The Man Who Was Money

By Chris Shapiro
September 2019

The world knew a rock star.  I knew a man who dearly loved his family.  The world knew the singer of “Two Tickets to Paradise.”  I knew a friend.  The world knew an early MTV and later reality TV star.  I knew a man who was devoted to his fans.

The world may remember Eddie Money for his score of Top-40 pop hits, platinum albums and musical successes.  I choose to remember the man I knew, the man who was Money.

Eddie’s music has been a part of my life from early adolescence ever since my mother brought home Eddie Money Super Hits.  I fell in love with his bluesy, rock sound.  His pop style lyrics and deep rooted rock core was a perfect blend of music to grow up on.  Fast forward several years and as college student, my dorm constantly echoed with the songs of Eddie and it was during my college years that I first met him.

It was summer.  I was working in local grocery store and scheduled to mop and wax the floors one night, the same night Eddie had a show in Youngstown, Ohio.  To the disappointment of my manager, I gave up the overtime hours, called off and drove out to see the show.

I met Eddie that night through a VIP backstage ticket.  It was nothing more than a handshake and friendly greeting.  Yet, it introduced me to my rock and roll idol.  As I look back, it was a plot point in our friendship timeline.

About ten months later Eddie had another show in Pittsburgh, my hometown.  Being a journalism major, I ventured to ask for an interview with Eddie.  My request was granted.  From there, our friendship took off and every time he came to the Tri-State area for I show, I was there.  My college professors nicknamed me “Cameron Crowe” and I nicknamed Eddie “the Godfather.”

At first, it was about interviews and reviews of the shows.  But as I got to know him, the interviews stopped and the conversation between two friends began.

I remember him telling me when he toured with the Rolling Stones that, to him, they were a bunch of normal guys when they were off stage.  That always stuck with me through the years because Eddie himself was such a normal guy.  He loved to talk about sports, and tell jokes, “stop by the t-shirt counter and take a picture with me.  I just washed my hair… on Tuesday!”

He loved his wife and kids.  One time, Eddie was doing back to back shows at Tangiers in Akron, Ohio.  I was in the dressing room with Eddie and his band after the first show and Eddie invited me to eat dinner with them.  Eddie goes on his phone and is showing me pictures of Laurie, his wife, and his kids.  In between spoon full bites of Tiramisu, he spoke about how lucky he was to marry his, “beautiful southern belle” and have the family he did.

Another time, it was his one son’s birthday and while on stage, after the encore, he called his son and wished him happy birthday with the audience.

I would always text him on the major holidays and I always got a response.  “Gobble, gobble, Happy Turkey Day – E$,” His reply read once followed with a picture of his family.

That’s what Money was about, family, friends and fans.

After I graduated from college and started working, Eddie and I kept in touch.  I would share my scripts and various writings with him to which he encouraged me to keep with my writing, always telling me that I had a gift.  In fact, I learned how to write from Eddie.  With him allowing me to interview and review him, I took my craft to the next level.  I even analyzed his songwriting to better understand the art of creation.

Eddie Money and writer Chris Shapiro before Money’s concert at the House of Blues in Cleveland, Ohio.

All artist are the same.  It’s only our canvas that changes.

A few years back, I tried moving to Texas.  I was going to try selling Cadillac”s.  Don’t ask me why I thought Texas or Cadillac, it just seemed like a good idea to try.  I ended up selling Lexus in Pittsburgh.  Missed the mark a bit.  But I shared with Eddie my plan.  He thought it was great.

The morning of my departure, I’m sitting at the airport terminal waiting for my flight and I get a text from Eddie.  He was excited for my decision and wished me good luck on my adventure.  I took it to heart.  Eddie was the only person to text me good luck.

Eddie was more family to me than my own.  Every time we talked, he wanted to make sure I was doing well.  How many dates had I been on, how many girlfriends did I have, did I have a good month in car sales?  He even asked to make sure my finances were okay. “You got enough money in the bank? You doing okay? You need anything?” Eddie would ask.  My own family doesn’t even call or write and here’s Eddie making sure I have enough money to pay rent.

