');document.writeln('02/23/04
Far out,
Cool, Follow me? Mellow. Groovin\', Screamin\', Cacophonic cacophony. Just some words to describe the Witches Brew benefit concert. There were eight musicians playing at times during the evening. The tied dye t-shirts illuminated the room and I got to wear my gold crushed velvet shirt. OK maybe the shirt looks like it was made from window curtains, but it feels nice when I wear it and it fit with the evening\'s attire. Maruga, the high priest of love, piece, music and madness was not dressed in his normal dayglow orange dress. Instead he decided on wearing basic black. Last time we played together was at the World Rhythm Festival 2002.
I bounced in and out of playing in the band during the evening. I had fun jamming with guitarist Michael Hampton of P-Funk. We did a cool version of the instrumental Maggot Brain. During the last set I got up and played with Maruga and Richard Smith(the bass player with the Maruga\'s Global Village band.). We started off with \'End of the Day\' from my \'Make It Happen\' Cd. We then jammed the rest of the evening with just three pieces, guitar, bass, and drums. The whole show was streamed over the internet.
Five cups of Witches Brew coffee later...and the show was over(about 2am).
A big round of applause goes to Shakin\' Negan, the man responsible for putting the whole concert together as well as jamming the whole evening. Thanks to the family at the Witches Brew too. A fun time was had by all.
Bye4now
Peace,
Frank
');document.writeln('02/21/04
Wasup,
The Listeningroom has soundbytes of the StemCells on their website. If you would like to hear them go to www.thelisteningroom.net and click on \'artists\' then down to the StemCells. These tracks were recorded live 1/9 and 1/10/04 at the Listeningroom. This weekends show from the Witches Brew will be broadcast in streaming audio on the internet at 8pm. It will be lots of jamming and I\'ll be doing a few songs on my own as well with some of the guests.
Here is the info and link for the live stream:
www.live365.com/stations/2012_live
Click on the yellow speaker icon to play
for first time users of live365, the website will run a listening wizard to
determine which players are on the computer. if you have real audio, chose that one or download the live365 player.
if the website should ask for a username/password, just register one, its free to register.
If at anytime the stream should stop, just refresh the player window and
press the play button (>)
They should have the Govt Mule show from Sayreville up since Friday morning...
See ya later,
------IF YOU CAN\'T FIGHT AND YOU CAN\'T FLEE, FLOW------
-----------ROBERT ELIOT----
BYE4NOW,
PEACE,
FRANK
');document.writeln('02/17/04
Hiya,
The Anniversary/Valentines day party at the Listening Room this past weekend was spectacular. All in attendence had a wonderful time. The StemCells and I would like to thank all who attended. It was a special weekend for sure. I apologise to those who came by and could not get in or had to wait till there was an opening to get in, luckily it wasn\'t single digit temperature outside. I especially enjoyed doing my acoustic songs. I have been working on new songs, so I performed a couple of new ones at the show. Judging from the reaction of the audience ya\'ll liked them an aweful lot. There are plenty more new songs coming at the next show.
I hope to see you at the Witches Brew show this Sunday Feb. 22, 7pm. The last time Maruga and I played together we did a drum/guitar duet, we\'ll do it again this Sunday. I\'m looking forward
to playing some burning guitar music...
Stay tuned...
-------HE NOT BUSY BEING BORN IS BUSY DYING----
---------BOB DYLAN------
Bye4now,
PEACE,
Frank
');document.writeln('02/10/04
HEY GANG,
This weekend is looking to be quite special. The Listening Room is working up a special menu for Valentines day. I know where I\'ll be eating that day. I would advise anyone planning to come to those shows to make a reservation as I think it will be sold out if it isn\'t already.
Also I want let everyone know that I\'ll be doing a show with Muruga and friends at the \'Witches Brew\' on Long Island on Feb 22. It\'s a benefit, I\'ll have more info forthcoming.
The StemCells and I are looking foward to playing for you at the Listening Room and having a great time. Looking foward to seeing you there.
-----EVERYTIME I SHOW MY TEETH I WIND UP GETTING BIT----
-----BRUCE MACPHERSON---
BYE4NOW
PEACE,
FRANK
');document.writeln('02/03/04
Hello,
I\'m looking foward to the shows at the ListeningRoom on Feb. 13&14. It was one year ago that I did the first performance at the venue and the first performer to play there. It was also the first time ever I did an accoustic set of my own music without a band. I\'ve learned much since that first performance. Some songs have come and gone in those sets as I\'ve worked out which songs suit playing on my own. And of course now the StemCells perform there as well. We\'re all very excited about the anniversary/valentines day show. It will be loaded with surprises and some new music(some of the songs I\'ve written with Roy Bergin in England). The StemCells are looking to do some new material as well. See ya all at the show...
---LOVE IS A FREEING POWER, NOT A HOLDING POWER------
---RAYMOND CHARLES BARKER----
BYE4NOW,
PEACE,
FRANK
');document.writeln('01/28/04
Eh up lads,
I\'m back from the U.K. and it was an absolutely a brilliant time. I was so busy I didn\'t have to to check e-mail, write a post or even watch a moment of TV(which, by the way, not seeing a news program for 5 days was great!). The trip was exhausting but pleasurable as well.
I arrived Thursday morning 750am in Manchester. I had planned on getting some sleep on the plane but I sat next to a pilot and we talked just about through the whole trip. When I arrived my friend and songwriting partner Roy Bergin(Have U Ever co-writer)picked me up. I thought maybe I would need some rest as well as he(he doesn\'t do mornings very well). Cut to the chase...we worked the whole of the day until midnight, which was over 40 hours of awake time for me and by the way a record in my book. At the end of Thursday we had finished one new song and about 3/4 of a second one.
But there was no rest for the weary. Up at ten am and back writing next day because we only had the daytime for that as I had a performance that evening. Friday evenings performance was well received and it was super special for me as it was the first time in the UK I doing my own music. The audience sang along with \'Shot of Mellow\' \'Have U Ever\', \'Enter Love\', and truly enjoyed the whole of my songs(I even got an offer to return for another show). It was a late night (3am) but up again early Saturday morning and Roy and I were at it again as we only had the day before I was off to another show that evening. Though I was lacking rest I never felt tired for a moment. Shady Oaks, the Saturday evening venue was great. The people were warm with lots of the crowd following from the previous evening. Again sing alongs and but I decided I use some of the backing tracks at this show. I opened the second show with \'Monkey Love\' and yes people were quite amused with the song(btw I was later told this day was the Chinese New Year, which of course is...no joking, year of the Monkey). A new song called \'20th Century Devils\' went down especially well too. A great time was had by all and again it was another late night.
Roy had tickets for a \'football\' match Sunday afternoon(soccer to Americans). it was a tie for Manchester City, which now calls for a re-match. Back for a few hours after that to work on some songs and then off to the benefit for Dave \'Shakey\' Morris. Dave was the drummer for Wayne Fontana and he was the drummer that back Peter Noone on the 1997 Solid Sixties tour. The Troggs, Wayne Fontana, Dave Dee, Merill Lynch, Pierce Fenner and Smith(joking, lots of names following Mr. Dee in his band)Dave Berry, and Herman\'s Hermit\'s all appeared at the show. I was supposed to do a song or two but didn\'t because of the tight time factor and some other changes(great backstage banter about all this). That was ok though, as it was an oldies show and being I\'m not an oldies act, I\'m not sure I would have fit in although I wanted to do my part for Dave\'s benefit...however, the DJ there was quite nice to play two songs from my CD during the band changes and gave me quite an nice into. I was in great company on the turn table being played right after a bunch of Stones records. It was so great to see everyone as well to see the expression on there faces when I popped in. I got hugs from almost every musician there. As I stood on the side some of the audience recognised me from the SSS tours and came up to say hi too. Shakey Dave was quite happy to see me. The show raised alot of money for him and even though he\'s been told he\'ll never play drums again I don\'t believe it, and I told him so. When I first went over to see him at his seat he told me that his right arm and hand wasn\'t working well and the doctors say he won\'t play drums again. I responded, \'Dave don\'t believe all what the doctors say they only give you the negative that\'s there job, and for sure it\'s not them who make the decision\'. I told him that we will play together some day if he really wants to but it\'s up to him and he has to be positive. His wife told me he is getting stronger everyday so there is hope. The Troggs closed out the evening and Roy and I once again headed off to write. We got back to the digs late once again and stayed up for a couple of hours then crashed once again about 3am.
Monday morning we had breakfast at a local cafe and met with some friends from those SSS tours I once did. Craig Newhouse, once Wayne Fontana\'s guitarist and Carl one of the roadies for Wayne met us there. We talked of the fun times we had. Craig is especially funny and he had us all in stitches. After that Roy and I had a biz meeting scheduled for the project connected with the writing we\'re doing, so off we went. All went extremely well. Once that was finished it was back to guitar, pad and pen for the rest of the day. We finished 5 songs over the time I was there and we both felt really great about the work we had done. About 930 pm that evening we went out for a proper dinner at a nice restaurant to celebrate the completion and accomplishment of our work. Roy\'s daughter, Joanne, joined us at the dinner who had also been with us through most of the week. She\'s quite a talented and charming young lady in her own right. We would run our songs by her to see if she liked the work. It\'s so great to have someone like her to bounce our ideas off and tell us her feedback. She was so helpful. I must also mention Robin Arnold who was instrumental in this whole adventure. Robin secured and took care of the details for the gig and without him as well as Roy none of this would have been possible. Without a doubt they\'re more then friends, and went above and beyond the call of duty.
Tuesday morning back to Manchester airport to return home. I didn\'t want to leave but there was a comfort knowing I will be going back there soon... So now I\'m on the plane and the captain tells of bad weather in the U.S. I had left the U.S. from Stewart Newburgh NY airport. On my return home I arrived in Chicago. All the Chicago to Newburgh flights were cancelled as well as most of the flights to NYC. I was able to get on a NYC flight so at least I got home last night. Unfortunately my car is at the airport in Newburgh and my luggage is now in the Twilight Zone. That\'s what I have to deal with today. I have to laugh though after having such a great experience in England, all I could think was welcome back to the USA...
');document.writeln('12/31/03
WISHING YOU ALL A HEALTHY, HAPPY AND SAFE NEW YEAR. LOOKING FOWARD TO SEEING YOU IN \'O4...
PEACE,
FRANK
');document.writeln('12/24/03
Hello Everyone,
It\'s that \'most wonderful time of the year\', once again. I\'m disappointed I didn\'t do the Christmas party on December 18th as scheduled at the Listening Room. The reason I cancelled was that I didn\'t think there was enough time to do what I wanted for the party. I wanted it to be a \'Toys for Tots\' benefit but I was to late in booking it to really do it properly. The Listening Room was pushing for me to do it anyway but I didn\'t want it to turn out to be just another \'gig\'. Must be though I had some kind of preminition that some kids would be left out of Christmas this year. I truly felt terrible days after I had cancelled when I heard the reports on the local NYC news that donations for \'Toys for Tots\' were down 80% from last year. After hearing that I decided to donate some toys around my neighborhood. I first went to the local police station where I was told to go to the local Firehouse which I did. At the firehouse I was told they didn\'t take the donations. I explained to the fireman that donations for TFT\'s were down 80%, he told me to try one of the local churches(no wonder it\'s down 80%, I couldn\'t find a place to donate the toys!). Two churches later I unloaded the the toys. I want to thank all of you as you were part of this. Your gifts to me in forms of stuffed monkeys(Monkey Love!)and other toys that would suit a child were part of the donation. Please understand I really love and appreciate what is given to me by you, but I felt it better to bring some joy to a less fortunate child on Christmas morning, and I\'m sure you agree with that.
Wishing you all a safe and wonderful blessed holiday season!!!
-------A MAN\'S TRUE WEALTH IS THE GOOD HE DOES IN THE WORLD-----
--------MOHAMMED-------
Bye4now,
Peace,
Frank
');document.writeln('11/25/03
\'ello,
Holiday cheer!!! It\'s a lovely day here in NYC, the brisk fall air reminds us that winter is not far off.
Those of you who have been able to see The StemCells with our new drummer Marcus Farney know that he was surely the right man to replace Rob. We\'re very lucky to have him. By the way Rob is doing well in Las Vegas. Within\' weeks of moving to Las Vegas Rob has secured himself 4 nights of work on the strip, not bad for a newcomer to Vegas. Talking of Vegas...those of you who remember Sean from the Joan Jett band(one of the co-writer\'s bass/keys on the Make It Happen CD), he is doing well and living in Las Vegas as well. Now here\'s a little bit about Marcus...he\'s a Berkely graduate and has toured the world with among others, Julio Englisias, Chaka Khan, Taylor Dayne and loads of others. If you\'ve seen him play you\'ll know how awesome he is. Bruce and I are quite pleased to have him on board helping to create the Astrophonic StemCell sound. We\'ve locked ourselves away for awhile now to create our music and will debut our CD early next year. We\'ll be doing sporatic gigs here and there just to test out the material to see what works. The compositions, "Big Ass Brass", and "Bloody Chin" are cornerstones of The StemCell songlist, and if you\'ve heard them you know why. The audience reaction to the StemCell music is quite overwhelming. If you\'ve seen the band I play bass guitar for part of the show. I was never really interested in playing bass but Bruce convinced me after much doubt on my part. I must say I do enjoy playing bass, although I don\'t think I would want to play bass in any other musical situation other then the Stemcells.
