My Life in the music business

Urge Overkill opening for Pearl Jam

Flash back to the release of” Saturation” by Urge Overkill. This Album included the track “Sister Havana” which was developing nicely at Radio and before the cover of Neil Diamonds “Girl you’ll be a woman soon” was included on the Pulp Fiction soundtrack which became a huge hit for them. The band was asked to be on the Bill with Pearl Jam and Mud honey for a North American tour. I’d met Nash, Eddie and Blackie a few times including Chicago. The radio promoter asked me about helping set up a promotion on that tour stop in Reno, NV. where they were performing at the Lawlor Event Center on the University of Reno campus. The promotion we were running in conjunction with Radio and Retail; was an Enter to win Contest for the Best Martini mixing bartender in Reno. Judges would be a handful of winners, and Urge Overkill band members. Bartenders were chosen in a contest at Radio. Judges were chosen in a contest at Retail. Spectators and non winners were encouraged to hang in the bar and cheer them on. Only in Reno! Anyway, the night wore on, everyone was getting pretty crazy…little did anyone know, that we had gear set up on the small stage in the bar for the band to perform a song or two, if they wanted to. Mid way through the party a Tour bus pulls up in front and out jumps Eddie V, Stone, Jeff and Mike who had heard about the promotion and all wanted to get in on the Judging…so the bartenders continued to mix, bands continued to drink and a winner was chosen! Late into the night Eddie V is cajoled up onto the small little stage with Nash and Jeff. The boys break into an acoustic version on “Horse with no name” and a few other jems. We hung out late into the night with both bands chatting, and laughing into a hangover the next day.

Nirvana

I met and spoke to Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl numerous times. In this profession, it’s unavoidable when you work with a label whose artists you represent when you are in the field. One of the early interactions with the band was in the planning stages of the release of ”Nevermind” Through an executive at Geffen Records we had discussed with Kurt doing a record release party, which was vetoed. I suggested an instore autograph signing or an instore Live Performance. Kurt liked the idea of performing for a small group of fans in a store and said he would only do it at an indie store. I suggest Peaches in the U- District of Seattle which was approved by the band and label. They had a solid fan base already from the release of “Bleach” and performing in small bars and clubs near the University. 9/16/1991 the store was packed to the gills with anticipation, of course the fire department showed up, took one look at the crowd inside and said no one else is allowed inside, so we stationed a couple clerks to guard the entrance, so if you were late you were stuck outside. The band lit into a searing 10 song set rift with a mosh pit and kids crowd surfing over the record racks. Kurt at one point dove into the crowd himself. The instore turned into a success, and store sold all 400 pieces of “Nevermind” The band stuck around and signed autographs for about an hour outside in the parking lot in front of the Fire Engine. The fans were great and stuck around. I brought the band back into the store to meet Jamie the manager and his staff. I leaned into Kurt and asked “Well what did you think?” and he said “Better than expected” Enough said.

https://youtu.be/wqEFhNR9-t8

https://youtu.be/s7npc9J-Zzs

Peaches store in Seattle was in the process of being sold off. The new owners called them Beehive Records.

Heart

Yes Ann and Nancy Wilson in their heyday were a force to be reckoned with! They were hugely popular at Rock Radio during the release of their self titled Album “Heart” They were a staple at Radio especially after making the determination to go all in with MTV and their more mainstream rock sound. With this release “Heart” they cracked the Top 10 with multiple tracks and for the first time had a #1 Billboard hit with “These Dreams” This ballad propelled them as Ann is quoted as saying to me…”beyond our wildest dreams”. The band was touring during this time and came to the Oakland Coliseum on this Sold Out tour. I was invited backstage for a meet & greet. Little did I know at the time, that the radio promoter had brought bottles of Champaign back stage. When I was talking to the sisters, the promoter pulled out flutes and proceeded to pour us all glasses to toast this achievement of having gone to #1 on the Billboard charts that day. This was the bands first #1 and we all enjoyed the opportunity to share in this massive achievement. A photographer was on hand and the photo showed a delighted Ann and Nancy Wilson in a celebratory mood. This party happened preshow, so by the time the band hit the stage, they were in rare form.