Rock legend Eddie Money

I never asked Eddie for tickets to his show but true to his song he always had two tickets waiting for me at will call.  It was a constant in my life.  I knew that I could text Eddie telling him I was coming to a show and there would be tickets waiting for me.  New York to L.A., Eddie had me covered.  I had a friend who would be there for me no matter my life status or where I found myself.  It may seem small but knowing Eddie considered me a friend helped me through my failures.

“This is my friend Chris,” Eddie once told a group of about thirty VIP ticket holders and security guards before a show, “Nobody kick him out.”

Another time I went to see Eddie at Meadows Casino.  Security is strictest at the casino gigs.  Eddie’s tour manager came up to the gate to let me backstage but the cop refused to let me in.

“I was told no one comes backstage till after the show,” the cop grunted.

Eddie’s tour manager got right in the cop’s stone cold face, “Well this comes from Eddie, and I’m Eddie’s tour manager, Chris gets to come backstage.”  The gate unlatched and I walked back.

Most recently, I was in California a few months back.  It was my first time to the west coast and Eddie and I were going to meet up for a late lunch while I was there.  I left Paramount in the afternoon and it wasn’t quite evening.  So, I decided to drive up Route One from Santa Monica toward Malibu to watch the California sun set on the Pacific Ocean.  My phone vibrated in the cup holder.  I had a new message from Eddie.  He told me about his cancer.  He was very candid with me.  In the text, he went on to say that he was proud of me and how hard I was working to do good…  It’s one of the last text messages I have from him.

Again, family, friends and fans.

I learned how to treat people from watching Eddie.  When I have clients at my dealership, I treated them the way Eddie treated his fans.  I never met a person so devoted.  After ever show, Eddie would come out to the T-shirt counter to meet his fan base.  He would sign anything you put in front of him, take pictures, tell jokes, give hugs and he stayed until the last person in line got to meet him.

It was nearly 45 minutes of signings after his show a year ago at the Palace Theater.  I sat across from the T-Shirt counter watching Eddie meet each one of his fans.  Eddie saw me waiting to talk with him.

“Chris, buddy, I’m sorry,” he called out, “we gotta talk.  It’s a long line!”

On stage, he made sure he delivered a hell of a show to each audience.  He kept rocking right up to the end too.  I mean, it took doctor’s orders to pull him off the stage.  The man loved his craft and what it meant to people.

Family, friends and fans.

I learned a great deal about rock and roll from Eddie but I also learned about life.  Seeing him perform on stage and knowing him personally off stage gave me a deeper insight to his songs.  Each one of his albums contain life lessons and I’ve applied them to my own life.  Even though he has passed, Eddie will continue to influence my life.

Star Wars is as big to me as rock and roll.  To me, Eddie was a real life Obi-Wan Kenobi.  He introduced me to the ways of rock and roll much like Kenobi introduced Luke to the ways of the Force.  Later, Kenobi appeared to Luke as a Force Ghost to guide him in his knighthood.  For me, memories of Eddie and his songs will guide me through my own quest.

“My memories are happy
And my memories are sad
But I love to take my pictures out
And take the things I had
My songs are not like my life now
And it’s always true
Me and my friends were dreamers
Dreamin’ all we do
My Friends, My Friends
Never got together again but
I really do miss my friends.” – E$

I will miss your humor, music and friendship.  Rest in Peace my friend. – CS

Eddie Money Inspires with a Brand New Day

Today marks a special day for rock star Eddie Money as his first album in 12 years, A Brand New Day, is available for pre-sale.

It was about 3 months ago that I received a text message from Eddie while I was at work. “Hey, what’s your email,” he asked me. Next thing I know, I have 12 new tracks in my drop box, the makings of A Brand New Day.

The album arrived at a time when I was hung up on the in-betweens of life and not sure what I was doing. I couldn’t make anything right and had become jaded with any and all effort. But life’s a puzzle and certain key pieces fall into place when we need them the most.

