Tommy Solo's famous friends

Danny Taylor has been a part of Canadian music history since he was a teenager in highschool during the 1960s, finding success was as drummer with "the Lords of London", once considered to be Canada's answer to the Monkees. After having some commercial success with a few radio hits, the Lords of London disbanded & morphed into a more progressive jazzier/psychedelic sounding "Nucleus". Both ban...

This is the first in my new series "in performance with" & we're getting things rolling with Sandy Gillis aka comedian Jimmy the janitor. Sandy started in radio way back in 1968 & some 30 years later developed the Jimmy the janitor character as part of a radio show. It didn't take long before Sandy took Jimmy the janitor on the road & made several appearances doing stand up comedy live...

Ray Rabbit Harrison joined Del Shannon's touring band in 1962 at a mere 16 years old & he hasn't looked back since. He's been the keyboardist over the years in the Greaseball boogie band, Shooter, Crowbar & more top shelf acts. Currently he is still tickling the ivories with his long time band, the Cameo Blues band. in this episode we discuss playing keyboards & a lot more. Ray has a l...

Walter Zwol started fronting the band Brutus in the late 1960s & he hasn't looked back as a pro singer since. He was the first Canadian artist to be signed with EMI records in the USA & had chart success with several singles. While he has worked in the business side of the music business, his passion has always been as a singer. We talk singing, vocal technique and a lot more in this segme...

Greg Godovitz went from thinking that the Beatles with their odd haircuts looked wierd on their debut album cover to being heavily influenced by them as a budding singer as a kid in the 1960s. By the early 1970s, he would travel as far away as England with his first top shelf band, Fludd. After that his own band, Goddo featuring him as not only the bass player, but also lead singer & frontman...

Kim Berley is one of the original founding members of the iconic Canadian band, the Stampeders. In this segment of our "the singers" series Kim & I discuss his early days learning to sing & how his singing voice has matured & evolved since the begiinings of the Stampeders. Of course in this series, we always discuss vocal technique & tips for budding singers. In this episode we als...

In part two of Keith Hampshire "The Singers", we discuss among other things, the challenge of singing in the recording studio & Keith's favourite singers. We also talked about how he considers himself a lucky guy with his three radio hits & a popular TV show in his past. And as always in this series about singers & singing, we share some tips for being successful as a singer. And hey.....

& Keith Hampshire's legacy as a singer is no secret to most of the Canadian "Boomer" generation, & his TV show on CBC TV "Keith Hampshire's Music Machine" was an awesome spotlight for all of Canada's best artists of the day including, April Wine, the Stampeders, Light House, Fludd, etc.. Aside from having several hits on Canadian radio including Daytime Nighttime, Big Time Operator & T...

Miami born, LA based session guitarist/producer & multi instrumentalist, Fernando Perdomo came to my attention via his collaborations with legendary drummer Carmine Appice. They've recorded two instrumental albums together, the most recent release being "Running up that hill". When I listened to that album ahead of my interview with Carmine, I knew I had to do a guitar talk episode with Fernan...

Ace drummer Carmine Appice is known as one of the most prolific & talented drummers on the planet. Having played with Vanilla Fudge, Cactus, Beck Bogert & Appice, Rod Stewart etc., he long ago established his legacy. Now he has partnered with LA session guitarist Fernando Perdomo to create an amazing instrumental modern rock album inspired by the hit Netflix series Stranger things. In this...

Way back in 1969 Jim Henman asked his cousins David & Ritchie Henman if they wanted to form a new band. David suggested he would be interested if Jim could get his friend Myles Goodwyn to join. This would be the early beginnings of what became the iconic Canadian band, April Wine. Jim quit April Wine shortly after their first album was released & went back to school to become a medical tec...

Ritchie Henman is an original founding member of iconic Canadian classic rock band April Wine. He & his brother David were inspired at an early age to pick up musical instruments & inspired by their parents, treated their early bands like a business. This would pay off big time when Ritchie, his brother David, cousin Jim Henman & Myles Goodwyn unleashed April Wine to the world. After t...