Among the Stemcell and solo music I\'ve been working on, I\'ve been doing some session work as well. Some of the projects are young new artists with a contemporary sound that hold a lot of promise. I\'m wishing them luck with their releases next year. I\'ve continued to teach as well and may bring the Stemcells to the school to do a show to inspire the students and give some direction if they want to continue in the field of music.
I\'ve been toying around with an offer for a Christmas show next month.
If I decide it\'s a go I\'ll let ya\'ll know.
Janice and I wish you all have a safe, happy, and blessed Thanksgiving. Till the next time...
-----IF THE ONLY PRAYER YOU SAY IN YOUR WHOLE LIFE IS \'THANK YOU,\' THAT WOULD SUFFICE-------
-----MEISTER ECKHART---------
BYE4NOW
Frank
');document.writeln('09/29/03
Yo Homeys and Hometes,
The Stemcell shows at The Listening Room were so well received (all the shows were sold out)Bruce Macpherson and I decided to see if we could find someone that could take Rob\'s place(he\'s doing great in Vegas!). Of course there\'s not a drummer on the planet that could take Rob\'s place in the space we were in, but we\'ve found drummer Marcus Farny, and it feels great to do the Stemcell thing with him. We\'ll be kicking off at The Listening Room Oct.17th. I will open the shows with some acoustic songs prior to the Stemcells as I\'ve done in previous shows. I must say I really enjoy playing the broad scope of music during these shows. During my acoustic set I\'ll been doing, \'Wonderful Day\', \'I\'ve Been Had Before\', \'America Wrote The Song\', \'Lullaby\', and my latest favorite \'I M, U R\'. It\'s gonna be quite the night.
I\'m back at Storm King School teaching guitar to future GG\'s. Video will be coming to the site soon...See you at the show...
------THE ONLY WAY TO GET RID OF TEMPTATION IS TO YIELD TO IT-----OSCAR WILDE----
Bye4now
Peace,
Frank
');document.writeln('09/13/03
Hello baseball fans,
Shea Stadium was awesome! 21,000 Mets fans in attendance. It was a sun filled beautiful day. Among the songs I got to do was a new one titled, \'America Wrote the Song\'. The theme of the day was \'Children of 9/11 Police and Firefighters\' It took quite a while to \'come down\' after the performance as I was still quite high from the experience. I got to sing and play with Billy J. Kramer and together we perfomed John Lennons \'Imagine\', and the Beatles \'Good Day Sunshine\'. MSG TV did run a clip of the pre game perfomance. I thank radio legend Ken Dashow of Q104FM for hooking up the Shea gig. Check the photo section next week for the photo\'s of Shea and The Listening Room. The Mets lost the game unfortunately, oops!
BTW, The Listening Room shows last night with the StemCells was a huge hit. I also did some acoustic songs between the StemCell shows which made for an aweful lot of playing on my part, I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT!!! Tonight will be more fun and music. Looking foward to seeing you at The Listening Room...
-----WE MUST LEARN TO LIVE TOGETHER AS BROTHERS OR WE WILL PERISH TOGETHER AS FOOLS----
-----MARTIN LUTHER KING---
BYE4NOW,
PEACE,
FRANK
');document.writeln('09/06/03
Hi everyone,
It\'s an exciting week coming up. Just got word that I\'ll be playing Shea Stadium on Wed...more details will be coming as soon as I get them. I\'m so looking foward to doing my own show on Thursday at the Listening Room. I\'ll be playing most of the songs with just acoustic guitar although I might do \'Monkey Love \' and some others with the band in the box. I\'ll be doing some new songs at this show as well. Speaking of Monkey Love, have you noticed lately that there\'s alot of Monkey Love references on TV on the web and in the media in general? It\'s quite funny as I remember when the CD first came out people would ask me what Monkey Love was about, I guess the world knows what it\'s about now. By the way check out the \'Make It Happen\' review by Felix Marcos on the news page.
The shows with The StemCells at the Listening Room this weekend are filling up quickly. I would advise all that are coming to the shows to make reservations as space is now limited. There will be one show starting at 1030pm and we\'ll perform at least until midnight. We\'re pumped to say the least. Some of my favorite songs that evening will be...\'Bloody Chin\', New World Symphony\', \'Vinda-knew\' and a couple of covers...Leonard Bernstein\'s "America" and Richard Strauss\' "Zarathustra"(2001 Space Odyssey). The promoters of the Listening Room couldn\'t believe they were hearing just a three piece band..."The StemCells sound like an orchestra, incredible!!!" Hearing is believing, so come on down.
Have a great week...
---\'DON\'T PART COMPANY WITH YOUR IDEALS. THEY ARE ANCHORS IN A STORM\'---
----ARNOLD GLASGOW---
BYE4NOW,
PEACE,
FRANK
');document.writeln('08/27/03
\'ello dare,
Just a quick note...My show September 11, will be songs from my CD and I\'ll be doing a couple of new ones as well. The StemCell shows at the Listening Room Sept. 12,& 13 will be a monumental musical event. That\'s all I can say. If you\'re coming to the show please be advised that you will never listen to music in the same way. Guaranteed to take your breath away. The StemCells...music for growth.
BYE4NOW
Peace,
Frank
');document.writeln('08/26/03
K pasta,
Time flies when you\'re having fun. I\'ve been spending the summer playing with the StemCells, recording my new CD, writing songs, jamming with some fine musicians, playing some gigs here and there, going to concerts, bbqs, family get togethers, power outages and so on. This has been one heck of a summer.
One special show for me was seeing Jeff Beck and BB King a few weeks ago. It\'s been a while since I\'ve seen both of these \'guitar gods\' do a show. Jeff is as amazing as ever, playing most of the \'Guitar Shop\' tunes with Terry Bozio(drums) and Tony Hymas(keys)who were also his band that evening. The lack af a bass player on that record and this tour were not missed at all. By the way...did I mention that I\'m playing bass guitar now. After never wanting or liking to play the bass, it has now become part of my being. I\'ll be playing bass and guitar with the StemCells at the Listening Room on 9/12 and 13. All instrumental...kinda jazz/rock/elecronica/experimental/free-
form music. Got It? Anyway those shows should be a knockout. The band is in top form and we\'ve finally grabbed the bull by the horns. Now, back to Jeff and BB. Jeff has always been in the top four of guitar players for me. He\'s better then ever and I would suggest if he comes to your neck of the woods grab a ticket and enjoy some brilliant guitar pickin\'(although he doesn\'t use a pick). BB is an icon of the blues and he\'s 78 years old now. Jeff came out and jammed on four songs, it was great.
Looking foward to seeing ya\'ll in September(sounds like a song!).
BYE4NOW,
PEACE,
Frank
');document.writeln('06/27/03
Holy Molie,
I\'ve been off line and I wanted to tell you all what a good time we had at The Listening Room last week. Special guests included Dave Platner a very fine keyboard player, Carson Kievman playing air guitar, the Baker sisters Jenny and Jilli singing background along with Janice Whitney. It rained every night. One night it rained so hard no one could leave Vivaldi\'s, so we played til\' the wee hours. On Friday evening Janice, Jenny, and Jilli sang backup for both shows. They\'ve been nicknamed \'Charlies Angels\' and they sounded great. Of course the audience kept their attention on me ahmm(wanna by a bridge?). There were lots of musical moments that you had to be there to share.
Picked up a couple of new radio stations since the last post too. We\'ll be listing them on the request line. I\'m gonna swing into the \'Jungle\' to rap, or chat in the chatroom a bit on Monday evening at 9pm. Hope to talk to you all then. Till then...
---IF YOU WISH TO BE AT REST, LABOR---
------BROTHER GILES OF ASSISI-----
Bye4now
Peace
Frank
');document.writeln('06/12/03
Greetings,
Five nights at \'The Listening Room\' at Vivaldi\'s coming up next week. I expect to have some other artists to sit in with during the time I\'m there, it should be loads of fun. Some more airplay will be coming up on NYC radio. There\'s a Detroit band covering \'Monkey Love\' from the CD \'Make It Happen\'.
As if SARS wasn\'t enough to deal with, we now have Monkeypox. I\'m going to check with the CDC to see if listening to Monkey Love might be a cure for Monkeypox.
Looking foward to seeing you all next week...
---SIT LOOSELY IN THE SADDLE OF LIFE-------ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON---
Bye4now
Frank
');document.writeln('05/27/03
Wasup?
Hope ya\'ll had a safe and meaningful Memorial Day weekend holiday.
Last week WBAB FM did the feature on my CD. I didn\'t find out about it until Tuesday morning and \'Fingers\' the DJ had played \'Stranger\' the day before. Luckily some new visitors to the website filled me in on the song played the day before. \'Shot of Mellow\' was the song played Tuesday. \'Shot of Mellow\' was followed by Fingers playing BonJovi, ELO, Eric Clapton, and U2, I felt comfortable in that musical category I must say. I sent a message to Fingers to tell him the irony of Bon Jovi and Visitor(one of my old bands) and the WAPP FM story(see Stages). It was a great way to start the week.
I\'m off to school now to help some budding future guitar-gods as the school year winds down. It\'s always difficult at this time when the seniors graduate, and I won\'t have them back in my class next year. The other side of that coin is I get a fresh bunch next semester.
Have a wonderful week...
---BEWARE THE FURY OF A PATIENT MAN----JOHN DRYDEN-----
BYE4NOW
PEACE,
FRANK
');document.writeln('05/20/03
Hi everyone,
The shows in Canada went great, and it was so nice to see all my friends in the north.
Good news to report. Last night and tonight I\'m the featured artist on WBAB 102.3FM also heard on WBAB.COM. Fingers is the DJ, so tune in around 11pm and hear some of my tunes. The station is located on Long Island for all the local people out there. Wonder what song he\'ll be playing? Maybe you can request your personal favorite. Enjoy!!!
-----HONESTY IS STRONGER MEDICINE THAN SYMPATHY, WHICH MAY CONSOLE BUT OFTEN CONCEALS-----GRETEL EHRLICH----
Bye4now,
Peace,
Frank
');document.writeln('05/15/03
Yo,
I\'m off to Canada, and looking foward to seeing all my Canadian buds this weekend. Should be some good shows...See you later
Bye4now,
Frank
');document.writeln('05/13/03
Greetings,
The shows at \'The Listening Room at Vivald\'s\' went great. The backing tracks were a hit, and I\'m having fun doing my acoustic thing. The shows are such a success that I\'ve been asked to do more then one show a month. I\'m not convinced that I want to do this but I may try it for a while. I\'ll keep you posted. There are two dates at Vivaldi\'s next month, one of which will be with the Stemcells(if we can get it together by then). The Stemcell\'s music is instrumental and it is totally improvised. We\'ve been searching for some \'markers\' to set the live show off, and until we can come to grip with that we won\'t play out in public. Hopefully 6/20 will be our debut show.
A belated Happy Mothers Day to all the lovely Moms out there. If it weren\'t for Moms there would be no children. Without children, there would be no future, no future...uh oh!!! we need Moms!!! Have a great week, spring is in the air...
------LIFE IS THE ART OF DRAWING SUFFICIENT CONCLUSIONS FROM INSUFFICIENT PREMISES-----
---SAMUEL BUTLER-----
Bye4now,
Peace,
Frank
');document.writeln('05/05/03
Monday moanin\',
Ah yes Monday, a new day, cinco de mayo, a new week...oye I\'m still recovering from the weekend!
I\'m gearin\' up for the shows at Vivaldi\'s this weekend. Also the shows in Canada next week are a go. There was some concern about the SARS warnings. I always believe the media blows things way out of perspective.
The venues in Canada...
May 16 - Copps Coliseum, Hamilton
May 17 - Hershey Center, Mississauga.
Hope to see ya all at Vivaldi\'s this Saturday night.
--------THERE IS NOTHING STRONGER IN THE WORLD THEN GENTLENESS----
------HAN SUYIN------
Bye4now,
Peace
Frank
');document.writeln('04/19/03
Hi everyone,
Hope all is well with everyone. It was a super aries birthday bash last week a Vivaldi\'s. Next showdate is May 10, 10pm and 1130pm. I used some backing tracks last week and they really worked well so I\'ll be using more of them next time. With these tracks I\'ll be able to do every song from \'Make It Happen\' cd. Using the tracks and the combination of acoustic songs and some guests sitting in make it a different musical experience everytime I play...it\'s just more fun! Once again there were celebs at the last show, not to mention ther ones that think they\'re celebs. Janice got to do a few songs with me once again...a new Diva is born. If this keeps up soon she\'ll want me to pay her for her performance.
Wishing a Happy Easter/Passover to all of you. Till next time...
----A FULL CUP MUST BE CARRIED STEADILY---ENGLISH PROVERB-----
');document.writeln('03/18/03
Yo-Ness
Once again it was spectacular evening at Vivaldi\'s. I did a one and three quarter hour show, including a three song encore. The audience joined in sing-a-long\'s on \'Shot Of Mellow\', and \'Monkey Love\', and a few other tunes. It was so much fun I just can\'t explain it in words. Sorry to people that couldn\'t get in, next time there will be two shows as to accomodate everyone. Whoever attends the first show will have the option to stay for the entire evening as these nights have been going late. Later on after I had packed up my guitars, some people started shouting for more, so I whipped out the guitar and did a couple more songs off the stage. \'Give It Away\' and a song I used to do with Mushroom called \'Lose Contol\'...the next show is April 12 and will be the Aries \'Birthday Bash\'. All ariens are required to attend. By the way, Billy J. Kramer stopped by this last show, and I dedicated a brand new song to him. I had to stop singing a few lines into the song to explain that the lyrics were not inspired by him as it was a love song, and we all had a great laugh. It\'s one the new songs that will be on my next CD. I also had Janice Whitney there singing backup, and Giovanna Sglarlata played bass and sang backup as well. The girls and I premiered another new song called \'Gotta Be A Girl, which went over so well we did it twice! As I promised myself to play a brand new song everytime I play Vivaldi\'s, I did another new one called \'A Wonderful Day\'.
