
The Academy Repertory Company selects our original musical The Angel of Painted Post (lyricist: Richard Castle / book: Adrian Bewley) to begin its 2012 Concert Series at the Lonny Chapman Theater. I love it when other people pay for our readings!
2013: May 14th
Lyricist Richard Castle and I had our song Hey, Mother Mary performed by Charlotte Mary Wen in A Little New Music, one of LA's premier cabaret events held several times a year at the Rockwell Table & Stage in Hollywood.
2013: Sept. 24
Lyricist Hillary Rollins and I had our song She's Lovely performed by Julie Garnye in A Little New Music, one of LA's premier cabaret events held several times a year at the Rockwell Table & Stage in Hollywood.
1958
I was born on April 18th, 1958, the same year that John Lennon's mother was run over by a drunk policeman. Coincidence? Let history decide.
1967–74-ish
Took piano lessons, music theory, and ear training through Trinity College of Music, London system. Sounds impressive but it all took place in a small home in Costa Mesa, California. My teacher Robert Dick also gave me free chiropractic treatments. Really.
1975
A friend of my mother asked if I'd like to help out on a movie shoot at the beach for a docudrama called Lonely Autumn starring Jack Albertson as a gopher where the producer had such a low budget that they could only hire people for free (there's an oxymoron for you). I jumped at the chance thinking that they might not have a budget for music and I could make them an offer they couldn't afford to refuse. It worked. They liked my music. I was asked to create about 7 or 8 segues which I recorded on the equipment at Orange Coast College where I was taking music classes. The show aired on ABC TV later that year and once in 1976.
1977: Summer
Made my first master recording at the Golden Goose in Huntington Beach of a song I wrote with Glenn Lipson called Disco Doll. We had 7 or 8 live musicians, mostly friends, half of whom were late, and some of whom couldn't read music. The drummer couldn't keep a beat so while we were paying for studio time waiting for the others, the conga player gave him a lesson. It paid off.
1977: Fall
Moved to Hollywood into the DeMille Manor, a small, run-down apartment complex on Argyle north of Franklin. I almost immediately got a job selling tickets at the Pantages Theater a few blocks away. A few days later, I was walking home from work with my ghetto blaster—that's what everyone called boom-boxes back then—and naively decided to walk unannounced into Total Experience Recording Studios where the two people there (a guy and a woman on a couch) stared at me like I had just committed a mortal sin. I said, "Hey, does anyone want to hear a song I wrote?" After a pregnant pause, they looked at each other. The guy motioned for me to press play on my blaster—at least that's how I interpreted his barely decipherable gesture. After about 20 seconds, he got up from the couch and without a word, waved for me to follow him. We walked into the main studio recording booth. He said, "Take out the tape." So I did. He played it over the huge monitor speakers and then said, "Would you like to collaborate?" I said sure. He introduced himself as Edwin Starr who sang on a big hit song called WAR which was huge. Right then and there we sat down at the grand piano and we tried to come up with something but our writing routines were totally different so nothing came of it.
1983
I got a call from a talent booking agency I was signed to that worked with an agency in Japan called Washington Kikaku. One of their acts dropped out about a week before their start date and they asked if I could be ready to sing and play piano in Japan in a week. I said yes even though I had never done it before and had no repertoire. I learned about 60 songs in a week, flew to Tokyo and performed there for a month followed by Takamatsu for two weeks, and then Hakone for two weeks and back to Tokyo where I roomed with a classical guitarist from Argentina who brought fresh yerba mate with him which we drank daily while commiserating/coexuberating. I bought a Yamaha DX7 there, one of the first keyboard synthesizers.
1983
Star Search grand prize winner Kenny James performed my song Sushi in the Kremlin at the Queen Mary Jazz Festival. My friend, Diane Varga made it happen. I have no idea why they put my reggae song in the jazz festival. Diane, evidently, had some sway.
1987
I was asked by Steve Berman (now Steve Horwitch) to musical direct a musical revue called Batson in the Belfry featuring the incredible songs of John Batson. It ran at the Ford Theater for about a couple of weeks to packed houses.
1988
My song, Sushi in the Kremlin was released in Germany on Baierle and Polygram Records on the German soundtrack to the movie Mystic Pizza, which was totally different than the US version. That's my rather loose connection to Julia Roberts although I secretly was more attracted to Annabeth Gish. They also released a single LP of the song which included another one of my songs, The We Generation, on the flip side. Later that year, on a bus going from London to the ferry that went to Belguim, I sat behind two Irish young adults who listened to Sushi… and got into a heated argument because one loved it and the other hated it. Fists were waving but they contained themselves…for Irishmen. Later on the Ferry, I played it for a bunch of teenagers who just wanted me to go away. The song didn't phase them. One of them listened to The We Generation and went crazy. Apparently, in their small German town it was a hit. Everyone then asked for my autograph.
1993-94
Moved to Seattle for a year-and-a-half where I stayed with Kurt & Leslie Asplund, two patrons of the arts (me being the art part) as well as talented musicians and great people. We formed a 9-member a cappella jazz group called Tapestry from Baha'i musicians in the area. The brilliant Tim Pierce directed and we gigged around the most beautiful place on earth. One of the best years of my life.
