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Rod McBrien interview

Q18.
After that, you joined The Goggles. Can you tell us how that happened?

Ed Newmark, a record producer with Audio Fidelity Records, was holding auditions for a group he was putting together. The group was to be called The Goggles and would have their own Saturday morning national TV show as part of the Mattel Children's Theater series. The show would be similar to The Monkees only with an educational theme. The audition called for singers who could also play an instrument. And I played guitar.

My friend, Reid Whitelaw, heard of the project and arranged an audition for me. I got the job and arranged for an audition for my friend, David Spinozza - who also got the job. Actress Jessica Harper and Mark Lockhart rounded out the group. We recorded one single and an album for Audio Fidelity and a one hour TV special was produced by Guy Fraumeni. The show aired on NBC as promised. We all hoped the show would be picked up by NBC as a weekly feature but that didn't happen. The Goggles were, however, featured singing a song each Saturday morning on the "Take A Giant Step" show - which was also on NBC.

Q19.
How did you feel about Joy?

Once again, Joy was a studio group featuring New York's finest musicians and singers. Here's how it came about. There was a very popular TV commercial running in the New York area promoting Israel tourism. The commercial featured the song, "Bashana Habana." It was a very catchy song and it seemed like everyone in New York was humming it. I don't remember whose idea it was - but it was a good one - to turn this spot into a record but Meco Monardo and I did just that, literally, overnight. Our version sounds very much like the commercial, which I believe was recorded in Israel. A deal was struck with Kama Sutra Records and the record was released as quickly as it was produced. The success of the record didn't merit putting a group together. Therefore, no photos.

Q20.
Since 1972 we don't quite know about your music works at front line. Can you tell us what you were doing? Then, in 1975, we found a credit in composing from Liquid Smoke and Dottie Westrecordings. What were you doing till then?

Sounds like I was goofing off, doesn't it? During the years 1972 through 1975 I was very active writing and producing music for advertising commercials. Some of my accounts included: Coca-Cola, Miller Beer, Exxon and Buick. I won the First Annual American Song Festival in 1973 with a song I wrote with Estell Levitt, "Isn't It Lonely Together." I also recorded for RCA during this time period with Stark & McBrien (see discography).

Q21.
Can you tell us of your works till now, too?

I am still active writing and producing music for advertising. Hopefully I will be putting together show for the New Year's Fiesta Bowl Championship. Ted Daryll and I are very excited about our new project with a beautiful young singer named Okko Saito. Yes, she's Japanese American. How about that? And my current big project is the World War II Tribute Album. The album will feature songs popular during the war era performed by the best of today's singers. It will be aligned with the WWII Memorial which is scheduled for dedication in 2004.

I also just wrote a song entitled, "Light A Candle, Say A Prayer." It was influenced by the recent attack on our country, in particular, the day of remembrance we observed a couple of weeks ago. I recorded it with my friend Darryl Tookes and am currently trying to arrange for a national release.

Q22.
Can you tell us your favorite artists, and artists that influenced you?

In one way or another, I think I've been influenced by every piece of music 've ever heard. I think all contemporary writers are. We all try to be fresh and new and different - and hopefully we are - but we know where the boundaries are and we stay within them. For example, just listen to the female artists riding the top of the charts today. Can anyone tell one from the other? As a writer and producer, one way or another, I am influenced by what I hear.

Q23.
One more question.
We heard you were connected to the movie "After School." How so?
Are there any other movies you were involved with?

You're amazing. How did you ever find out about this film? I'vebeen trying to hide it for years. But since you asked. . .

Songwriter and producer, John Linde, and I tried our hand at writing screenplays a few years ago. We wrote several, most of the names of which I can't remember. Except for one - "Rockstar and The Brooklyn Dodger." This one is a winner. It hasn't been produced yet but it has attracted much attention. Stay tuned.

During the time we were in our screenplay-writing-mode, we were approached by a gentleman from Florida interested in producing a film. He needed a script and heard about us through a mutual producer friend, Ross Testagrossa. He had an idea for a story and hired us to write a screenplay based on the idea. At the time we were interested in honing our skills at writing for the screen and this seemed like a good opportunity - especially since we would be getting paid for it. The story, which was originally entitled, "Before God," was God awful. But John and I tried our best to straighten it out. And under the circumstances, I think we wrote a respectable script.

The script went through many changes since it left our hands. We had no creative control whatsoever over the production of the film. In fact, no one had control. We were not involved at all in the production. I believe the film was first released under the name "Return to Eden," and then again as, "After School." It's an abominable film. Don't waste your time trying to see it. And it was not a pleasant experience. The gentleman from Florida was a crook and did not pay us as negotiated. We did get a screen credit for writing, but it's a credit that's worth nothing. I would never have included this film in our interview had you not brought it up.

I have written and produced music for other feature films. They include: "The January Man," starring Kevin Kline, Susan Sarandon, Danny Aiello and Harvey Keitel; "Club Fed," starring Sherman Hemsley, Burt Young, Judy Landers and Karen Black; and "California Casanova," starring Audrey Landers and Jerry Orbach.

Goggles "Goggles"	Joy "Two different things"	Sage "You and me"	The Spurrlows "Turn the world"

end ...
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Rod McBrien interview

Interview : Kunihiko Sano(VANDA)
Traslation : Shin Iwai,Tsutomu Fukuhara
Owners of pictured record: Kunihiko Sano(VANDA), Tetsuya Ishiyama

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