Peter Gabriel

I had the pleasure of working with Peter on his “Us” album, after his major artistic break thru record “So”, His album “So” not only catapulted him for it’s commercial success but it’s respectable achievement here and across the pond. He collaborated with Kate Bush, Laurie Anderson and Youssou N’Dour on his hit ‘In your eyes” which went on to push the album to the top of the Billboard singles, album and Radio charts. It even won him multiple Grammy’s and MTV Music Video awards. Transport forward a few years later and Peter releases a new album and embarks on a World Tour called “Secret World”. It too had all the trappings of success. The tour with Youssou N’Dour opening the show and even walking on as a guest during ‘In your Eyes” was a sold out tour. Peter is a very humble man, I took my wife with me for this show and had passes for a backstage meet and greet. We found the green room which was decked out with Couches, Pool Table, Ping Pong, Bar, Food bites and even a Video screen showing Peter Gabriel videos.. No one was certain that Peter would even make an appearance, but that did not deter everyone backstage from chatting it up and eating and drinking for what seemed like an hour. With time pressing and no Peter Gabriel, people started to slowly leave. The back stage crowd thinned, it thinned even more when Youssou took the stage. I think everyone figured Peter would be a no show. There I was with a few of us in the room and with my wife sitting on the couch talking about making our way to our seats when literally out of nowhere Peter pops in and introduces himself. We had a wonderful discussion about the tour and how he enjoyed the art museums in San Francisco. I told him I had seen him with Genesis on the” Lamb Lies Down on Broadway” Tour years hence in Berkeley, so he got to reminiscing about that time in his life. He talked about melding music and theater to come up with an evocative nuance on stage. The band at the time worked to make the show larger than life, for all to experience. It was a fascinating conversation. He was smart, funny and down to earth…very approachable. It made the whole back stage experience one that I will not soon forget.

Thin Lizzie and Phil Lynott

I was invited to a Thin Lizzie show at The Warfield theater. It was early in my career and a friend asked me to go with her. I was a huge fan and could not refuse. She said she had backstage passes and wanted to get there early. The Warfield backstage is under the stage. We hung out for a while and realized the band was doing a sound check. Charlotte had obviously been here before and knew the way, she grabbed my hand and said follow me as she led me to a private stage door and up this tiny metal spiral staircase onto stage right. It popped us right up onto the stage. After a blistering sound check Phil Lynott came right over to us, kissed Charlotte who then introduced me. She had met him before, and he knew she was coming. Clearly he was interested in hanging with her. I made my way back to the backstage area where I chatted with Neal Schon of Journey who was hanging… Neal later joined Thin Lizzie for a few songs during their amazing set. It was a brief and simple meet, but little did we know that a few years later, Phil would pass from complications from pneumonia at age 36...

Shirley Manson and Garbage

I got to know Shirley while working with Radio Active Records on her Angelfish album. We had some success with the track “Suffocate me”. The Album was produced by Tina Weymouth of the Talking Heads. The band came into San Francisco during a tour for their self titled debut Album. I took Shirley round to a few record stores for an impromptu greet and meet and luncheon with some managers. The following year Shirley ditched Angelfish and would front the band Garbage; which was a Butch Vig incarnation. The first Garbage album was done mostly in the studio with Butch playing all the instruments. The Band Garbage recorded a hit with “Stupid Girl” and were a darling at early commercial alternative radio. They decided to hit the road and brought along bassist Danny Shulman from some early Run DMC sessions. The band scheduled mostly Radio Winter Festivals and a handful of club dates. In San Francisco Shirley contacted me and made sure I was going to be at Slims for an intimate club date. She said “Bring all those people I met last time, so they can see my new band” To say the least the band nailed it! Shirley hung around and signed autographs for anyone who wanted one (she was a trooper) Both Butch and Shirley told me later that night Backstage, that they were not sure how the music was going to translate since they were using samples and Midi controllers. After much discussion we convinced them that they sounded amazing and not to worry. Shirley’s stage presence alone was intoxicating. The next day they performed for Live 105’s almost Christmas, and KOME ’s Almost Acoustic Christmas to much larger crowds but unfortunately only a 5 or 6 song set!