I listened to every track that day, keep in mind I was still at work at the time, and I realized that this album is a capstone in Eddie’s discography in terms of self-expression. He truly knows who he is as an artist, a father, a friend and a human being.

Each of us seeks to express in a way that is different than another. We have a drive to be individuals and we do so through our dress, choice of language, choice of careers and much more.

For Eddie, he achieved his truest self-expression through the lyrics in these songs that range from straight forward rockers to ballads. In doing so, we come to see Eddie’s life through his perspective. We come to understand how much he loves his family, why he’s dedicated to music, how he’s conquered adversity. Eddie’s taken the years of his life and career and compressed them into a single soul and he has poured so much of himself into his album that the music feels alive. He’s created a work that has an entity of its own.

There are no filler tracks on this album, no record company opinionated revisions nor anything without purpose. It contains only the purest form of a professional signer song-writer’s self-expression. With the innocence of his debuted album and the street smarts of No Control, one could argue he’s created masterpiece.

After listening to the album and having reflected on it for a few weeks, it’s caused me take stock of my life and even helped me change jobs. It’s caused me to think about how I choose to express myself as a human and what choices I should make to do so.

That’s the greatest achievement an artist can make, to create a work that inspires others to think. Thinking is what makes us human. It drives the desire to express and triggers further creation.

Eddie jokes all the time about being the man with no control. The truth is for an artist to create a work like A Brand New Day, he not only controls his craft but he owns it.

If you’ve taken the time to read this review, then do yourself a favor, go see Eddie in concert, check out his show Real Money on AXS TV and pre-order this album. For anyone who calls themselves a fan of Eddie Money, A Brand New Day is a must for their collection.

As a friend and fan, I’m inspired by its release.  And you never know how a brand new day will inspire you…

The Story of Money

By Chris Shapiro
January 2019

There’s nothing pleasant about January in Pennsylvania.   The last thing you want is to spend any amount of time outdoors especially when you are about to go home after an eleven hour day trying to sell cars.  Yet, outdoors, with the collar of my jacket pulled up over my ears, was where I was when I heard the song.

I pulled the short straw that evening and it became my job to check the pre-owned car lot.  It’s a solitary job of pulling on ice covered door handles and searching for open windows.  I was about a third of the way done when I heard a familiar song’s chorus echo across the night air.  It came from the outdoor speakers of our neighboring car lot.  Something about the song made me stop, stand there in the freezing cold and listen.  There, blaring out into the dark hours of a winter night, was Eddie Money and his song, “Baby, Hold On” playing on the radio.

It was a moment where I realized that this song is going to be played and remembered for as long as there are means to play it.  Music is a living entity and has the ability to transcend barriers of language, race and time.  “Baby, Hold On” is proof of music’s power to endure with a life of its own.

As I drove home that night, I began thinking of Money’s music and what made it special.  What was it that breathed life into his work and made it so timeless that forty years later his debuted single is still being played?

What makes an artist great is debatable on many fronts.  There’s the song writing, arrangement and compositions, recording innovations, instrumental feats, timeliness and even the artwork on the cover are all debatable aspects.  Yet, not as often debated is the examination of an artist’s discography as a single piece of work.  To view an artist’s albums as a stream of consciousness rather than individual pieces is where true greatness lies.  This is where I pinpointed a trend that emerged in the genius of Money’s work.

In the case for Money, each of his albums were recorded with a theme which reflected the current stage of his life.  His personal world served as his influence and his albums attempted to define life as seen through his eyes.   When the albums are strung together, they end up telling a collective story.  It’s the story of a man, an artist, as he journeys over several decades of his career and personal life.  It’s a story we’re all familiar with because we all share similar stages.

Start with his debut album Eddie Money.  It’s one of the most youthful, romantic approaches to life ever recorded for an album.  It’s filled with optimism, energy and a lust to live.  This album marks the youthful and innocent Money.  Even the back jacket photo of Money with his eyes closed could be an interpretation of a youthful dreamer.