1995: Summer
I organized a tour through over 100 cities in the U.S. performing my original songs and selling my CD's. Later they called them living room concerts. The largest crowd (about a thousand) was at a Baha'i Conference in Green Lake, Wisconsin where I alternately shared the stage with Red Grammar, Seyforth (Paul Kurokawa) and Jenkins, and Jaimi Findlay among others. The smallest concert was in Indiana, Pennsylvania where no one showed up. The hostess urged the one Baha'i college student in the area to come over. Her name was Jia-Yi and she became my wife for ten years.
1995: Fall
Through the Asian Baha'is, I organized a 3-month tour through Taiwan, Macau, Hong Kong, and the Philippines, doing living room concerts. The Baha'is there arranged everything. I lost my voice in the Philippines but everyone in the audience played music so we all jammed. The title song of one of my albums, A Sacrifice to Thee, was performed by a local Baha'i, Allen Cantos, who sang the s*** out of it. A few days later in Hong Kong, I stayed with Paul Meredith, a fine musician, who helped me organize a concert where I wouldn't have to sing much. I mostly sang everything an octave lower than usual in my basso profundo voice lent to me by the insidious virus I was trying to shake. We opened the concert with the Beatles song that goes, "What would you do if I sang out of tune, would you stand up and walk out on me?" After that, nobody dared to leave. I then rapped a song I wrote (There's another oxymoron. Aren't they fun?) called My Voice. Some of the lyric went: One day in Manila from the stifling smog, my voice disappeared, the notes fell like a log. Once I could croon just like the Velvet Fog; now I can’t even do a good Kermit the Frog.
1998-2002
Won seven songwriting awards from various songwriting competitions for gospel (4 including a grand prize), pop, reggae, and a children song. Ironically, I made no money from the first place awards (5) but I got a $1,000 check having placed as one of three runners up in the 1998 John Lennon Songwriting Competition.
1999
I was offered rap artist deal by gangsta rap producer Deff Trapp (John Robinson) in Houston. At the time I was working as a graphic designer at a print shop in Houston and I had done three CD covers for John's company, which included artists like Tupac and Li'l Kim, when I rapped him the one rap tune I wrote called "At the Black Angus" which I wrote for a Black Angus Christmas party over a decade before. He wanted to hear my demo so I went to his Studio and he played it three times, flipped his wig and wanted to sign me right then and there. I told him I wasn't a rap artist but he could have one of his artists record it. To make a long story end, it didn't work out.
2003
I won a First Place award in the undergraduate Louisa Stude Serofim Composition Contest for my String Quartet No. 1: The Prophet of Shiraz. It was performed in the Moores Opera House the next year. Thrilling beyond words.
2005: May
I graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelors Degree in Music Composition from the Moores School of Music at The University of Houston. During the graduation ceremony, I cried on stage for I felt that life would never be as fun and rewarding again. I was wrong.
2005: Summer
My music history teacher Dr. Remson asked me if I'd teach a music history and music theory class for the American Festival of the Arts during a music summer camp for teens. I took the challenge. It was a learning experience for me. I'm not so sure about the students; half of them didn't want to be there. Talk about your A.D.D.! I felt more like a shepherd than a music teacher.
2007
Wrote the world's shortest musical: Captain Positive at 5:45. It's not that much of a hyperbole; it has a beginning, middle, and end replete with an instrumental section for a dance number (or whatnot). A review by Greg Hofmann is in the upper left two entries.
2008-ish
My ex-wife, Jia-Yi, asked me if I'd write a song for my daughter's third-grade class for a presentation at a big ecological conference at College of the Canyons in Valencia where she taught. The result was This Planet which was so successful, the class was asked to perform it at about 4 other events around town. That poor third-grade teacher, Ms. Trafecanty, gets beaucoup brownie points.
2009
I sent an audition CD to the BMI Workshop in New York and received a letter saying the staff would like to interview me in person. I told them I couldn't afford to fly to New York (let alone live there, which I didn't tell them) so I missed a potentially great opportunity. However, a friend, Brian Woodbury, told me about the Academy for New Musical Theater in North Hollywood. I signed up for their core curriculum class and had maybe the best year of my life, so far.
2011
The Academy Repertory Company selects our original musical The Angel of Painted Post (lyricist: Richard Castle / book: Adrian Bewley) to begin its 2012 Concert Series at the Lonny Chapman Theater. I love it when other people pay for our readings!
2013: May 14th
Lyricist Richard Castle and I had our song Hey, Mother Mary performed by Charlotte Mary Wen in A Little New Music, one of LA's premier cabaret events held several times a year at the Rockwell Table & Stage in Hollywood.
2013: Sept. 24
Lyricist Hillary Rollins and I had our song She's Lovely performed by Julie Garnye in A Little New Music, one of LA's premier cabaret events held several times a year at the Rockwell Table & Stage in Hollywood.