Stemcell Records is also gearing up for the release of two new CD\'s. One is a live Mushroom CD entitled \'Life Ain\'t Bad\' Live In The USA! It\'s tracks from live perfomances of Mushroom including some from our Madison Square Garden show. The other CD will be \'Frankie A and the A-Men\', Where Have I Been All Your Life? Volume 1. This CD will be an assortment of material from different bands and projects I\'ve done. Very exciting stuff going on. That\'s it for now, lot\'s of work for me to do...
-------I ALWAYS ENTERTAIN GREAT HOPES---
------ROBERT FROST----
BYE4NOW
PEACE,
FRANK
');document.writeln('03/07/03
Yo Homey\'s,
A few days ago I was contacted by one of the brothers of a member of a band I was in when I was 14 or so. The band was called the Aristocrats(see Stages). He told me he had found some tapes of the band from a recording session we had done back then including the song I had written called \'Caterpillar\'. He sent me some wave files, and when I played them I laughed my butt off. I do not remember doing any of the sessions let alone the song. It\'s Chuck Berry meets the Aristocrats. We also did some covers including Love Potion #9, Walk Don\'t Run, Penetration, Wipeout. I\'m gonna setup a page so you can all have a laugh if you want to, very funny stuff.
Have a great weekend.
---NO MAN IS MORE CHEATED THAN THE SELFISH MAN----
----HENRY WARD BEECHER---
BYE4NOW.
PEACE,
FRANK
');document.writeln('03/05/03
Hi ya Kids,
I\'ll be back at Cafe Vivaldi on the 15th of March 10pm(the info is on the site on the tour page). I\'ll be doing some new songs as well as some of the ones from Make It Happen. It will be a solo accoustic show but there will be some special guests and a few other surprises. It\'s not a requirement to have dinner, you can just show up for the show, but there\'s always a possiblility that dinner reservations will sell out the show. Looking forward to seeing you there.
---Fame is a vapor, popularity an accident, riches take wing, and only character endures----
------Horace Greeley-----
Bye4now
Peace,
Frank
');document.writeln('02/16/03
Yo,
It was a splendid Valentines day. The show was fab. It was a great learning experience for me being I have never done a show of this sort ever. Cafe Vivaldi was filled with friends and family and of course some new comers. There was so much love there you could feel it iin the air. I\'ve been asked back and will let you know when the next date will be as soon as I have a confirmation. In spite of terrorist threats, a fire at Penn station (which closed it down at rush hour until 9pm) the faithful and determined flocked to the Village venue.
A few celebs showed up as well. What a
wonderful night. Looking foward to seeing all of you at the next show.
----FEARS ARE EDUCATED INTO US, AND CAN IF WE WISH, BE EDUCATED OUT---
------KARL A. MENNINGER----
BYE4NOW
PEACE,
FRANK
');document.writeln('02/12/03
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It\'s official...the Valentines day concert is sold out at Vivaldi\'s. An evening with friends and family and love and music, what could be better then that?
See you all there...
Ten four over and out...
---MUSIC WASHES AWAY FROM THE SOUL THE DUST OF LIFE---
----BERTHOLD AUERBACH---
By4now,
PEACE,
Frank
');document.writeln('02/05/03
Good moanin,
We had a great show at Mohegan Sun Saturday. Lesley was well received and the band played fine. Rob and I did miss playing with the Stemcells but we bashed through the songs with conviction.
I\'m very excited about the Valentines day show. I\'m still working on the show I\'ll be doing. Choosing the songs is what I\'m working on now. Some songs translate better then others to the \'unplugged\' accoustic thing.
Vivaldi\'s has been under renovation for about a week by the way. People that have called to make reservations may have gotten one of the construction workers on the phone. These workers do not have a clue about the show so you need to keep trying. Vivaldi\'s re-opens Thursday 2/6. I\'m told that the first show has been well received and there is talk of adding a second \'drinks only\' show at 1130pm, but it\'s still not confirmed. I\'ll keep you up to speed as I find out. Have a wonderful day!!!
---I ALWAYS ENTERTAIN GREAT HOPES---
----ROBERT FROST----
BYE4NOW
PEACE
FRANK
');document.writeln('01/25/03
HEAR YE,
The address for the VALENTINES DAY CONCERT IS:
CAFE VIVALDI
32 JONES STREET
N.Y. N.Y.(Off Bleeker Street and 7th Avenue in the West Village)
Reservatioins are needed 212-691-7538
BYE4NOW,
FRANK
');document.writeln('01/24/03
Hiya kids hiya,
Cold, Cold, cold. I love it!!! It is winter isn\'t it? You were expecting beach weather maybe? Better move to the Islands mon.
This week is grade week for my students. I must say that I do have some students this year that show loads of promise of becoming GG\'s. The biggest obstacle for them will be the shrinking marketplace for guitar driven bands. Yes, there are some hopefuls out there, but if you look at the record charts it\'s dominated by everything but guitar bands. These kids have no heroes except for the ones that are still around from the \'60\'s, 70\'s and 80\'s. Of course they are more interested in Led Zeppelin and Hendrix then Blink 0I812, they can\'t be fooled. They\'re very aware of the old expression, "If you can\'t dazzle them with brilliance baffle them with bull****" So they\'re into classic rock more then their own contemporary music. It\'s weird though, they listen to their parents music. When I was growing up I never listened to what my parents listened to, although I did like the song \'Peppino the Mouse" by Lou Monte. You can be sure I don\'t give students extra credit if they can play one of the songs from my CD...one of the guitar solo\'s though?... well maybe then I might, uh...
Looking foward to seeing some of you at Mohegan Sun on Feb. 1. I\'m much more excited however about the Valentines day show in NYC. It\'s gonna be me and BITB. I\'ll be perfoming \'Songs of Love\' I\'ve written over the years. Taking material from Mushroom, Visitor, the Knext, OneToThree, and of course the new Annunziata \'Make it Happen\' CD. I\'ll post the phone number and address for reservations and tickets next week. The venue is very intimate, serves great food and has a fireplace with a great vibe. It will be like playing in my living room except bigger. Showtime tba but will probably be between 9 and 10pm. That\'s about it for now. Be cool, stay warm.
----NOTHING HAPPENS UNTIL SOMETHING MOVES----ALBERT EINSTEIN---
BYE4NOW,
PEACE,
FRANK
');document.writeln('01/17/03
Hello hello,
Phew, seems like yesterday was Christmas, how time flies by. I\'ll finish up the italy experience at a later date. Just wanted to let you know what I\'ve been up to. I\'m keeping myself busy with writing and recording. I\'ve decided to try to write without any distractions, something I\'ve always wanted to do but never seemed to find the way to do it. So I\'ve been holed up in the studio writing and recording and it\'s very exciting. Also I\'ve had the pleasure of playing with some wonderful artists over the the holidays. Fred Schneider of the B-52\'s, Janis Seigel of the Manhattan Tranfer. We sang and played Christmas songs most of the evening, telling stories and just having a fun time. Fred came up with a Christmas song that was pretty funny. I also was lucky to play with legendary Jazz saxman Ornette Coleman. We jammed for about two hours and it was an amazing experience for me. He must have enjoyed himself as well and invited me to visit him anytime...quite an honor.
When I left the jam it was late about 3 am. I went home told my wife Janice what went on(she didn\'t go with me as she was to tired from all the activities and partying over the holidays). She was quite impressed. I couldn\'t sleep that night as I was way high on the music we had played. Ornette is a genuine lovely and peaceful man, and a musical genius. That was quite a Christmas gift for me, and I give thanks for it.
On another note I will be at Mohegan Sun on 2/1 with Lesley Gore. The Stemcells will not be with her just myself and Rob Hazzard. Maybe I\'ll get to see some of you there. If not I\'m thinking of doing a Valentine solo accoutic show, more details about that later.
Hope you all had a great holiday, and let\'s all hope we have a peaceful year...
------IF YOU ARE AT PEACE, THEN THERE IS AT LEAST SOME PEACE IN THE WORLD. THEN SHARE YOUR PEACE WITH EVERYONE, AND EVERYONE WILL BE AT PEACE----
------THOMAS MERTON---
Bye4now
Frank
');document.writeln('12/24/02
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!
WISHING EVERYONE A HEALTHY, HAPPY, PROSPEROUS AND PEACEFULL NEW YEAR AND LOTS OF MONKEY LOVE TOO!!!
FRANK
');document.writeln('11/19/02
Buon Giorno,
It\'s taken a long time to write this post because I\'ve been having a difficult time on how to best describe the experience. I will start by saying that Italy is a magical place, a must see in my book. The entire time we were there every moment flowed like a river. The life style, fashion, food, people, it\'s as good as it gets, as they say. While there, we never once thought about a terrorist attack, or who\'s going to war with whoever, or any of that nonsense we\'ve been so exposed to in the last couple of years. Never watched CNN once!
We arrived in Rome and scootered around the city checking out the sites like the Vatican and Spanish Steps. It\'s so rich with culture and art it is truly overwhelming. Gazing at all of the paintings, sculpture, and ancient buildings makes one think of how much work it took to complete this awesome mammoth task. Then it was off north to Siena. This is a wonderful University town where I did a concert at the Balcony. In the town center people listened intently, they were into my music. Next we were off to Montepulciano, home of many lovely wines and people. As we would walk through the streets I would hear my CD playing in the cars of the local people. They would see us walking down the street and pull up to us and say, "Annunziata, the best!!" and most of them don\'t actually know what I\'m singing about! Then we were off to San Gimignano, a sweet little town not far from Montepulciano. Next we made the trip to Assisi. Now, Saint Francis is my patron Saint, if you believe that kinda thing, so I felt compeled to go to Assisi. Here\'s some facts about the man if you\'re not familiar with him. St. Francis was born in 1182. He came into the world when Italy was torn by a fratricidal struggle. To him, all men are brothers, rich and poor, saints and sinners, brigands and prisoners, and, non-christians. And while medieval Christianity armed itself in crusade against Mohammedans, he educated and armed his friars with a missionary spirit, sending them to evangelize the world of saracens and of other non-faithful. This is why he appears as the ecumenical prophet of the church, teaching not to conquer, but to communicate in freedom the salvific love of Christ. He gave up the wealth of his family and lived within the spirit. He is the messenger of peace. Statues show him with animals surrounding him while dressed in peasant clothing and his \'trademark\' sandals. Walking down any street in Assisi you can buy a pair of his legendary sandals dangling from key chains, or statues or paintings. Yes, even Assisi has merch to sell. It made me wonder what he would think of all this now. As we walked through the streets we saw pidgeons and cats just hanging out peacefully together. It seems they\'ve got the St. Francis message, something some humans seem to have forgotten.
Next we were off to Sorrento. We had to pass through Naples to get there, and my \'roots\' of the Italian side of my family is from this area. About twenty miles south of Naples is a port town called Torre Annunziata. I had been told it\'s the pasta capital of the world, so I was interested in going there. What a dump! Unfortunately Torre Ann\'ta(this is the abrieviation they use for the long name)seemed more like a bad part of the Bronx then the pasta capital of the world. There\'s grafitti everywhere covering the buildings and it felt like a very poor town, although this was my observation from afar. Someone said to me, "they may not be wealthy but they live well". Maybe it\'s the place for budding Michaelangelo\'s, but we live in NYC and see grafitti all the time, so we continued on to Sorrento...
I\'ll finish Part 2 of the Italian tour next week...
---A ROCK PILE CEASES TO BE A ROCK PILE THE MOMENT A SINGLE MAN CONTEMPLATES IT, BEARING WITHIN HIM THE IMAGE OF A CATHEDRAL----
---------ANTOINE de SAINT-EXUPERY----
Ciao4now,
FRANCO
');document.writeln('10/22/02
Buon giorno,
Within 24 hours Janice and I will be breathing the air of Italy and eating its delicious food that, unless you\'ve been there you can only imagine.
We arrive in Rome and my tour takes us to Tuscanny, the Amalfi coast, the Isle of Capri, and hopefully a stop in Torre Annunziata. We\'ll also try to get to Assisi, home of my patron Saint Francis. The Italian experience for those who have never been is completely different then America. Business stops(except for food) between 12 noon and 2pm. It\'s very laid back, taking time to \'smell the roses\'(or drink some wine) as they say. When we arrive in Rome we\'re staying down the road from the Coliseum which is in view from our window. I will try to find internet cafe\'s and check in once in while if it\'s at all possible, if not I will have a full report when we return. We arrive back in NYC the evening of 11/05. Until the next time...