We all start off life this way.  The world is full of young people who are idealistic dreamers, as it should be.  Each generation needs time for innocence in order for the dreams to cultivate.  This period of time sets the stage for the rest of our lives.  Money captured it beautifully with his ten track album.

It starts with the idealistic “Two Tickets to Paradise” where paradise can be attained simply by running away with the one you love.  It’s ignorant of the facts or realities of the world and that’s what makes it beautiful, its simplicity.  It reminds us of how we use to be as a youth and what we believed in.  It represents the inner hope to break free of the reality surrounding our society and allows us to cling to our hope for paradise and those dreams from our long forgotten youth.

Then, there is the epitome of hope, his signature song, “Baby, Hold On.”  Imagine releasing that as your debuted song.  It is a brilliant achievement and it captures the spirit of the album.  A song that states that we are bound only by the limits we define for ourselves.  It’s the essence of dreams and breathes optimism.  We can achieve the life we envision for ourselves because the future is built by our actions.

Similar optimism is found in “Jealousy’s” where the youthful quest for peace is found.  It describes humanity as belonging together in the universe where our existence is shared.   It’s a type of peace where, as Money sings, “angry arms can embrace.”  Hope of finding the love desired in “Two Tickets to Paradise” is found again in the songs such as “Save a Little Room in Your Heart for Me,” and “So Good to Be in Love Again.”   While other songs on the album describe a youthful, carefree approach toward life such as “Don’t Worry,” “Wanna be a Rock ’N’ Roll Star” and “Gamblin’ Man” which finishes off the album.

Now, move onto Money’s second album, Life for the Taking.  Here the innocence of youthfulness shatters with the first track.  Like a rockslide, the footing for our dreamer’s world crumbles out from underneath us and we are left grasping for any solid surface to cling to.  The picture book story of life fades into a black or white reality.

On this album, Money sings of our ideals from youth clashing with the reality of the world around us.  This is a theme everyone can relate to.  There’s always a bill.  Someone has to collect and someone has to pay.  Love wasn’t as easy as just running away together.  We had two tickets but the plane for paradise was grounded.  Our dream job requires years of previous experience which is hard to come by when no one will hire you with none.  At this stage in life, the dreamers are outnumbered on the streets by the cheats, liars and thieves.  We wonder if we ever dare to dream again.

Money knows this and here he describes the struggle that the innocent dreamers come face to face with.  It’s about the challenge to retain our identity and the preservation of our ideals.  His songs, all of which contain his songwriting credit, are of both internal battles and those against the world.  This is when men and women can either shrug, thus giving up the fight and join the ranks of the cheats and liars around them, or gird themselves, shed their youthful innocence and choose to fight.

The ones who fight are Atlases of the world with their story being told in the song, “Can’t Keep a Good Man Down.”  They stand up against the forces attacking them and, regardless of the offensive mounted, defend their position.

Those who surrender become the characters of the classic rocker, “Gimme Me Some Water.”  A good man can turn bad simply by circumstances and how he chooses to react to them.  Life is cheap amongst the cheats and liars.  That’s why so many fall and join them.  Even if a man gets good with a gun, his future will be cut short by the devil’s hand.

“Nightmare” showcases the internal fight against personal demons.  The battles are unknown to the rest of the world and only exist in our minds.  Our ability to cope with them becomes evident to the world and, whether right or wrong, we are judged for our handling of them.

The album’s finale is one of Money’s best compositions, “Call on Me.”  It’s about the unity of two souls who have somehow found each other even though paradise was closed when they arrived.  Every soul needs another to bleed on and that’s what this is about.  When love fails to find its way into our lives we fill it by seeking out a companion we can endure it with.   Love may grow as a result of being together but the immediately desire is to fill the void of being alone.   After all, life’s burdens are easier when shared with another fighting a similar battle.  It’s dark, moody and artistically superb.

Once the innocence of youth is gone and the struggle to survive out on the street has been fought, the next life lesson is control.  Enter Money’s No Control album from 1982.

