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Rod McBrien interview

Q1.
The Long Island Sounds have released a single "Tiger" (Fred O'Brien)/" Lucky Gut" (Fred O'Brien) from a Wonder label. Were yourelated to this single?

No. I've never heard of Fred O'Brien or the songs "Tiger" and "Lucky Guy." My Long Island Sounds group had nothing to do with this Long Island Sounds group. You may not know this so I will tell you. The Long Island Sound is a large body of water that separates Long Island, New York from Connecticut. Since we were all from Long Island, it seemed a fitting name at the time for our group. It's interesting that both groups would add an ‘s'to the name. Looking back - it would have been a better name without that addition.

Q2.
You have picked up many songs from Anders-Poncia, and it seems to be you were very influenced by their song writing. What kind of artist were the Anders-Poncia to you?

I worked as an engineer for Allegro Recording Studios during the late sixties, 1967-1969. While there I recorded many sessions for Kama-Sutra and Buddah Records. I worked with many of their producers. Artie Ripp, John Linde, Bobby Bloom, Bo Gentry, Tony Bruno, Richie Cordell, Richard Perry,Tommy Kaye, are the names that come to mind. But the production team from Kama-Sutra/Buddah that I worked with most was that of Pete Anders and Vinnie Poncia. They had a very positive influence on my work. I learned a lot from working with them. They could write, produce, and sing, and were great at all of it. And their musical taste was very similar to mine. The projects I worked on with them were: The Tradewinds, The Innocence, The Critters and their own album, Anders & Poncia.

Having engineered so many of their productions, I was very familiar withtheir songbook and over the years, covered several of their songs. When one of the songs we worked on together failed to become a big hit, I was delighted to give it another shot with my own production.

Vinnie wrote a few hits since the years we worked together and was verysuccessful as a producer. Some of the acts he worked with were Ringo Starr, Melissa Manchester and Kiss. I don't believe Pete is still actively involved in the music business but he did record an album recently with Brian Gari producing. And as Brian told me, "he still sounds great."

Q3.
"Finders Keepers" were covered by Gospel Garden, Magic Bus and Bobbie's Rockin' Chair from Japan. How's these covers of "Finders Keepers?"

I love ‘em all. It's interesting to hear how much each recording was influenced by the original Salt Water Taffy record.

Q4.
The group Sage left fresh songs. What kind of group were they?

I was an engineer at Allegro Recording Studios at the time and often workedwith Doug Morris and Elliot Greenberg of Laurie Records. In addition to engineering, I would sometimes overdub guitar or percussion or vocal partsfor them. One day they came in with a new song they had just written andasked if I would sing it for them, you know, actually be the artist on the record. I guess they thought I had the right sound for the song.
Naturally,I was delighted to accommodate them. The song was "Jennifer," and Ibelieve it was inspired by the movie, "Love Story," starring Jennifer O'Neil.

Doug Morris, of course, is now one of the giants of the music industry as Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group.

Q5.
Tell us about Smiling Faces that you tagged with Phil again.

Once again - this was a New York studio group featuring Phil Tano. I can't remember who actually sang on the group's first release, "Younger Girl." Phil sang lead, of course, and I'm quite sure Ron Dante and I were part of the group. There were also girls in the group but I'm not sure who they were.

Our second release, "Tulsa," written by Joe Rock and me, was recorded in Nashville. This recording session was my introduction to Nashville and I loved it. Once again, Phil sang lead and Marie Cain, Janie Brannon and I made up the rest of the group.

Q6.
Spurrlows were good group, but why you have tagged with Ron Dante?

The Spurrlows were founded by, and named after, its leader - Thurlow Spurr. The group was based in Detroit, Michigan and was sponsored by Chrysler. The mission of the group was twofold. They traveled across the country each year performing a driver-safety program at high schools. And, being a group of Christian background, they would perform a program of sacred music in churches evenings and weekends. And they covered a lot of miles.

I made a deal with Thurlow to produce the group and started looking for the right songs. When it was time to record, the group was on the road and unavailable. It really didn't matter whether I used the actual group or not, since each year the group would change. So I chose to use my friend Ron Dante as the sound of the group and filled in the background with a chorus of New York's finest studio singers. Ron, as I'm sure you know, was very successful being the sound of other studio groups such as The Archies and The Cufflinks.

Q7.
The Cantina Band had gorgeous members. How did they gathered?

I gathered them. The Cantina Band was the brainchild of Meco Monardo. It was tailored after the 'Stars on 45' (I think that was the name of the group) concept - an uninterrupted medley of hits at the same dance tempo. Only this time, using all Beach Boys songs.

Meco called me and asked if I could put together a group singers who could sound like the Beach Boys. He said it would help if they knew the songs.
He called the right guy. I had put together Beach Boy sound-alike groups many, many times for commercials and knew just who to call. Our group, The Cantina Band, consisted of Tom Dawes, Al Dana, Lou Christie and me. I sang the lead parts, Lou sang falsetto, Al sang the bass parts and we all sang the group harmonies. I don't know where the name ‘Cantina Band' came from - probably from Meco. We called ourselves the Bench Boys. Being such big Beach Boys fans, I think I can speak for all of us when I say, this was one of the most fun recording sessions ever.

