Pittsburgh’s Golden Age of Rock ‘n’ Roll … Ed Salamon!
I came across a photo of an old friend, Ed Salamon, who stopped by Johnny Angels Ginchy Stuff and Museum a while ago. I then pulled out a copy of the book he had written called “Pittsburgh’s Golden Age of Rock ‘n’ Roll”. I immediately went into reminiscing mode. I remember when the book first … Read more
Del Vikings … DooWop Royalty!
It started at an Air Force Base in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania … and they called themselves the Del-Vikings! The group went through several name changes as well as personnel changes do to contracts since most members were underage at the time of their signing. Only Kripp Johnson, one of the original members, was 21 when they … Read more
Harvey Fuqua … He was the whole package!
One of my favorite singers and music legends was the late great Harvey Fuqua, founder and lead singer of the legendary Moonglows. Where do I begin … I met Harvey when he was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame and Museum. Early in the day I had time to sit and talk with … Read more
Happy Birthday James Brown, Rachael and Roman!
This Saturday, May 3rd is a special Birthday! It’s my Daughter Rachael’s birthday and the birthday of her first born, Roman, my first Grandchild. It’s also the Birthday of an old friend … the Godfather of Soul, James Brown! The picture above was at a show I did with James Brown, and I took the … Read more
Leiber & Stoller … “The Hit Machine!”
Before I get into my experience of spending some time with Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller let me lay some music history on you. Leiber originally came from Baltimore, Maryland and Stoller was from Queens, New York but they met in Los Angeles, California in 1950. Mike Stoller was a freshman at Los Angeles City … Read more
Luncheon for Pittsburgh Music Royalty!
Let’s begin this week’s Blog by thanking an old friend and fellow drummer, Gary Dotterweich for organizing a quarterly musician luncheon! The purpose is to connect and re-connect Pittsburgh Musicians to get together, reminisce, tell stories and rekindle old friendships. Yesterday, was our luncheon held at the Rochester Inn … the photo above are musicians … Read more