We’re constantly trying to control aspects of life.  Others are trying to control us as we are trying to control them.  Control over material things can either empower or weaken us depending on the degree rendered to each.  Mastery of control results in a more mature self.

Emotions seek to control such as when love takes someone by surprise.  Money sings about it in “Think I’m in Love.”  The feeling is over powering and controls his actions and decisions.  It’s not necessarily a negative thing but surrendering to any type power does have its consequences.  These consequences are described in, “Driving Me Crazy,” “It Could Happen to You” and even “Keep My Motor Runnin’.”   In these songs, others take control of us only to abandon us thus leaving us in a state of shock and despair.

A song like “Hard Life” shows a man’s determination to take control over his life.  It’s about independence.  There’s the idea of taking over the reins of personal destiny.  Decisions are owned.  The companion to “Hard Life” would be “Runnin’ Away” which describes the act of leaving the safety of a controlled environment for the life of personal choosing.

Finally, allowing someone or something to master us grants that person or thing total control over our life.  This is illustrated in “No Control” and “Passing by the Graveyard.”  In both cases, it was a thing that mastered the person to the point, as in the later, where life was taken.  These serve as reminders to keep people and things in check and not to allow any one thing to gain too much control over our life to where it interferes with our ability to live.

Trying to control life is a weary battle especially after innocence is spent and the struggle of life is deemed continual.  Sometimes we just want to leave it all behind and find the damn party.  Break out the champagne and crank up the speakers for Money’s fifth album, Where’s the Party?

Yet, there’s two vibes on this album.  Of course, songs such as the title track, “Bad Girls” and “Back on the Road” are straight forward rockers and play on the obvious vibe.

There’s also an underbelly to Where’s the Party.  It’s first described in the lyrics of “Maybe Tomorrow.” Money sings that, “Lately it seems that I run out of dreams, I know that I’ve been acting strange, now machines with no faces are taking everyone’s places, it’s no way to treat a human being.”  Where’s the party… better yet what’s left of the party?

The party’s not always what it’s cracked up to be.  It’s not all glitz and glamour.  Sometimes you get to the party only to find out the champagne they’re serving has gone flat.  You drink it anyway, after all, it is a party. But there’s a sense that something haunts you from your past and nothing can fully be enjoyed as a result of it.  This albums handles the side effects of the party.

Listen to the effects of partying and over indulgence in “The Big Crash.”  Money is trying to save a girl from her destructive ways.  She’s oblivious to the fact that her habits are taking her on a one way trip.  Money is suffering in this song as much as the girl because he sees her inflicting self-harm and he can’t break her away.

“Club Michelle” is a haunting song set to a dance tempo.  The music video tells us they are two lovers who are separated in the chaos of a night club party.  The party is a metaphor for their life styles.  They lose touch with one other and with themselves just like the girl in “The Big Crash.” Their lifestyle choices eventually drives them apart.  Money comes to realize this and goes in search to rectify the relationship only to find out that all hope is lost.

That leads us to the best track on the album and possibly the best musical composition for Money, “Backtrack.”  It’s a bitter tale of falling down the rabbit’s hole of the indulgence.    You can backtrack all you want but it will never change the fact that you’ve committed the sins.  These are the most chilling lyrics Money ever penned and they fuse flawlessly with the icy piano score.   Money describes the horror and regret of that ugly side of indulgence, “It’s in the room, I know it’s in the room, something I can’t really see, but somehow it’s calling me and calling me and calling me, and late at night you better look twice, he’ll be standing on your shoulder, telling you and me, to backtrack this old road, to look back at the things that I been told.”

Where’s the Party is an over looked Money album.   When you listen through the dance tempos and pay attention to the lyrics, these songs contain a strong warning.  The life of the party can quickly become the death of the party if boundaries are crossed and the lessons of control are not adhered to.

In 1986, Money released Can’t Hold Back.  With hits such as “Take Me Home Tonight,” “I Wanna Go Back” and “Endless Nights” the album quickly became a commercial smash giving Money some of his highest charting singles to date.