A rivederci,
Frank
----IT IS THE GOOD ANSWER THAT KNOWS WHEN TO STOP----
---------------ITALIAN PROVERB----
');document.writeln('10/04/02
Hello,
There are lots of music awards these days, Grammy\'s, Peoples Choice, MTV music awards, The Jammy\'s. I was invited to the Jammy\'s at Roseland Wednesday evening. These are the awards for the \'Jam bands\' that are on the music scene now like Dave Mathews, Phish, Phil Lesh and Friends and loads of other jam bands. The bands that performed were, the B-52s, Blind Boys of Alabama, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, DJ Logic, Fuzz, Mike Gordon, Gov\'t Mule, Warren Haynes, Andy Hess, Leo Kottke, Stefan Lessard, Moe, Stanton Moore, Particle, Robert Randolph & The Family Band Ratdog, Rusted Root, John Scofield,
Scratch, Skerik, Melvin Sparks Tom Tom Club, Derek Trucks, Bob Weir
plus special guests(which turned out to be the Allman Bros. band and members of Phish). The show started at 730pm and ended 230am, that\'s a lot of jamming. Two stages provided the nonstop entertainment and award giving ceremony. Roseland was packed wall to wall, I was in the VIP section, keeping away from the crowd as not to get bumped in the rib(Ouch!!). All in all it was good to see yet another part of the music biz doing so well, with an overly enthusiastic audience ready to shell out their sheckles for jam bands. Jam bands I might add, are mostly guitar driven which suits me just fine. It was an evening of fine musicians playing without gimmicks, just raw ability which is out of the norm for the pop music scene today. One of the most interesting aspects of the evening to me was the age of the audience...15 and up. The Stones had done their show at Roseland on Monday, and it was quite the event I\'m told from people that were there. It\'s great to see a band like the Stones at a venue not so large that the band members appear as small as a G.I. Joe toy soldier. By the way Rolling Stone magazine with Keith Richards\' interview is great, and I love the photo of him on the cover, more wrinkles then an old dollar bill. Keith\'s comments on playing with the Stones 40 years later(the only job I\'ve ever had), Mick\'s Knighthood(he should have turned it down)drugs,(I\'m polytoxic)are worth the read. Until the next time...
---LOVE TRUTH, AND PARDON ERROR-------------VOLTAIRE------
BYE4NOW
FRANK
');document.writeln('09/26/02
Yo.
First off let me tell you that the 10/6 in NYC will be postponed. I will not be working on the road for a while either. It\'s gonna take a little longer to recover from the accident. I\'m gonna be just fine in the end though. I thought for a while there I was going to need the \'Clapper\'in my daily life. Luckily I didn\'t use the phrase, "Help I\'ve fallen and I can\'t get up!". I\'ll never say I don\'t like bbq ribs again, I love my ribs even if they\'re cracked.
I will be leaving for Italy with Janice 10/22-11/05, this will be a working vacation. I\'ll be performing on my own with just accoustic guitar in hand. It happens to be right around our 10th wedding anniversary so Janice and I are planning on having a blast. Sometime in November or December will be the makeup date for the \'debut\' show of the \'Make It Happen\' CD. Also 11/30 the Stemcells will be with Lesley Gore at Mohegan Sun and then again 12/25-1/1/03 with Lesley in Las Vegas.
Ok, it\'s time for this Rocker to get back to the rocker, pick up the clapper and take a napper.
---Never try to rescue a wild animal from a tree without padding all over your body-----Cheetah----
bye4now,
Frank
');document.writeln('09/12/02
Hello,
Just a brief note here. I injured my back due to a fall, had to go to the hospital and I had to cancel the show with Billy J. Kramer and all other work until I\'m up and about again. I\'m going to be fine with some therapy. It takes more then a fall to keep me down. I\'m still planning to do a debut show in NYC on 10/6 with the Stemcells, Sean Koos, and the rest of the musicians who worked on Make It Happen. I\'m just waiting for the ok from my doctor. Thanks for all of your kind concern. I\'m a bit behind in my email but I promise to get to them as soon as I\'m able to.
----To Avoid Criticism--Do nothing, Say nothing, Be nothing----
Bye4now
Frank
');document.writeln('08/05/02
Hey,
Anyone living outside NYC and thinking of coming here, should you want to see a Broadway show, I would highly recommend Rent. This play contains great music, contemporary actors and an urban storyline that has a much deeper meaning then the title \'rent\' would imply. The show has been on Broadway fo quite some time and at the show we were at it was only about 50% occupied. Joey Fatone will be joining the cast soon which should attract the younger audience. The actors sing extremely well and it\'s not your typical Broadway kind of orchestra that supplies the music. The band contains 2 guitars, drums, bass, and a music director/keyboardist, a lineup not unlike a rock band. It blends rock music, broadway musical music, R&B music, and at times some very funny stuff. The sheckles you have to cough up to get a ticket are well worth it.
I did a show with Billy J. Kramer this past weekend. It was a private show. We had so much fun. We played like a teenage garage band. We did loads of old Rock and Roll songs as well as Billy\'s hits. The people were up and screaming and dancing from the moment we hit the stage. It was pure energy, and the evening had many wonderful musical moments. The partythrowers and goers were more then pleased and asked if we could come back and do it again next year. A great time was had by all. Until the next time...
----Throw your heart over the fence and the rest will follow---
-------Norman Vincent Peale----
Bye4Now
Frank
');document.writeln('08/01/02
******!!!!
I must say I\'ve seen the Who live a number times. The last time I went to a Who concert Kenny Jones was the drummer. Now Kenny is a fine drummer, however I never thought he was the \'right\' drummer for the Who. Those shows were good but not great at least in my opinion. There is a common knowledge among musicians that goes...A great drummer can make a bad band good, and a good band with a bad drummer makes a bad band. Now take a great drummer and a great band and you have The Who. I wasn\'t sure if the loss of John Entwhistle would be such a disappointment that it would take its toll on the bands performance. I have met Pino Palladino John Entwhistles replacement and he is an awesome bass player. His career speaks for itself, just check out his website and you\'ll see what I mean, PinoPalladino.com. He\'s recorded and toured with Daltry and Townsend before so he was already partly there, so to speak. I must say the Who could not have picked a better replacement for John Entwhistle. As for drummers, Zack Starkey was the the best replacement for Keith Moon anyone could think of. This band has it together in more ways then you can imagine. These guys played two and one half hours nonstop. Never did they rest on their success. They played every song a fan would want in the allowed time they had. Townsend is a better guitarist then he\'s ever been, Daltry sings better then he\'s ever sung. The sound was amazing. The Who rocked like no other band can, and I would venture to say these almost 60 year old guys played better and harder then any young rock band I\'ve seen. They came on stage dressed in street clothes, looking like punk band. Daltry dressed in jeans and a wide opened denim shirt, you could see this man is fit! He could easily do an ab or peck commercial and he\'s 58 years old!!! Townsend was the outrageous punk he\'s known to be, cursing and being rude to the audience in a charming kind of way.
Dressed in a black t-shirt and black jeans Pete jumped in his signature jump and srummed his windmill strumm. This guitar trademark of his is not for show, it is Pete Townsends way of playing guitar. Attacking every song as if it were the first time played, the audience responded by standing throughout the whole entire length of the show. They played Substitute, Blue Eyes, Pinball Wizzard, I Can\'t Explain, Bargain, 21 songs in all. The three song encore was not enough, they could have easily have played another two hours without being boring. Every moment was electrifying.
The show opened with Robert Plant. He is quite a gentleman to open for the Who. Lacking the power of Jimmy Page, he was as graceful as one could be in his circumstance. He played some new songs from his Dreamland CD, which is a combination of World music songs. He did do some Zep songs and ended with an watered down version of Whole Lotta Love. His two guitar players and band were good but could not hold a candle to Jimmy Page and the original Zep lineup. The audience was respectful but not impressed. Surely he\'s aware that the odds are against him without Jimmy onstage, but he had a great vibe for the situation. I felt an enormous respect for him to open this show.
In all it was a great evening out. Although it was hot and steamy the Who and audience didn\'t seem to care one bit, and at one point Pete Townsend declared "I swallowed a F****** bug... can I say F****** here?!!!" The audience roared and he said, "Alright then, F*** Off" and they burst into \'My Generation\'. Wow what a show...
Some info here, I will be in Manchester New Hampshire this Saturday with Billy J. Kramern but I don\'t know if it is a private date. The 8/16 show with Lesley Gore is in Brookhaven Amphitheather Long Island, I\'ll have the exact addy next time.
The next review is the Broadway play \'RENT\'. I\'m having a great summer hope yu all are too...
Bye4Now
Frank
----THE GREAT ARTIST IS THE SIMPLIFIER--
----HENRI AMIEL----
');document.writeln('07/31/02
Yowza,
The Who concert Monday night was one of my top 5 concerts of all time. They were spectacular, but more about that later.
The World Rhythm Festival really turned out to be a quite unique and wonderful experience. It was a three day event and I arrived on Friday...
As I walked off the flight in Cleveland I called to see exactly where my ride was. As I walked toward the exit there was a man wearing a tie died shirt so bright I needed sunglasses to look at it. He was holding a sign that said Guitar-God so I walked over and introduced myself. He said his name was Tami(pronounced almost like Tommy, more about this later). He said he was there to take care of me and my every wish. I told him he had failed already, he asked "Why?" I said, "I wished you were a pretty girl" He smiled but looked confused as we walked together to the limo(I was wondering if I might have majic carpet transportation) and drove to the fairgrounds.
Arriving at the Nelson Ledges Quarry was like arriving in another time. It was great, hippies everywhere. Woodstrock Lives!!! We walked into the backstage area, and there I was surrouned by beautiful pony tails, gorgeous jewlry, long flowing dresses, and that was just the men! I was greeted by Muruga and Perry Robinson, and then I was introduced to some band members. Keep in mind there are more then 15 people in this ensemble. Then I was introduced to Badal Roy one of the premiere Tabla players of the world. This man has played with Jazz legends Miles Davis and Ornette Coleman. I banged around backstage watching some very interesting bands. One in particular called Doctor Didge, which consisted of four members, guitar, bass, drums, and a digeridoo. They had a very interesting and unique sound, playing long jams with a droney sound. Of course throughout the weekend there were some Grateful Dead kind of bands as well.
Friday evening ended with a drum circle jam featuring Mickey Hart, Muruga, Airto, and everyone who had a percussive instrument. Only percussion instruments were allowed to jam so I walked out banging a can of budweiser, which is now known as the \'Bud Drum\'. Yes the natives were restless, and they conversing with the rhythm gods. It was lots of fun, and after the jam was over I headed back to the hotel and took some aspirin, for a pounding headache(throbbing in time I might add).
Saturday morning we all had breakfast at the hotel and got to know each other a little better. We were telling stories, laughing, shouting, praying, and trying not to get removed from the restaurant. Our waitress enjoyed the entertainmen I think. We tipped her heavily and asked her never reveal our identity. She agreed but said she still liked us anyway. Tami came to me and said, " Mr. gutiar-god it is time for us to leave". Tami still had not turned into a pretty young girl so I wasn\'t believing in all this everywish stuff. I asked Tami if he knew where the majic lamp was, again he had that confused look on his face.
We arrived at the site about 3pm and were to begin our part of the show around 430pm. I decided to walk around the fairgrounds and check out some of the merchandising booths. On my way from backstage I met my friend Elizabeth and some of her family. I sat down and chatted with them for a while. Elizabeth\'s mom had come along as well and she said she was really enjoying the festival. James her young nephew was there and he was having a great time checking out drums and handmade wares. There were lots of different kinds of clothing, food and exotic drums for sale all around. I walked over towards one isle and I noticed a sign that said \'King Of Africa\'. It was a banner hanging on the side of a van where beautiful handmade drums surrounded it. Off to one side was a very tall black man relaxing in a lounge chair. Mustering all of my brain power I figured he must be the King. When I got closer to him I realized he had been on stage the night before playing a gord at the jam. As I was just about to start a conversation with the King I was beckoned to the backstage area.
Backstage we discussed what we were going to play ect. As the stage crew set up the stage for our concert I looked around andI I realized the band memebers were either wearing dresses or hats. Hmmm...I didn\'t bring a dress and the only hat I had with me was a baseball cap with FDNY on the front of it. This hat would not go with the motif. Muruga offered me a dress but I didn\'t think it was my color so I passed on it. Someone offered me a fez but my head just doesn\'t look good or fit properly in a fez. Now it\'s 10 minutes to showtime and I don\'t have my outfit to wear, what a quandry! I needed something between a hat and a dress. Suddenly my friend Mr. Schmee came back stage and gave me a gift. It was a tie-died Jimi Hendrix T-shirt, it was almost long as a dress, and low and behold I found a headband. Gloryoski!!! I was prepared after all, on with the show!
Muruga and the Global Village Ceremonial Band took the stage. It began with Muruga asking the audience to go Omm. We went Ommm and the audience went Omm. Then muruga and Badal started doing a ceremonial rhythm chant. Next there was a cermonial prayer led by a doctor friend of Muruga. He started off talking of Chakra\'s, and it melted into songs from the Global village new cd. Towards the end of the set, Muruga\'s daughter Rani came up front and did a belly dance. I thought to myself "my wish to Tami came true, a pretty young girl had appeared\', Unfortunaltely she was to young to drive. We jammed, Badal tapped the tablas, Muruga banged the drum Shatki sang, Rani sang and danced, the doctor sang, I sang, we chanted, it was wonderful. We ended the set with\' \'Just Wanna Dance\'.
After the show I was still meeting people in the band for the first time, other then seeing them onstage and backstage I still had not met everyone. About 14 of us went to have dinner at catering and we all had a great time talking about the show. It was a family affair. We returned to the dressing room where Badal was giving and explanation on the pronounciation of names such as his. He explained how Rani sounded like Ronnie but the \'o\' sound is much more of an \'ah\' sound. He said the name of Ronnie is completely different in meaning the Rani. Badal explained the proper way to say, Muruga, Tami, Shatki and others. When he finished his Indian name explanation, I commented, "and I thought Annunziata was difficult!"