While Rod Raslack may not be as famous as most featured guests in this series "the singers", he has none the less dedicated most of his life to his craft as a top shelf singer. Growing up in Thunder Bay, Ontario he decided against pursuing record deals, fame & fortune & the things most small town artists dream of. Instead, he realized that Thunder Bay was a hub in NW Ontario for touring ar...

Singer/songwriter record producer Harry Hess signed his 1st record deal at a mere 15 years old. Since then, he has recorded over a dozen albums with his most widely known act, Harem Scarem. June 2023 marks the 30th anniversary of their biggest breakthrough album, Mood Swings. Harry has teamed up with Sing Market to re release Mood Swings as a remastered multi media celebration of this event. In th...

In part two of my conversation Leslie Stanwyck & Johnny Sinclair aka "Universal Honey" we continue discussing the struggle of being in a band in today's world. Life as artists during a global pandemic isn't easy, but they've managed to soldier through & after acquiring the rights to their old catalogue of music, Leslie & Johnny re released most of their previous recordings on all digit...

Leslie Stanwyck & Johnny Sinclair were members of "The pursuit of happiness" during that group's (fronted by Moe Berg) height of popularity. They continue to this day singing the praises of Moe Berg as an artist & genuine human being. Feeling the need to spread their wings & grow as artists under their own banner, they moved on & would eventually form "Universal Honey". They releas...

Andy Curran who you probably know as co-founding member of iconic classic Canadian band, Coney Hatch has new stuff to share. Something old is new & revamped & something relatively new is coming soon for another round! In this "shameless plugs" episode Andy tells us all about his special 30th anniversary multi media release of his Juno award winning solo album "Whiskey & the Devil", &am...

Sarina Haggarty is a rising star from London Ontario. She was only 18 years old when I met her a few years ago, while she was in her final year as a student in the Music Industry Arts program at Fanshawe college. At that point, she had already accomplished a lot at such a young age. She had appeared on stage with Shawn Mendes in front of 22,000 people & begun carving out a reputation as an upc...

Ted Axe is a veteran of the music business, having logged decades as a singer/songwriter. He got his first break as the frontman with one of Canada's earliest Punk bands circa 1977. Since then his journey has taken him from Ottawa to Montreal, Toronto & LA , Canada's West coast. He eventually landed back in Toronto where his act has evolved from a snotty Punk rocker to his current persona as a...

In part two of my conversation with music industry insider Gerry Young of Current Management, we discuss his experiences with Dire Straits, 10cc & other world wide stars among other things. During our chat we also talked about how he managed to sell Marvin Gaye's last concert recordings to former Eagles manager, Irving Azoff & how to get heard on radio. All this & a lot more....check i...

This week I'm introducing yet another series on my podcast all about the entertainment "insiders". The people who keep the machine oiled & running. I couldn't have picked a better guest to debut this series with than Gerry Young. He has worked in various areas in entertainment since the 1970s, including Television, Movies & the ever evolving music business. Over the course of his career, G...

I've started a brand new series on this podcast all about the entertainment biz insiders. And here's a sneak preview of the first episode in this series, featuring record company executive & band manager, Gerry Young. Gerry went from working in TV production to managing chart topping 1980s band Martha & the Muffins & onward to a partnership in Current records & a lot more. Enjoy th...

In part two of my conversation with Valerie Shearman, we discuss how she became the front woman with not just one but two top shelf tributes to Heart. We also talk vocal technique, her passion for horses, an upcoming documentary about her late husband Buzz Shearman & the band Moxy....and a lot more! This is a fun one folks! If you enjoy my show & would like to help me keep it going without...

Valerie Shearman went from being a kid who remembered her Grandfather playing fiddle at the Calgary Stampede to being placed in foster care at a young age with a musical family. Years later she would be forced to move on from her life with Moxy frontman, Buzz Shearman after his untimely passing in 1983 & to forge her own pathway into the music business. We discuss all this & more & par...

In part two of my chat with Virgil Scott, the focus is on the business side of the music business with some fun memories shared along the way. You may not be familiar with Virgil Scott if you live outside the greater Toronto area, but you've likely heard him singing some of the most memorable commercial jingles from the early 1970s into the 2000s for beer companies etc., & I'm sure you know th...