Tom Waits

It could be the luxury of living in the San Francisco Bay Area. If you live here , you know what I mean and you also know better than to take it for granted. This is the city where you can come and be anonymous without trying too hard. You can blend pretty easily.

I had taken my son Clayton to a San Francisco Giants home game at the then, New Ball Park at 4th & Townsend called Pac Bell Park. We had made our way to the promenade deck where we had lower reserved tickets. Before the game had started. I glanced over at a concession line and saw Tom Waits standing in line with on of his son’s Casey. Our boys were similar in age, so I took my son by the hand and walked over and introduced ourselves to them. Tom was healthy, happy and pleased to talk baseball, sunshine, hotdogs, and the new ball park. It was casual, as we waited in line, and I later asked him what material he was working on? In that sly, graveled Tom Waits voice, he said, “I always have a cat in the bag”. It turned out to be a great day all around!

Iggy Pop opening for The Cars

I was invited by a friend in the business to see Iggy Pop on his Blah Blah Blah tour open for The Cars at the Oakland arena in the late 80’s. I had a pair of tickets so I asked my wife to go with me and I told her that I had Back Stage passes for Iggy Pop. She was cool with it but was not as keen as I was. When we arrived there was a green room stage right set up for the greet and meet. There were probably about 20 of us. Iggy slid into the room with his manager and came right up to Nancy and I first. I introduced myself and Nancy and Iggy with his steel blue eyes was completely dialed into us. I asked him about his early days and how I had seen him at The Old Waldorf run across the table tops and cut himself with a broken bottle. We dished about the state of music and where he thought it was going. He said he was digging on The Clash recently and a few other bands. It was a great conversation and then he moved along to meet others…We stayed and had a beer all the while waiting for everyone to finish their conversations and then something incredible happened. Iggy came right back over to me and said Hey Ric and Nancy, how are you seats. I said we were all good… he had a sharpie in his hands and I rarely did this in those days but I asked him to sign something for me, he leaned over and signed Nancy’s plain white T Shirt she had on. He Thanked us for coming and exited. What struck me the most about him, was that he made the rounds at the Greet and Meet , made an effort to come all the way back around and over to me and had remembered who we were by name and made contact again to make sure we were all set for the show. Remarkable experience.

Elton John at Shoreline Amphitheater

Elton John had recently signed a new deal to return to MCA Records and was heading out on a National tour called “Sleeping with the Past” It was standard in those days to bring Record Store buyers, managers, and owners to concerts in your respective markets. I had personally invited about 20, the other staffers invited 20 and our radio promoter invited about 20, so we had a whole mess of people together. I arranged a greet and meet with Elton who said he would meet everyone pre show. Upon arriving a bit early to Shoreline, I met with production and we did the Back Stage Pass computation, also I got a chance to meet Elton in his dressing room. His dressing room had been made to order by Bill Graham himself. Bill took great pride in making performers feel special. Bill had specially prepared Elton’s dressing room with 25 hand picked Hats from a Haberdashery in San Francisco, he lined them in columns on the wall. When I met Elton he was having fun trying on the different hats with different colors, feathers, braids, crests and boas. I asked him which one he was going to wear and he said; “ I think I’ll use quite a few of these tonight” True to his word, during the performance he changed wardrobes a few times, including the Hats!

Set list 8/20/89 Shoreline Amphitheater

Smoke filled intro to

Bennie and the Jets

Island girl

Harmony

Tiny Dancer

Sleeping with the Past

The Bitch is Back into Brown Sugar cover

I guess that’s why they call it the blues

Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters Pt.1 & Pt. 2

Funeral for a Friend/ Love lies bleeding

Sorry seems to be the Hardest word

Daniel

Candle in the wind

Sacrifice

Blue Eyes

Philadelphia Freedom,

Burn down the Mission

Levon

Stones throw from here

Sad Songs say so much

Don’t let the sun go down on me

I don’t want top go with you like that

Encore

Saturday Nights alright for fighting

Rocket man (I think it’s going to be a long time)