I left the dressing room and went out to meet with people in the audience. Along the way I met up with Elizabeth and the gang. They had bought a drum from the King Of Africa. I decided I needed a photo with the king so we walked over to talk with him. Turns out his name is Bamba, and he\'s from Senegal. He looks a bit like Michael Jordan and you could just tell this man has a sincere peaceful heart and soul. We had some photo\'s taken and I asked Bamba if I could use his table to autograph a photo for Elizabeth. He said sure. He looked towards the photo and asked if that was me. I said yes and he then asked me to autograph one of his drums, I said of course. He brought out a special drum and explained that the two autographs on this drum were Mickey Hart and Phil Lesh. I wrote on the drum, \'In Honour of the King\'. Does this make me an official Deadhead? By the way, Bamba\'s dad is the ceremonial drummer to the King of Senegal. Bamba\'s culture taught him to make really beautiful drums. They are handmade and carved from a piece of tree. It takes about four days to make one.
What a talented man, he\'s also an incredible musician.
It was time to say the goodbyes, I hugged everyone then left to return to the hotel. I took with me a truly one of a kind experience, and memories of a new kind. In all the years of doing shows, this was the most different and rewarding one, in ways I never knew one could be rewarded. I got to be a hippie for a day, I got play with some remarkable musicians, and I got to take with me unforgettable memories. Elizabeth\'s mom made a comment to me, and her words rang in my mind throughout the concert. She said, \'This is so much fun and so different, I feel so safe here.\'
I couldn\'t sum up the World Rhythm Festival better then that.
Check out the photos of the WRF in the Gallery. They should be posted in the next few days.
I\'ll have the blow by blow of the Who concert next post. If you can get tickets for that show do so it will be well worth it, as I said one of the top 5.
-----GOD RESPECTS ME WHEN I WORK, BUT HE LOVES ME WHEN I SING----
------RABINDRANATH TAGORE---------Bye4Now
Frank(Fraahnk)
');document.writeln('07/29/02
Hello everyone,
Just a quick note here, I\'m hurrying off to see The Who in Hershey Park, compliments of Concertman...The World Rhythm Festival was a wonderful experience. I don\'t have time right now to write about all that went on, but I do plan to tell you about the great experience it was. I even got to meet the King Of Africa. Have a great day.
BYE4NOW
FRANK
');document.writeln('07/26/02
Hear Ye, Bye ye,
I\'ve been busy with recording, promoting, meeting, greeting, ect. I\'m off to the airport to play the World Rhythm Festival, I\'ll have a full report when I get back. Also there\'s a new Lesley Gore date August 16, on Long Island, details to come. BTW,The Stemcells have a new bass player as well, a female named Rainy, and she comes to us from the Joan Osbourne\'s band.
Someone mentioned to me that when they played one of the songs from my CD backwards it said, "Play it again". I have no knowledge of this, however if it\'s true how cool is that!!!
Have a great weekend everyone!!!
---THE MANAGEMENT ASSUMES NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR WHAT IS FOUND----
----ABRAHAM MASLOW----
BYE4NOW
FRANK
');document.writeln('07/16/02
Here ye, here ye,
Come to order...Just want to drop a line about an upcoming show. July 27, I\'ll be playing at THE WORLD RHYTHM FESTIVAL. Performers include, Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead, Airto, Muruga and the Global Village Ceremonial Band. It\'s near Cleveland at Nelson Ledges Quarry Park in Portage County. I\'ll have the info up asap. Some other cool gigs coming up, Blue Ash Ohio with Lesley Gore and I\'ll be on my own in Manchester England. Check the site for times and places.
I\'m glad so many of you like the CD, and yes, I am working on doing more of my own shows soon. Got some TV and radio appearances coming up to promo the CD as well. Hope you\'re all having a great summer!!
-----IF I WERE GIVEN A CHANGE OF LIFE, I\'D LIKE TO SEE HOW IT WOULD BE TO LIVE AS A MERE SIX FOOTER----
--------WILT CHAMBERLAIN
BYE4NOW
FRANK
');document.writeln('06/15/02
Greetings,
I have to thank some people for all the hard work on the site. First of all Kenna Rogers, who is the web goddess and the overall force behind the website. Jenny Baker who has designed many of the features and helped with the logo\'s on the band page and that wonderful mushroom cloud behind the band Mushroom performing at Madison Square Garden. Jenny also has her own website www.everything60\'s.com and www.Jennybaker.com. You might want to bang around her site a while.
Last week I did a show on Long Island for the radio station WBAI. It was part of a jam thing with myself and
percussionist Muruga and a host of others. It was a blast and we got some great jams off. I\'m waiting for the photo\'s to be sent to me
so I can put them up in the Gallery. You can also check out Muruga at www.murugabooker.com. He\'s got quite the recording history and is a wonderful
musician.
Hope all of you that purchased the Cd will enjoy it. It will shipped to you this week. God bless all of you...
----IF YOU ARE A TERROR TO MANY, THEN BEWARE OF MANY---
--------AUSONIUS---------
Buy4Now
Frank
');document.writeln('06/15/02
Greetings,
I have to thank some people for all the hard work on the site. First of all Kenna Rogers, who is the web goddess and the overall force behind the website. Jenny Baker who has designed many of the features and helped with the logo\'s on the band page and that wonderful mushroom cloud behind the band Mushroom performing at Madison Square Garden. Jenny also has her own website www.everything60\'s.com and www.Jennybaker.com. You might want to bang around her site a while.
Last week I did a show on Long Island for the radio station WBAI. It was part of a jam thing with myself and
percussionist Muruga and a host of otheres. It was a blast and we got some great jams off. I\'m waiting for the photo\'s to be sent to me
so I can put them up in the Gallery. You can also check out Muruga at www.murugabooker.com. He\'s got quite the recording history and is a wonderful
musician.
Hope all of you that purchased the Cd will enjoy it. It will shipped to you this week. God bless all of you...
----IF YOU ARE A TERROR TO MANY, THEN BEWARE OF MANY---
--------AUSONIUS---------
Buy4Now
Frank
');document.writeln('06/10/02
Hello!
Welcome to the new FRANK ANNUNZIATA.COM I\'ve been absent for a while as I was getting everything together for the new site and CD. It also took me a while to recover from the shows in Peachtree City. I don\'t do so well with 2hours sleep in 48 hours. There are some photos\' up in the gallery if you want to take a peek at the Peachtree City weekend of \'Monkey Love\'. Hope you enjoy the new CD, it will be the first of many releases from Stem Cell records in the next few months. Be my guest in the new chatroom, it\'s open 24/7 for all you web addicts. A video will coming soon from the \'Make It Happen\' Cd as well as live shows to promote it. Lots of other things are in the works as well. I\'ll drop the info as it comes along. Come on in and ENJOY!!!
---IT IS COMMON SENSE TO TAKE A METHOD AND TRY IT. IF IT FAILS, ADMIT IT FRANKLY AND TRY ANOTHER. BUT ABOVE ALL, TRY SOMETHING----FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT--
BYE4NOW
FRANK
');document.writeln('05/30/02
Good Morning,
Today I\'m going into school to say goodbye to all of my students that will be graduating. I will not be able to make it to grauation this year. Every year I get to chose awards for the outstanding students in my class. This year I have two. As these students are not seniors I hope to see them back in my class next year if my schedule permits me to keep on teaching.
The Stemcells, Lesley Gore and myself are looking foward to seeing all of you in Peachtree City this weekend. It\'s gonna be a hell of a party to say the least, and I promise I won\'t cry. Everyone travel safe, see you down there!
--WHEN YOU DRINK THE WATER, REMEMBER THE SPRING---
-------CHINESE PROVERB---
BYE4NOW
FRANK
');document.writeln('05/21/02
Good Day!
We had a wonderful show last night at the 92nd Street Ymca benefit in NYC. It raised lot\'s of money for the kids and the audience was entertained by Tommy Tune(9 times Tony award winner)Kathy Lee Gifford(and her husband Frank)Mary Wilson(from the Supremes)and Lesley Gore who closed the show. We were joined on stage with all the entertainers for a finale which everyone sang \'New York, New York" It was cool to be around these different kinds of showbiz people. Kathie Lee remembered me from my appearances on the \'Live with Regis and Kathy\' show and she is just so sweet. She\'s been recording and playing out since she left the show. Tommy Tune did a Broadway review which was brilliant. Lesley was the show stopper for sure at this event. Once again her amazing vocal performance on \'Out Here On My Own\' drew the audience to their feet with a standing ovation. Everyone was dancing in the aisles to \'It\'s My Party\' and it was a big sing along for the finale of \'NY,NY.\' So, "start spreading the news..."
It\'s almost time for graduation at school. Finals are next week, and I\'ll miss seeing the students I\'ve grown to know and help. I\'ve been thinking about doing more teaching and I have some ideas which I\'ll let you know about later. Until the next time...
---IT IS NO PROFIT TO HAVE LEARNED WELL, IF YOU NEGLECT TO DO WELL--
--PUBLILIUS SYRUS----
BYE4NOW
FRANK
');document.writeln('05/12/02
Good morning,
I would like to wish all woman(and the confused men) a Happy Mothers Day. It\'s a wonderful day to have a lovely family get together.
We had two fab shows last night at Bodles Opera House in Chester NY. It was great to see all my friends. It was a really enjoyable night. The StemCells(that\'s what we\'ve coined Lesley\'s band)got to open the show with three songs. It\'s such a gracious thing that Lesley supports us by letting us open the show, how cool is that? Then Lesley came on and she opened with \'Maybe I Know\', into \'She\'s a Fool\'. It was a rockin\' show. Lesley was in excellent voice and form as usual. She packs megatons of vocal power and gave the audience a 60 plus minute show of non-stop entertainment, with 3 standing ovations. The next show we play will be a benefit at the 92nd ST. YMCA in NYC. Kathy Lee Gifford and Tommy Tune and a few other celebs are part of this benenfit along with Lesley and The StemCells. The tickets for this event are $500-$1000 and I expected to see you all there, but unfortuately it is sold out. Till the next time...
---Look for the good not the evil, in the conduct of members of the family---
----Jewish proverb-----
BYE4NOW
FRANK
');document.writeln('05/06/02
Goodmorning,
I just wanted to drop a note here as I\'ve been receiving emails from you concerning tickets for the Lesley Gore shows. Lesley\'s shows sell out quickly so you need to get them as quickly as possible. This has been an on going situation, and I will try to post her dates earlier. You can ask to be put on a waiting list in the event someone cancels, but that is the only way to secure them at this point, sorry...
----Delay not till tommorrow to be wise; Tommorrow\'s sun to thee may never rise--
---William Congreve---
Bye4now
Frank
');document.writeln('05/04/02
Hello dare,
I\'m back from my Florida and Colorado adventures, and I had a very rewarding time. While I was in Orlando although I was down there on biz I was able to get together with friends and family. Does it get any better then that? Orlando it seems to me is the place where the \'boy groups\' thrive. I was astonished at how many there are trying to grab the golden ring of fame and success. It\'s quite different then the band theme which is the opposite end of the music spectrum. Bands are formed in a garage or basement and play instruments and create a sound. Boygroups are manufactured, usually by a mentor or corporation. Generally, young girls support the boybands, and guys support the bands. Boygroups dance and sing. Bands play and rock the audience. It\'s all a matter of whatever floats your boat. Of course let\'s not forget about the girl groups and the girl bands which share the same things as their male counterparts.
Although the show at The Broadmoor
Hotel was a private show, I was able to connect with some friends in Colorado Springs as well. Lovely, lovely. The Lesley Gore band backed up Fabian at the Broadmoor show, he\'s a really nice man. The ladies in the audience loved him as he was a huge \'Teen idol star\'. A flight attendant on the way out asked who we were working with and she was very impressed that we were working with \'Fabio\' the \'butter guy\'. "No, no
Fabian not Fabio" we told her. "You mean the guy who was in the movie, \'The Longest day?\', she asked. "Yes, that Fabe" we told her. We arrived at the Broadmoor and what a beautiful resort it is. It has a Golf course surrounded by mountains, spas, with servants galore catering to your every whim. Just a footnote here...I only wish we would have filmed the Lesley Gore band (aka The Stem Cells) playing golf. We made serious golfers angry, but even they had to laugh. We drove more grass then balls, and by the time we were done the course looked like it was attacked by gophers, not golfers...more holes then a slice of swiss cheese, but what fun. We play by our own rules, which is anything goes, and we realised throwing balls gets us much further then trying to hit them. What a blast we had! Our apologies to the serious golfers.
Next up is the show at Bodles Opera House in Chester N.Y., a stones throw from NY. I\'m looking foward to seeing lots of my friends at the show this weekend. Until next time...
-----YOU CAN\'T DEPEND ON ON YOUR JUDGEMENT WHEN YOUR IMAGINATION IS OUT OF FOCUS---
--------MARK TWAIN------
CIAO-4-NOW
FRANK
');document.writeln('04/21/02
Hello,
Sunday morning, sun is shinning and like Louie Armstrong sang, "It\'s a Wonderful World"...
I would like to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for all the birthday wishes. You must know how tough it is going through your mid 20\'s. It brings me much joy to hear from you.
My wife Janice and I got to see Bonnie Raitt the other evening, compliments of Concertman. It was a great show. She has a wonderful band (I happen to know some the members), they rocked big time. Bonnie sure can sing, and her new Cd is great. It was a three hour show and she played every song the audience wanted to hear. If she should be in your town I would suggest you catch her show. There were a couple of guests that sat in at the show we saw, Dr.John(on keys), Big D(guitar), Jellybean(percussion). It was sweet.
Concertman has invited me to a benefit for Buzzy Linhart Monday night in NYC. Buzzy is the guy who penned the song "You Gotta Have Friends", and now he needs the help of friends.