It’s a pinnacle album in the sense that Money was on top of his musical career with this release.  Being on top gives you a chance to be reflective and view both failures and achievements.  It also means that you’re the best at what you’re doing.  Not everyone makes it to the top.  We often lose people as we make the climb toward the summit.  Can’t Hold Back is a reflective album that describes the loneliness of success.

The opening track, “Take Me Home Tonight,” which is Money’s highest charting single on the Billboard Pop charts and also topped the Mainstream Rock chart, is about a man who is dealing with the challenges of such loneliness.  Money sings, “I get frightened in all the darkness, I get nightmares I hate to sleep alone.”

Money has become a “solitary man” at this point in his life as described in his song, “Stranger in a Strange Land.” He sings about not fitting in with the rest of the world or those people surrounding him.  That’s what success does.  It isolates you from the average.  You have a passion and a drive that others can’t understand thus making you unrelatable to them. “Living here on lonely street, a stranger in this town, feel it in the cold concrete, when I walk around.”

Listen to the lyrics in “Bring on the Rain” as Money further embodies this reflective spirit.  “I’ve got the chance, had confidence when I was a young man, now I didn’t cry. Those sunny days never pass you by, California and the good, good life I loved it so.”  Later in the song he sings, “The streets are empty everywhere, no one knows and no one cares, now you’re all alone.”

“I Wanna Go Back” describes his longing to return to a world void of loneliness.  He sings about a man who, “thought I would never stand alone.”  You can’t move forward in life without losing the things you are attached to.  If you want to climb to the top, you have to be willing to let go of the ground below and all that’s associated with it.  Finding success isn’t the joyride imagined in youth.  It’s a road often filled with heartbreak, loss, hard work and loneliness.  Once you start the climb, you can’t stop, otherwise all you left behind has been done so in vain.

Now, every time I’m outside my dealership and I hear the radio across the street, I’m reminded of that night I heard “Baby, Hold On.” Music makes memories live within you and that was one such moment.  It’s not because it was the first time I heard the song but because it made me realize how great of a song writer one of my favorite musicians truly is.

When you lay Money’s albums side by side, you can easily see that he masterfully takes us from the youthful dreamer, down the ugly streets of reality through battles over control and self-destructive indulgence to arrive at the top of his world.  He matures both as a man and as a musician.  Very few artists can boast a similar narrative through their albums.  He doesn’t have one great album but rather one great story which he tells.

Money is an independent artist.  Others assisted him in his creations but at the end of the day the sound you hear is one man.  Behind the voice and lyrics there’s a biography told in chapters recorded on 33 and 1/3 vinyl records.  Listen to the albums in order from start to finish and you’ll hear his story.  It’s the story of Money.

An Eagle has Fallen

By Chris Shapiro
February 2016

A musician, like any writer, painter or performer, is a contributor to the culture in which he or she lives but few musicians become the coalescent voice of their culture. Glenn Frey was one such musician. His musical essence subconsciously became interwoven into the culture of his time through the songs he wrote and sang as an Eagle.

Frey’s position in the Eagles is undoubtedly cornerstone. He and co-founder Don Henley shared lead vocal duties as well as songwriting credits. Frey also mastered the guitar, performing classic solos on songs such as, “I Can’t Tell You Why” and “Already Gone,” played keyboards and created the memorizing harmonies the Eagles were known for with his backup vocals.

Frey provided this world with his love and commitment to the best music he could create.   In doing so, he related to the commonality in us all. He became the romantic with, “Peaceful Easy Feeling,” the hopeless romantic in, “Lying Eyes,” the faded cowboy in search of a second chance in, “Tequila Sunrise” and the rebel in, “Outlaw Man.”

One listen to “Take it Easy” and you can’t help but feel the down to earth tone of Frey’s voice.   He feels like a longtime friend who happens to be speaking to you through your radio instead of in-person. He’s there encouraging and cheering us on with his victory song, “Already Gone.”