Lou Christie, of course, is Lou Christie - "Lightning Strikes," The Gypsy Cried," I'm Gonna Make You Mine," etc. Tom Dawes is one of the founding members of The Cyrkle - "Red Rubber Ball," "Turndown Day." He now operates Tome Dawes Music, one of New York's most successful commercial music houses.
Al Dana is one New York's finest studio singers.

Q8.
Tell us about Fred Stark.

Fred and I met in the mid seventies when we were both active singing jingles.
We sang together often enough to realize our voices blended well and decided that we should record some sides together and try to make a deal with a record company. Fred is a much better singer than I am and was the lead sound of the our duo. The first single we recorded, "Isn't It Lonely Together," was written by Estelle Levitt and me and was produced by David Spinozza. RCA released the record and we called ourselves appropriately, Stark & McBrien. We went on to record several more singles and an album, "Big Star," for RCA. When the label dropped us, we took our act to Lifesong Records for our next release, "Home Again, Again."

Actually the best recordings Fred and I ever made were produced after our stints with RCA and Lifesong, but we were never able to negotiate a release with a label. Bummer.

Fred and I are still friends and work together occasionally. And he still sings great.

Ms.Estelle Levitt: "Lonely Together"	Stark & McBrien: "If You Like The Music"	Stark & McBrien: "Big Star"	Stark & McBrien: "Home Again…Again"

Q9.
"Let the Good Times In" (N. Sedaka-C. Bayer)/" One and One Make Two" (R.McBrien-B. Ross), produced by Rod McBrien and arranged by Meco Monardo was not on the discography. Can you tell us about this single? The song in Side-B sounds like "Whence I Make Thee Mine," doesn't it?

This interview has been a great exercise. And it was the motivation for me to put together my discography. When I gathered all the records I could find that I had been involved with, two were missing. There could be more, but at least two that I can remember. One was: "The Wishbone." I knew I had formed a group that I named The Wishbone and cut a couple of sides with them but I could not find the record. So I figured the record only came out in my memory, not in reality.

However, right around the time I was compiling the discography, I ran into an old friend I hadn't seen in years. Brian Gary - a wonderful songwriter, singer, producer. Brian is a couple of years my junior and looked up to me back in the old days - at least that's the way I remember it. He always appreciated my productions and, I must say, I always appreciated his appreciation. He also had a major record collection back then - still does.

So at this chance meeting I asked him if he had any recollection of a group recorded called The Wishbone. He said, yes, he did and, in fact, thought he might have a copy of the record. I gave him a big kiss. I wasn't losing my mind after all.

He called me the next day and, sure enough, he had the record. I haven't talked him into giving me the record yet, but I'm sure he will. Or at least, let me borrow it. I hate to keep saying this, but, once again this was a studio group - no history to tell you about, no photos. I can't even remember who the featured singer was but I'm sure I'll recognize the voice once I hear the record. I'll keep you posted.

I don't really remember the B-side song but it's certainly possible it res embles "Whence I Make Thee Mine." Like I said, Anders and Poncia had a positive influence on my work. And we all knew the same chords.

Q10.
Tell us your memory of Star Wars Christmas Album.

My good friend, Meco Monardo called one day and asked if we would write a song for the Star Wars Christmas Album that he was getting ready to produce.
I was thrilled to get the invite and immediately got together with one of my favorite collaborators, Bill Backer. We wrote a cute little song entitled "The Odds Against Christmas" which was performed on the album by Anthony Daniels, the voice of C3PO.

Meco also hired me as one of the featured group singers. My son, Roddy, who was about 10 years old at the time, also sang on the album in the kids chorus.
And also, making his recording debut on this album, was none other than John Bongiovi (Bon Jovi). How's that for a little trivia?

Q11.
Tell me about Astral Projection.

My dear friend, Lor Crane, who is now in heaven, created the concept of the Astral Projection and wrote all of the songs for the album with Bernice Ross.
I also wrote songs with Bernice, although not for this album. And, yes, it was yet another studio group. Although I am credited with producing the album with Lor, I must admit, this was Lor's baby - I was primarily just the featured voice of the group. I'm sure I contributed to the production, but Lor really produced this one.

The other record I mentioned earlier that I couldn't find was another album I recorded with Lor Crane: "The Children of Prague." It featured the songs of the Sherman brothers - they wrote a lot for Disney - lots of big songs.
And once again, I was ready to write this project off as one that never got released. I asked around and even called Lor's brother-in-law but came up empty. I didn't think Brian Gari would be aware of this one but called him anyway. This would be my last effort. Bingo! Once again Brian came through. He had a copy of the album which was on Mercury Records. Brian Gari is a great reference on our kind of music. Without him, this one surely would have slipped through the cracks. This is a very obscure record - not even Vanda uncovered this one. And you guys amaze me with your knowledge of my work. Thank you, Brian.

Diane & Annita: "I'm Ready If You Are"	Joe Cuba Sextet: "Baby You're Everything"	Dottie West: "California Cousins"

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Rod McBrien interview

Interview : Kunihiko Sano(VANDA)
Traslation : Shin Iwai,

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