I\'ve been busy as a bee finishing up all the last minute stuff on my new CD(seems like forever). The release date
is June 1. I\'m very excited about this one. I\'ll also be releasing some other CD\'s shortly after June 1, which will contain recordings I\'ve done with previous bands and artists.
I\'m off to Florida this week, although it\'s for biz I\'m hoping to see some of my friends and family while I\'m there. I should have some interesting things to report when I get back. Until the next time...
-----TRY NOT TO BECOME A MAN OF SUCCESS BUT RATHER TO BECOME A MAN OF VALUE---
---ALBERT EINSTEIN---
BYE4NOW
FRANK
');document.writeln('03/28/02
Yo-ness,
It was an amazing time in Cleveland. Not only was Lesley\'s show received with three standing ovations, the 50th Moondog Coronation Ball was a Sold Out Show, and the tickets were sold out faster then any other Moondog Ball. We had played that show last year and Lesley was voted back by popular demand. I got to see lots of old friends, the Turtles, Gary Puckett,
Little Anthony and the Imperials, and Tommy James. It was a hugfest! We were also invited to attend the Rock and Roll hall of Fame after the show. Fortunately, I\'ve been to the R&R Hall of fame a few times so I stayed at the arena to hang with my buddies. During Lesley\'s perfomance two songs (other then the hits people want to hear)were two show stoppers, \'Out Here On My Own\', and \'I Who Have Nothing\'. Out Here On My Own is a song written by Lesley and her brother and was in the movie \'Fame\' and was nominated for an academy award. It\'s a ballad and the song opens quietly with vocal and piano. You could hear a pin drop at the opening of the song as the 20,000 plus audience listened to Lesley\'s soulful voice and Bruce Mcpherson\'s brilliant piano playing, the song ending with people on their feet. We then broke into our Rock and Roll version of I Who Have Nothing. It\'s kind of a Phil Collins meets Jeff Beck version of the song, with Lesley\'s wailing vocals and Rob Hazzards pounding backbeat on drums. We ended the show with It\'s My Party, and everyone was on their feet singing along. Cleveland Rocks! as they say, and I was lucky to connect with many people I\'ve grown to know over the years while playing out on the road. Looking foward to next show...
-----THE READINESS IS ALL----
---WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
BYE4NOW
FRANK
');document.writeln('03/16/02
Hello,
Happy Saint Patricks day! It\'s a lovely day in NYC and the parade is just about to start. I just might have to go to an Irish pub and bang down a couple of green beers, in honor of the day of course.
I had loads of fun with Concertamn
the other evening. The Allman brother band was in good form. It contains the two original drummers and Greg Allman of course. The new guitar guys Derek Trucks(Butch Trucks\' the drummers son)and Warren Hanes did a fine job of honing in on Duane Allmans and Dicky Betts original guitars. Yes, this is yet another example of a band that does not have it\'s original lineup, and you can definately tell that it isn\'t the original goods, but because most of the original members are intact it is less noticeable then others that suffer from the same situation. All in all they rocked the Beacon Theater, with everyone standing from the first song and singing along. They did a memorable version of \'Heart of Stone\', one of the highlights of the evening for me. Concertman was busy chatting up woman that were coming by to say hello. He\'s quite a good looking dude I\'m told, a cross between Brad Pitt, and Tom Cruise, with a Tom Hanks rising. He gave the Allman show a thumbs up as well. After the show we went down to the Village and ran into Sean Koos, who happened to be hanging out at the Red Lion a local Rock and Roll hangout club. He told he was getting ready to go back on the road with Joan Jett, we had a couple of drinks and he left the bar. By now Concertman had three very pretty young woman with him, so I said goodbye and went home to get some sleep.
Yesterday I got to do a session for a new broadway show that\'s supposed to open in the summer. I finished that and went to do my gig at the charity event for the children. there were lots of celebs there, some Stones, Sting, to name a few. My show was received very well and I was joined onstage with some rockers for my song \'Monkey Love\', it was very exciting. I left about midnight and headed back to the Village. Concertman met up with me and we checked out some music along Bleeker St. It was along day my eyes were popping out of my head by the time I got to bed.
A busy week is coming and I\'m looking foward to seeing you in Cleveland this weekend. Have a safe and Happy holiday...later.
-----NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS---
--UNKNOWN--
BYE4NOW
FRANK
');document.writeln('03/11/02
Hear ye, hear ye,
It\'s Tuesday and I\'m on spring break for the next couple of weeks(isn\'t school great). I\'m off to a photo shoot today as the photo\'s from my last shoot were
stolen(someone must have thought they had photo\'s of Brad Pitt or something). Tommorrow night I have a local show to go to with Concertman, and Thursday
night we\'re going to the Beacon theater in NYC to see the Allman Bros. Concertman is a critic for a music rag so we get to go to all these cool shows. I\'ll have a
full report on the weekend. Imma has some more running around for me this week as well, and I\'m doing a private solo show at a local NYC club, and I\'m hoping
to have some great guests join me onstage. I\'ll let you know how things turn out.
----MAKE YOUR LIFE A MISSION NOT AN INTERMISSION----
----ARNOLD GLASGOW---
BYE4NOW
FRANK
');document.writeln('03/07/02
Good morning,
After school on Tuesday, Imma called me to ask if I wanted to go to a few concerts. We have a friend we call ConcertMan, and he had tickets to go see Leif Garett
at BB Kings in NYC Tuesday evening. I said I would love to. Concertman called me and said he\'d pick me up at 730pm and we headed over to BB Kings. We
walked in and the band was already playing. Now I don\'t know much about Leif other then he was on some TV show, and had a record out at sometime or other.
Leif was on stage with a trio of other muscians(guitar bass and drums). They were desparately trying to be Led Zepplelin but this band had no helium to get going. I
was ready to leave after the first song but Concertman was hungry so he ordered dinner and we stayed for the whole show. The music wasn\'t totally aweful and Leif
had at least 20 young lady fans that were ther to support him. On the whole though there was probably 2mins and 27seconds of listenable music. Leif needs a new
band and a new headband. It seems his trademark is wearing a \'pirate\' kind of thing on his head which most likely is there for a reason, which I can think of only
one. The show ended and we both left still hungry for good music, but concertman\'s stomach was content. Imma also set up Wednesday night to go see Bela Fleck
and the Flecktones at the State Theater in New Jersey. I\'ve seen Bela Fleck a while ago at the Bottom Line in NYC and was amazed by this band so I was eager
to see this show. He picked me up at 6pm for an 8pm show. He brought a girlfriend with him Betty Buys(she loves to shop), a nice girl but a few french fries short of
a happy meal. If you are not familiar with Bela Fleck, his music is kinda jazz, eclectic stuff. He\'s won a Grammy in jazz and two in Classical this year. Oh by the way
did I mention he\'s a banjo player? As a musician his band rates a 10 plus. Victor Wooten on bass could win a war if he was a weapon, an incredible player. His
brother Futureman(yes futureman)the drummer. Futureman plays something that looks like its out of RoadWarrior, a guitar looking kind of thing that makes drum
sounds. Hard to explain but all I can say is I left the show as amazed as I did when I first saw them years ago. Betty was confused as we were watching the show,
she couldn\'t understand why audience clapped during the song and at the end of the song. I explained that\'s what you do when a musician plays something that\'s
incredible and gives you goosebumps. She said she still didn\'t understand, \'they never do that at a Monkees show\', I said \'exactly\'. She also said she didn\'t get
\'goosebumps\' because when she was young she was given shots for mumps, chickenpox, and goosebumps. We left the theater about 1130 pm and my hunger for
great music was satisfied. What a great band! I highly recommend seeing this show, however, if you are not into jazz or phenominal musicians, this is not for you.
On the way home Concertman said lets get something to eat I said Ok and we headed to the Village where we met Imma at a local cafe. Imma asked how the show
was, I told her how impressed I was, and that I got the goosebumps throughout the whole show. Betty remarked that she sort of liked Bela but it isn\'t exactly what
she\'s into. Concertman loves all kinds of music and attends concerts of all kinds. I asked him how he could relate to Betty, he said"It\'s like teaching a child new
things, sometimes they get it and sometimes they don\'t." The waitress came to take our food order. Betty ordered a burger and I asked, "would you like some extra
french fries with that?"
BYE4NOW
FRANK
');document.writeln('03/04/02
Testing, testing 1,2,3...
Anyone remember when it came to midterms and finals at school. The day dreaded by every student whether or not you were good at a paricular subject. Well,
today is that day for my guitar class. This exam consists of a written test and a playing test. Most of my students don\'t really care about reading music but it is a
requirement to pass my class. The playing aspect will be a breeze for most of them.
Some of the students have been to shows with their parents and have become acquainted with some older acts. The parents come away from the shows sometimes
dissappointed and saying that the particular band wasn\'t as good as they used to be. My students ask why wouldn\'t they be better then they were since they have
all that experience under their belts. I tell them that not all bands get worse and not all get better either. I can think of at least two bands right off the top of my head
that my students would put to shame as musicians. I\'m not talking about the Jimmy Page\'s or Eric Clapton\'s here. I\'m talking about the bogus groups that have
bogus members. Bands with maybe one or two original members. I call this the \'Drifter\' or \'Dreamer\' syndrome. Because these students are young and the groups
they enjoy haven\'t experienced this particular situation, I explain that very rarely does a band thrive without the original chemistry. The Stones are one exception, but
the main engine of the band has remained the same...Keith and Mick. Brian Jones was a powerful force early on in the Stones but the strength of the Glimmer twins
overcame that obstacle. The day John Lennon died so did the Beatles. The day John Bonham died so did Led Zep. The Who are an exception, losing Keith Moon
was a major blow but they somehow survived, and again Pete Townsend, Roger Daltry, and John Entwhistle are the core and majority.
So, I\'ve explained a bit of Rock and Roll history and the students still look bewildered to me, \'We don\'t quite understand\' So I try to sum it all up, "I\'ve worked
with Richie Havens, Lesley Gore, ect. ect., and although they aren\'t a band they continually work at getting better. The audiences know the difference and they
know Richie, or Lesley are the \'one and only\' and they cannot be replaced by some cheap immitation. Then I add, imagine Eddie Vedder leaving his band and he is
replaced by Joe Blow". Suddenly the students get a beaming look in their eyes, "Oh yea now we understand!!". Teenagers, go figure...
----TAKE THE COURSE OPPOSITE TO CUSTOM AND YOU WILL DO WELL ---
-JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU---
BYE4NOW
FRANK
');document.writeln('02/25/02
Goodmoanin\'
It\'s Tuesday and for me that means school. If anyone would have told me when I was attending school that I would be teaching guitar at school at the ripe age of
29, I would have thought they were crazy. Sometimes I feel like I\'m in one of those new reality based TV shows.
Speaking of TV shows, last weeks run around with Imma\'s TV audition\'s was quite funny. The first one was for a \'Soap Opera\', which is looking for a musician(I
could do that)who had a real bad drug problem and keeps falling back into it(hmm...now I would have to act), and he is 50+ years old(makeup?). They gave me
lines(to read)but the woman I had to read opposite kept busting out laughing and so did I. The director didn\'t think it was very funny, so I was off to the next
audition. Imma was very upset that I wasn\'t taking it seriously. I decided to muster up all the professional experience I\'ve obtained over the years and really go for
it. We arrive at the TV station and were a bit late(they were not impressed by that). This was a part for a new TV show that is about a Rock star from the
80\'s(sounds good so far)who is now married with a few children and he teaches school(wow!). As I looked around the room at the actors(they were all so serious)I
felt like I was the youngest person trying out for the part. I asked Imma if it was just me or are all the male actors trying out for this part challenged in the hair
department. She told me to be quiet and concentrate on studying my lines. When I finally got my turn, it felt kind of easy and went pretty good. Imma was very
excited when we left the TV studio. It\'s not often Imma gets excited, she\'s usually so level she could walk with a bowl on her head. I told her that I wasn\'t very
interested in doing this kind of thing and she stormed off, mumbling, and talking to herself(she often has arguments with herself). TV, Soap Opera? I don\'t think
so...I want a movie!
--IF YOU ASPIRE TO THE HIGHEST PLACE, IT IS NO DISGRACE TO STOP AT THE SECOND, OR EVEN THIRD PLACE---
----CICERO----
');document.writeln('02/23/02
Uh-oh,
Let me say first off, \'any resemblence to the characters in these posts and real persons is purely intentional\', that outta the way...
It\'s Sunday and I\'ve got the chest cold from hell. I worked in a smelly, smokey, Rock and Roll bar last night and loved every moment of it. I was on the edge of a
cold before I arrived and the evening just brought it on full tilt. It figures cause I have a photo session on Wednesday. There\'s nothing like feeling and looking ill
when you have your picture taken.
Imma\'s personal assistant Miss Dapointe showed up at the bar last night. She danced her butt off, and let me tell you it took an aweful lot of dancing to get rid of
that thing, as a matter of fact she\'s still dancing. Imma doesn\'t like it when I do these kinds of \'gigs\', she says it\'s degrading to my talent. I tell her I have a great
time and I get to play music I haven\'t played since I was in High School(now there\'s a good reason right there). She thinks I\'m wasting my time, so I asked her,
"Do you have something better for me to do?" Her idea is either to drag me all over NYC auditioning for acting gigs I have no interest in or to lock me away in the
studio. Like I\'ve mentioned before, after a while the studio is like a prison, except sometimes you\'re allowed to go home at night and sleep in your own bed. Mr.