Frey resonates a degree of trustworthiness much like a dependable ol’ 55 Chevy. When faced with an emotion brought about from one of life’s grab-bags, there’s a song of Frey’s to provide the needed ambience.   Down the highway of life his is the familiar voice on the radio. His songs walk with us, struggle with us, love with us and ultimately endure with us.

A candle can only burn so long as it has wax to feed the flame. A song can’t pass from the top 40 charts and live through the generations unless it has a substance to sustain it. The Eagles knew this and Frey made sure they delivered it.

Frey and the Eagles didn’t achieve the status quo of the musical landscape of the 1970’s. They redefined it. They acquired top-ten singles spanning from their 1972 debut album to 1979’s The Long Run hitting Billboard’s Holy Grail number one position five times.

But it’s not the chart successes, tens of millions of records sold, or even the 6 Grammy Awards that made the Eagles America’s band.   It was the content of their songs and the content grew out of their exposure to and consumption of American culture.

The Eagles could be thought of as a mirror held up into the face of American culture allowing it to self-reflect. They saw what was working and what wasn’t and reflected it unabashed and untainted directly back to the source. In doing so, they provided a reference point for society.

The Eagles evaluated culture fairly and thoroughly from a shared perspective. They could be extremely pinpointed and refined on specific aspects within the culture such as in, “King of California” or they could tackle the landscape as a whole as evident in, “Hotel California” and “Life in the Fast Lane.”

Frey and Henley’s approach to songwriting set them apart from their competition. Even their love songs, such as the classic, “Best of My Love,” were serious and adult themed as they focused on the relationship between a man and a woman rather than lust filled lyrics focused on sex.

As songwriters, Frey and the Eagles were true and serious in their reflections and messages delivered in their songs.   The majority of pop songs both past and present are juvenile in their lyrics as they are meant to appeal to a wide audience. Yet, when you get down to it, Frey and the Eagles were adults and of an intellectual caliber that blew other musicians and bands of the time right off the charts.

From the Eagles, there wasn’t so much a feeling of trying to be role models or leaders as it was they were trying to be honest with themselves and their fans. You hear about that honesty in Frey’s golden classic, “New Kid in Town.”

Frey and Henley were the cornerstones of the band but they didn’t create the sound or the songs of the Eagles single handedly. After all, it was a band with very talented members, who are pillars within the music industry in their own right. The Eagles even collaborated with the talented songwriters J.D. Souther and Jack Tempchin.  The songs created says something of the men responsible for them.

An Eagle has sadly fallen. Yet, not all is lost.   The Phoenix first had to fall from the sky before it could rise from the ashes and return to flight. It’s now time for Frey’s music to inspire the next generation of singers and songwriters to take flight.

Interview with Air Supply

When it comes to love songs that transcend the test of time, there’s no band that compares to Australian rock duo Air Supply.  Their music became a worldwide sensation during the late 70s and early 80s.  With hits such as, “All Out of Love,” “Making Love Out of Nothing at All,” and “Even the Nights Are Better” the band became a powerhouse on the U.S. charts. They’ve amassed eight top-10 hit singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and their record sales exceed 20 million worldwide.

Air Supply is still on the international road touring anywhere “Air Heads” are gathered.  This interview was filmed during a two concert event at The Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh, PA.

Special thanks to The Rivers Casino and Jill Russell for making the interview possible.  Also, thank you to Graham Russell and Russell Hitchcock of Air Supply, two of the most down-to-earth people in Rock ‘N Roll.

The Heart of Money

By Chris Shapiro
February 2015

The time on my watch reads 6:25pm. I have five minutes to wait. Lying back on my hotel bed, I watch the Weather Channel broadcast predictions of a monstrous snow storm expected to arrive in New York City within 48 hours. A second storm, coming down from Alaska, is projected to hit the Ohio and Pennsylvania area around the same time. I have a short window of opportunity for safe driving conditions without being caught in either conflict. What’s my boss’s reply going to be Monday morning if I call him with the fact that I’m snowed in on Long Island?

6:30pm sharp. I turned the television down and make a call. It’s a few rings before he answers.

“Hey, Chris, where you at?” Eddie Money asks.