Goldmon doesn\'t really care either way, he says as long as I\'m happy he\'s happy. He\'s always happy and smiling. I\'m careful not to look directly at him in full
bright sunlight while he is smiling, his gold teeth can blind you. Mr. Goldmon\'s secretary, Eileen Downe showed up last night as well but didn\'t stay very long. She
makes the rounds, as we say, on Saturday evenings.
Time to take some more cold medicine. Hey, this stuff makes me feel really good, as a matter of fact I don\'t feel like I have a cold any more so I\'m going out to
another smokey, smelly, Rock and Roll bar again...Later.
---DESPISE NO NEW ACCIDENT IN YOUR BODY, BUT ASK OPINION OF IT.----
---------FRANCIS BACON------
BYE4NOW
FRANK
');document.writeln('02/20/02
Help!
Imma has me running all over the city today with meetings. She\'s trying to secure a TV show for me. I keep telling her I\'m not interested but she says it\'s a must do.
Mr. Goldmon says, listen to Imma, Imma says listen to Mr. Goldmon, I feel like a Keystone cop.
I can\'t remember where my keys are most of the time how am I supposed to remember lines? Oh well just another day at the ranch. Have a good day.
---HELP YOURSELF, AND HEAVEN WILL HELP YOU------
-------LA FONTAINE----
BYE4NOW
FRANK
');document.writeln('02/19/02
Hello,
You may or may not know, I teach guitar on Tuesdays at a Prep School. I teach only 3 classes. Actually, I not only teach but I learn as well. I ask my students to
bring in a Cd with a song they would like to learn. This gives me the opportunity to stay current with the new bands that are out there. I also enjoy working out the
songs with the students. Our Dean, Dr. Know is quite happy the students are learning guitar. He was once a budding guitarist himself and gets to play on occasion(he
asks me for tips all the time, and I tell him to join my class). It\'s most rewarding as I see the students improve their playing skills.
Last year\'s students went on to college
and some even majored in music. Way cool. Next week we\'re going to learn some Creed, and Incubus songs. Some of the music is a bit hard for me to take, but
hey, I wasn\'t into bands like Black Sabbath or Iron Butterfly when I was learning guitar.
Have a great day!
----KNOW HOW TO LISTEN, AND YOU WILL PROFIT EVEN FROM THOSE WHO TALK BADLY----
--------------PLUTARCH-----
BYE4NOW
FRANK
');document.writeln('02/15/02
How y\'all doing?
It\'s Saturday morning in NYC. Last night I was invited to play with some friends at local West Village club. It was setup by Imma Liah my agent. I met her there at
about 11pm and things were already underway. Imma by the way looks fabulous! It\'s amazing
what a plastic surgeon can do these days. When I told her how wonderful she looked, she smiled, and I noticed she had her teeth pierced. Now when she speaks
it\'s also a musical experience.(She says it\'s a bit tough eating a steak but she carries lots of toothpicks).
It was great time! I got to see many musician friends I haven\'t seen in a long time. We all took turns on stage jammin\'. I was able to play with my friend Mitch
Weissman(he was the original Paul M. in BEATLEMANIA on broadway). We had a blast. We played songs from the Beatles, Stones, and we even played a song
we wrote together that will appear on my next CD called \'Give It Away\'. We even did a couple of Blues songs while being backed some female musicians and they
rocked baby!(They look and smell better then the guys too). It was loads of fun but I was out way to late(home at 4am and I\'m up at 830am...go figure) Imma kept
dragging me around the club introducing me to people I already know. Eventually we ran into our spiritual advisor MR. BU-DA-BING, who enlightened our spirit
and emptied our pockets. I definately felt lighter when I left(I gave him all the change I had).
Ok it\'s time for a nap, cause I\'m back in the studio later on this afternoon. Imma\'s coming to record with us and all she has to do is smile.
Have a great weekend!!
-------I AM THAT WHICH IS, I AM ALL, WHAT IS, WHAT WAS, WHAT WILL BE; NO MORTAL MAN HAS LIFTED MY VEIL. HE IS ONLY
SOLELY OF HIMSELF, AND TO THIS ONLY ONE ALL THINGS OWE THEIR EXISTENCE----
---------LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN----
BYE4NOW
FRANK
');document.writeln('02/13/02
Happy Valentines Day,
It’s a beautiful winters Valentines’ day in NYC, clear and bright sun, just the right amount
of cold... mm-mm wonderful!
I had a great day...I did a session for a Christian Rock record this morning, a Jewish Dance
record this afternoon and an Arabian Rap record in the evening. Tomorrow it’s a Rasta session in
the morning(they usually are scheduled in the morning but don’t really get going until late
afternoon). Mr. Goldmon obtained these recording dates for me, he says he believes I can play
anything so I guess he’s testing my abilities(I love world music).
Is it a coincidence that I’m doing this now? I once had a conversation with Richie Havens
about this exact subject...I mentioned to Richie that I really enjoyed playing all kinds of music
from classical to pop and including ‘ethnic’ varieties. He told me that because my Italian roots are
from Naples Italy it’s just natural that I feel all those different types of music. I said, “I don’t quite
understand? He explained, “Naples was and still is a major seaport of Europe. Ships from the
many countries and continents, brought commodities from all over the world. Along with that
came the crews that would bring their culture and music too. So people from Naples were
exposed to more kinds of music, it’s in your blood”. So I’m a musical schizophrenic, I wonder if
a transfusion may help this?
I’m back in Cleveland on 3/23 with Lesley Gore at the Moondog Coronation Ball, there’s
also a local show (Chester NY, about 50 miles from NYC) at Boodles Opera House with Lesley
on May 11. I’ll be updating the schedule next week.
Bye4Now
Frank
---------IF YOU ARE SUCCESSFUL, YOU WILL WIN SOME FALSE FRIENDS AND SOME
TRUE ENEMIES;
SUCCEED ANYWAY.
---------IF YOU ARE HONEST AND FRANK, PEOPLE MAY CHEAT YOU;
BE HONEST AND FRANK ANYWAY.
WHAT YOU SPEND YEARS BUILDING, SOMEONE MAY DESTROY OVERNIGHT;
BUILD ANYWAY
------------------MOTHER TERESA-----------------
');document.writeln('02/07/02
YO baby!
I have an in town show tomorrow tonight with a few friends of mine. We play all sorts of
songs including some originals. We don’’t have a single name for the band because we only get
together when one of us gets a good private show to play. We’’ve called ourselves many
names...the Catapillars the Cracks, The Boroughs, and a few others). It’’s surely a fun band.
Very Important!! I have some ‘‘new’’ ‘‘old’’ posts that an anonymous emailer has been
sending me. They don’’t leave a return email address but I would like to thank them for sending
them to me. Please reveal yourself as I would love to reward you! Anyway I’’m off to yet another
recording session.. Have a great weekend everyone!!
---------IT IS BETTER TO DEBATE A QUESTION WITHOUT SETTLING IT THAN TO
SETTLE A QUESTION WITHOUT DEBATING IT------------
-------------JOSEPH JOUBERT----------
');document.writeln('02/06/02
Hello,
I had a fun time at a Super Bowl party Sunday. Later, about 11pm I had a recording session that
ended 3am. It was a long day to say the least. I’m off to the studio as soon as I sign off here, but
I wanted to let you know someone found some of the posts from 4/01 and emailed them to me
which I will run at the bottom of the page. They told me they have others they they will pass
along to me. How nice is that? Anyway, have a great day!
-----BETTER TO LIGHT A CANDLE THEN TO CURSE THE DARKNESS---
--------------CHINESE PROVERB--------
BYE4NOW
FRANK
');document.writeln('01/31/02
Hi Everyone,
Unfortunately the past posts are lost, so I’ll slowly get everyone up to steam on what’s been
going on...
I’m in ALTON BELLE with Lesley Gore and the band. Tonight is the last two shows of this run.
We’ve had loads of fun on this mini tour. It was great to see everybody the past few days.
Playing with the Lesley Gore band is really exciting. If you’ve been to see the show you know
that the
band has the opportunity to open with three songs and it’s been received quite well.
The band members are all very talented, all sing, write, and play multiple instruments, have
extensive knowledge of recording, and female anatomy.
When I get back to NYC, I’ll be meeting with Mr. Goldmon (he’s my Rasta-Israeli manager).He
and Imma Liah ( my agent) have kept me quite busy the last six months or so. I’ve been doing
all sorts of projects in the studio on the road. Last week I recorded a CD for
children and the songs were quite good. I even got to play slide guitar on a couple of songs.
When I return home it’s straight into the studio(can I get some time off please?). Sunday it’s the
Super Bowl , so I’m taking a break to hang out with some friends and then it’s back into the
studio late in the evening. This project is an instrumental record a ‘trans groove’ kinda thing.
It’s amazing how music has so many different descriptions now. Maybe soon they’ll be a
Frankie A.
type!!
I’m off to sound check(we love to do sound checks) so I’ll catch you all later....
ONE CANNOT ALWAYS BE A HERO, BUT ONE CAN ALWAYS BE A MAN
---------------GOETHE----------
BYE4NOW
FRANK
');document.writeln('07/15/01
Yea baby!
It\'s all good...I\'m off to the studio this whole week. I\'m doing Richie Havens new record. Last
night I did the first session and things turned out really well. I\'m back in the studio with him Wed-
Friday. I\'m working today and tomorrow in the studio with drummer Joe Bopp from the
Mushroom days. I\'m really looking foward to working with him, it\'s been a long time. The show
in Norwalk Concert Hall went great. It reminded me of the old British Concert Halls. It was great
to see everyone and I\'m sorry some of you couldn\'t come because it was sold out. Hopefully we\'ll
get together this weekend in Stanhope N.J. with Richie Havens, or 7/22 with Lesley Gore on
Long Island. Also I\'m NOT doing the \'Wildflower Tour\' dates with Richie. I haven\'t been to one
of those shows yet(but I will be going to one in the next few weeks)I\'ve heard they\'re really good.
Hope you all have a great week!
FREINDSHIP AND COMMUNITY ARE, FIRST OF ALL, INNER QUALITIES.
--------HENRI J. M. NOUWEN
BYE4NOW
FRANK
GO OFTEN TO THE HOUSE OF THY FRIEND; FOR WEEDS SOON CHOKE UP THE
UNUSED PATH...
---------------Scandinavian Proverb
BYE4Now
Frank
');document.writeln('07/10/01
Hi Everyone,
The glitches in the server are being worked on as I write. I am aware of the problems thanks for
the emails. If it\'s at all possible the \'lost\' posts will be restored, but until then it\'s time to start it up
again. Things went really well in Hershey, as a matter of fact Bobby Sherman was so happy with
the band he\'s asked to do some other shows. It was so good to work with John, Sean, Michael,
and Paul once again. There\'s comfort in knowing you\'re working with the best. The other guitar
player at the show is Sean Harkness. He\'s quite a guitar player, very talented. He has some solo
records out on Wyndham Hill records. The recording date in my schedule is not with Bobby
Sherman. I had to laugh when I started to receive emails asking me about recording with Bobby
Sherman. I had no idea what that was about until I checked my tour/studio schedule. I realized
the glitch was where the confusion was. I alerted Kenna the \'web goddess\' and she has made the
corrections. The record I\'m doing is a children\'s record. You could fool me that it\'s a record for
children though, it sounds more like an Aerosmith record or something like that. A couple of
more dates with Richie Havens have been added this month...July 14 Norwalk Concert Hall,
Norwalk Ct. and July 22, Stanhope N.J. Festival. The show in Norwalk has Janis Ian on it as well.
She opened a few shows with Richie on the west coast and I was really impressed with her
performance. She\'s very funny, has a wonderful voice and writes some great songs. Go see her if
she\'s in your \'Hood\'. Looking foward to seeing you this weekend. Till the next time...
THERE ARE THINGS FOR WHICH AN UNCOMPROMISING STAND IS WORTHWHILE...
--------DIETRICH BONHOEFFER
BYE4NOW
FRANK
');document.writeln('06/20/01
Happy summer!
It\'s official we are now in the summertime. I just bought a new bathing suit(the only kind of
suit I wear...other than my birthday suit). I\'m off to Europe in July for some recording in London
and Amsterdam, and I\'m told the Hotel I\'ll be staying at has a fabulous pool. I\'m also taking
my
guitar tech/road manager Izzy Goode. I\'ve know Izzy for quite some time as he used to work
with Visitor, one the my 80\'s bands I was part of. He got the nickname Izzy because he would
sleep with his eyes open and we would always wonder, Izzy sleeping? He\'s brilliant at working on
guitars and has been a tech for everyone from Keith, to Jeff, to Eric. He\'s sitting here next to me
carefully watching what I\'m writing about him...Umm, well I just thought he was watching. He is
also very big 6\'8" and a slim 300 lbs. He\'s very protective of the people he works with, and with
good reason. Izzy\'s dad is a Fed, one of those undercover mission specialists like Mr. Phelps of
Mission Impossible. I remember one time when we were on the road we stopped to get
something to eat. We walked into a diner and some rowdy drunks started making fun of our
band. Izzy sat there very quietly until we were ready to leave. We all got up and walked out the
diner and the rowdy guys were yelling and calling us names and throwing food at us. When we
got to the bus Izzy said he had to go back inside for something. Shortly after, the three gentlemen
who were causing trouble literally came flying out of the diner heads first. The band started
walking towards them and they got up and stared running away. I looked over and there was Izzy
with a big grin on his face, and no I didn\'t ask what happened. So you can see Izzy is multi-
talented, a good guy to have on the road, and he can make a guitar feel just the way you like!!