Boston’s ‘Heaven on Earth Tour’ travels at warp speed

 

Chris Shapiro
September 2014

The first note of “Rock and Roll Band” electrifies that part of your brain that made you a Boston fan in the first place. Hearing it live is like hearing it for the first time even though you’ve pressed play so many times you can hear the guitars in your sleep.

Hearing Boston’s music live and feeling its power as it echoes out into the summer evening charges the atoms in your being. It’s as though Scotty has beamed you aboard the U. S. S. Enterprise only there’s been a reassignment and you’re onboard the Boston spaceship.

It’s a journey like no other.

Donnie Iris, Joe Grushecky and mayor rock Jergel’s

Chris Shapiro
April 2014

Balcony view of Donnie Iris and The Cruisers at Jergel’s. Photo by Sharon Allen Clark.

People stand shoulder to shoulder. They hang over a second floor balcony. They crowd the center dance floor pressing the stage. These men and women stand in their twenties, thirties, forties, fifties, sixties and even seventies.   They range from business suits with the tie loosen around the neck to blue jeans. Together they call themselves Donnie Iris fans.

Their focus is the core of energy emitted from five members on the stage. At the center is Donnie to his right on is Paul Goll on bass and Marty Lee Hoenes on lead guitar. To his left on keyboards is Marc Avsec and behind him with a pulsating beat on drums is Mark Tirabassi. Together these men are Donnie Iris and the Cruisers.

Most of the fans here tonight have never played on a stage nor can they play a musical instrument for matter. But it doesn’t hinder their love and appreciate for the music.

The band and the fans share something that can only be witnessed in the moment of a live concert. The music serves as the bond between them. No video gear, camera or sound recording can capture the essence of this moment. It’s like trying to capture life in a bottle. Even writing about it is nothing in comparison to feeling it.

Music is the human soul communicating in ways words can’t express. It inspires comforts and heals. Two souls can be connecting through music without a single word ever being spoken. The only requirement to understanding music is to be human.

‘Life, Love & Hope’ is sealed with Scholz level perfection

Chris Shapiro
March 2014

From the first chords of “Heaven on Earth,” it is immediately recognizable that this song comes from a Boston album.

It’s not because of the amazing vocal harmonies, the freight train powered guitar riffs, lyrically moving songs or the atmospheric soaring guitar solos.  Sure, those are the components of the songs on the album but that’s not what makes Life, Love & Hope a Boston album.

You see, what makes a Boston album a Boston album is very much what makes a Mercedes-Benz a Mercedes Benz.

When a person purchases a Mercedes-Benz E Class, S Class or any model for that matter, they’re not just buying a steering wheel, seats, the metal frame or the engine but they are buying the entire package.  A package sealed with the star emblem on the hood that lets it be known to the world the vehicle meets the standard of Mercedes. 

With the star on the hood, that seal, a client is not just buying a car, they’re buying innovation dating back to 1886.  They’re buying into the leading auto manufacturer of performance and safety.  They are getting over 80,000 patented inventions with their purchase.  They’re buying a level of quality in a class of its own. 

So is the same when you purchase a Boston album.  You’re not buying a corporate rock album conceived and packaged by men in business suits who care more about the bottom line than the track listing. (I should note that I don’t know if Tom Scholz wears suits while recording his albums but you get my drift).

The Fighting Spirit

Chris Shapiro
December 2013

Glenn Symmonds. Drummer, songwriter, father and cancer survivor.

There’s something special about a concert.  The live energy the music creates as it connects with the crowd as well as the synergy of the members of the band who create it causes a spiritual, almost magical effect, one where the human soul can be expressed.

The men and women who perform on a stage and create this effect are heroes.  They put a song in the heart of the weary by sharing their love of music.  Not only can their song serve as inspiration to the lives of others but also the way they face life and overcome  life’s twists and turns.

Such is the case with Glenn Symmonds, Eddie Money’s drummer of over twenty years, a recent cancer survivor and whose battle serves as an inspiration for any facing similar circumstance.