I have a meeting with Mr. Goldmon today. He\'s talked with Imma about booking me at a huge
music festival in Jamaica in the autumn. The list of artists scheduled to appear is awesome, but
more about that in the coming months. I saw Imma yesterday, she was very upset, she broke a
finger nail, one with a photo of her one and only lover. I told her not to worry it will grow back,
the nail that is. She is also having some other cosmetic surgery, some new teeth. These new teeth
will also have photo\'s engraved on them, so when she smiles she\'ll have her whole family looking
at you, good idea huh? Some people just know how to come up with brilliant ideas. It is a must
though, she only has nine fingers(she\'s missing a thumb) with photo\'s and there are 25 family
members(not including pets) so she really needed more room. She\'s such a warm human being to
carry her family with her everywhere. Imma also said the Buddha Bing is raking in the dough.
His faithful followers continue to support his living style, vices, and his team of wanabees. I
bought the package($29.95) just to see if I could be enlightened. I must say it is truly a miracle.
Yes a miracle that anyone would buy into his nonsense. First of all it includes a map. It\'s
supposed to direct you to peace and happiness, but it\'s just a map to Disneyland. To goofy for
me. The directions though were the best. A book of blank pages, now that\'s cool, he\'s incredible.
It also comes with a video, and I must say after watching it, I did have to laugh. The video
shows how to stimulate the five senses(my sixth sense told me not to bother but I did anyway).
Actually it does help focus on all the senses(except common sense), and all with just a stick of
incense.
1. I burned myself trying to light the incense(touch) 2. I watched the smoke fill the air(sight) 3. I
began to smell something else burning(smell)4. I could hear the sound of sirens from fire
engines(hear) 5. I tasted the water when the fire dept was putting out the fire(taste).
I should have listened to my sixth sense after all.
Looking foward to seeing some of you this weekend in Michigan, have a great weekend!!!
THE LUST FOR POWER IS NOT ROOTED IN STRENGTH BUT IN WEAKNESS
-------------------ERIC FROMM
Bye4Now
Frank
');document.writeln('06/12/01
Hi Everyone,
I\'ve been consumed with work and play around NYC. After the last party I went to with
Imma(she\'s a party animal), it took me a long time to recuperate. She\'s taken me to quite a few
events these past few days and I must say she is quite popular. Fun, fun, fun!!
A bit of odd news...Imma and I went to a bash at the Hard Rock in NYC last Sunday.
As we were \'schmoozing\' with the crowd I noticed a very large man wearing a sort of diaper,
sitting in the corner with lots of people going over to see him. My curiosity commanded me to go
over and check out the scene. As I got closer I could smell the scent of frank incense. I asked
someone what was going on and who the man in the pampers was. I was told to be quiet while in
the presence of the great master. As I peaked over and got a glimpse of the man sitting there, I
thought he looked familiar. His body looked like the Michelin tire man, but there\'s plenty of men
with body\'s that look like that. So I pushed up toward the front of the crowd and to my surprise
it was MR. BA DA BING!!! I yelled Mr. Bing, and suddenly I was grabbed by security and
dragged away. I tried telling the security men that Mr. Bing was a friend of mine, but it didn\'t
matter. They through me out of the Hard Rock. As I sat there feeling very confused until Imma
came out. ‘‘Frank\' she said, ‘‘ I forgot to tell you\', I said ,\'Tell me what?\' Imma explained to me
that Mr.Bing is in the club but he has been enlightened and now is the great Spiritual leader
BUDDHA BING. I asked why would a spiritual leader be in the Hard Rock Caféé? She said,
‘‘He believes there are lots of lost souls searching for the path to peace, and happiness\'. I said I
would be interested walking on that path and asked how do I get there. Imma said \'$29.95
is all it takes\'. I guess old BUDDHA BING hasn\'t changed at all really, He takes Visa and
Mastercard, and will give complete directions. I think his meeting with ELVIS has something to
do with this. I\'m very glad Mr. Goldmon has taken over my management.
As you may have noticed I will be doing some shows with RICHIE HAVENS. Unfortunately
I will not be able to do the Detroit show with Richie, as is on my schedule, I will be working with
BOBBY SHERMAN at Hershey Park. At first I thought I would be able to do both, but with the
way the airlines are running, it was just to close for comfort. However, at the Hershey Show, I
was lucky enough to borrow John O\'Reilly (Drums), Sean Kennedy(bass), Michael Roberts
(piano), Paul Morris(Hammond and Synth). It should be lots of fun reuniting with this team of
players.
I hope to see some familiar faces on the road in the next few months. Looking foward to
some kinda fun...
CARPE DIEM
--------------HORACE
BYE4NOW
FRANK
');document.writeln('04/26/01
TGIF?
Why not TGIS? Saturday’s a pretty good day, and Sunday isn’t bad? How about TGIT? I’ve had some amazing Tuesday’s and Thursdays and this could include
TODAY!
I’ve got some pretty shocking news to tell you. If you’re standing you better sit down, and if
you’re sitting you better stand ...Mr. Bing has disappeared. I’ve talked with his secretary Ms.
Dapoint, she told me she just doesn’t understand. Nobody has heard from him since he left the
office yesterday. He was on his way to finalize a restaurant deal with his new partners Berger and
Frys. He mentioned that deal to me on his yacht last week, I told him I thought it was cheezy. I
guess I won’t have to worry about backing out of his offer.
Today I have interview with another manager Mr. O. I. Goldmon. He’s one of the best I’m told.
He’s responsible for bringing back Vic Damone’s career. I met him a few weeks ago at a charity
event ‘RAJAR’(Rasta And Jewish Allstar Entertainers ). His Mom is from Jamaica and his Dad is
from Israel. He looks like Seinfeld with dreadlocks. He’s already invited me to another charity
event, ‘Spliff’(Smoking People Love Inhaling Food Frequently). They hope to raise lots of
money, if anyone can find it. I’ll keep you posted.
Well I’m off to yet another recording session, this one for a TV show. After that I have a
rehearsal this evening with Lesley Gore. It’s another busy weekend so I’ll catch up on Monday.
Hope you all have a great weekend!
UNLESS YOU CAN FIND SOME SORT OF LOYALTY, YOU CANNOT FIND UNITY AND
PEACE IN YOUR ACTIVE LIVING...
------------JOSIAH ROYCE
FALL SEVEN TIMES GET UP EIGHT...
-------------JAPANESE PROVERB
');document.writeln('04/24/01
Hello Cleveland,
Busy, busy, busy. Some days are just not long enough. I wasn’t able to get to a computer
yesterday, so ...oops, I just knocked over a glass of water(just missed the laptop, phew). You
know with all the meetings and stuff... Which reminds me, I got to do some swimming last week.
I was out with Mr. Ba Da Bing(I call him by his first name now Ba Da, he says his name comes
from the opening line of the Mama’s and Papa’s song Monday Monday) on his yacht, and he asked if I wanted to do some diving. I told him I had never ‘Scuba-ed’
before but I would try.
Everything was fine until I tried on the fins. They were made of a very heavy material, I could
hardly lift my foot. Some of the yacht hands helped by pushing me off the yacht and into the water. I sank straight to the bottom. I looked up and I could see Mr. Ba
Da Bings yacht moving, I thought ‘they must be searching for me’. I quickly removed the cement fins and headed toward the top. About halfway up my tanks ran out
of air, tanks but no tanks. Luckily there was a garbage barge passing by and I hitched a ride back to a landfill. I called Mr. Bings office, and told him I was upset at
what happened. He was very surprised to hear from me. I’m reconsidering
my relationship with him. Ba Da’s offer I can’t refuse is a refusal to me. I hope he won’t be disappointed. I also met with Ima Liah. She said she’s working on a deal
right now that would be of great importance to me and all of the rock world. She was so hush-hush about details. I asked if the
Beatles were getting back together or something. She looked straight at me with her real eye(she’s missing one)and smiled and winked. I’m sure she’s the one I can
count on. Time will tell.
I spoke with my attorney at Dewey, Cheatim, and Howe. My personal attorney at the firm is an Asian gentleman named Bill Yoo. His brother Will also works there
doing estate law. I ran the Mr.
Bing situation by him to see if everything will be alright. After a two hour discussion he finally said
yes. During a rehersal yesterday some of the musicians were discussing movies, and one of my favorite Rockumentary’s came up. I’m talking about ‘Spinal Tap’. If
you’re familiar with that movie, you know the famous line‘Does it go to eleven?’, referring to the volume of the guitar. Well, I have an amplifier that goes past ten, it
actually goes to twelve(true). It’s an old Fender amp, and its been modified to my specifications. Because it\'s the real thing, it looks old,
but it’s not really ‘beat up’. I let people look at it but they can’t touch it. Let’s draw a comparison between a 1955 Ford and a 2001 Ford. Not only do the cars
look different, they ride
different. The funny thing about amplifiers is that manufacturers try to make the new ones sound and look
like the old ones. Even car companies are doing it, look at the Chrysler PT Cruiser. It’s amazing how much value is attached to things that are truly old. Land grows
in value, and that’s a
commodity that’s as old as it gets. It’s only after we have polluted or raped the land that it gets
devalued. Condition is another consideration. But things have a breakpoint at where they’re worth
something or nothing. I mean, a car doesn’’’’t become antique until it’s twenty years old. Scarcity is
another reason for value, try finding an inexpensive painting of a famous dead artist. Guitars are good examples too, most older vintages of guitars(in good condition)
that look and pretty much sound and feel like the new ones are worth much more then the new ones. A brand new Fender Telecaster for example is not as valuable
as one made in say 1965. Fender has ‘reissues’ of a
1965 Telecaster, but it’s not quite the same. Thirty six years of aging can’t be built into ‘reissue’. Now let’s get back to ‘Spinal Tap’. Here we have a spoof of an
old British rock
band still on the road with their career on the brink of nostalgia. They’re every cliche’ a rock band could be. The bittersweet message of the movie is how disposable
entertainment is. The Rolling Stones have loads of parallels with Spinal Tap with one exception...Talent. If the Stones didn’t
have super talent they would be just a memory. Same with Billy Joel, or Elton John. If they didn’t keep up with the times and stay on the cutting edge they would
have ended up in the real life ‘Spinal Tap’ domain. Take heed boy bands. Part of Spinal Tap’s appeal comes from the fact that they’re not a ‘real’ band but actors
portraying them. The genre’ of the music they
play is kind of funny as well.
Overall, there’s lots of similarities between reality and fiction. Whether it’s a spoof of a rock band or an everyday life situation, you gotta find the humor in it.
-----EVERY MOMENT IS A GIFT, THAT’’S WHY IT’’S CALLED THE PRESENT...
-------UNKNOWN
bye4now
Frank
');document.writeln('04/22/01
Hello!
It\'s Monday morning in NYC, it was a beautiful weekend. Seems like spring just went directly to
summer.
Got to hear some good music in Greenwich Village. The tourists were out in full force, jamming
the sidewalks and streets. I spent some time in the East Village and went to Washington Square
park.
It\'s gonna be a busy week coming up, school, rehersals, a few recording sessions, and a show with
Lesley Gore on Saturday on Long Island.
It seems like everyone and his sister has a band and CD out. This, I think is sad for the cd buyer.
It just
makes it harder to sift through the music and find what you really like. Although it gives equal
opportunity on the playing field, lots of it is just pure litter. Taste is the key here. Some of the
stuff I\'ve heard isn\'t worth the plastic it is on. Good music is good music no matter what. You
may not like it but you know it\'s good.
There\'s no accounting for taste as they say. Maybe I should be a music critic! Later...
TOIL TO MAKE YOURSELF REMARKABLE BY SOME TALENT OR OTHER..
--------SENECA
');document.writeln('04/19/01
Good morning,
It\'s another wonderful spring day today in NYC, winter is fading away into memory. I would like
to thank Kenna Rogers for all her hard work on the this site. One of her latest
achievements(others include sports, and she\'s a WINNER)is STAGES. Thanks also to Jenny
Baker for her photo contribution in STAGES.
I would like to suggest if you like the Eagles, to watch the interview with Don Henley on the
Charlie Rose show. Don is quite the person, his views on music, the music business, the
environment, and his approach as an artist is very admirable. Check it out if you can.
Yesterday was my wife Janice\'s birthday, also, it was a teaching day so I was quite busy. Last night
some friends came by for a birthday get together. Janice and I are taking today off to celebrate her
birthday. No meetings, sessions, rehersals, shows, ect. Time to de-stress from the momentum.
Have a great weekend everyone...till Monday.
REMEMBER WHEN LIFE\'S PATH IS STEEP TO KEEP YOUR MIND EVEN.
-----HORACE
BYE4NOW
Frank
');document.writeln('04/17/01
Good Day,
Ok so I missed a day, daily post\'s
may sometimes be bi-daily posts. The reason for this is I didn\'t have time to get near a computer
let alone work on one.
Classes yesterday were alot of fun. My students think I look and play like Jeff Beck. I told them
although I don\'t think I have a small nose, but my nose is not as big as Jeff Beck\'s(or as red). Two
of my Asian students want to take a picture of me and send it to their homes, one in Hong Kong
and the other Korea. I told them I often get people asking me if I\'m Jeff Beck. But I also get
people that think I\'m either Mick Jagger, or Keith Richards. Go Figure. I know who I am and
that\'s all that matters. Meep and Jones(our cats) would not be confused either, they don\'t know
who Jeff
Beck, Mick, or Keith are. See, cats are smarter then people sometimes.
After school I had my meeting with my possible new manager Mr.Ba Da Bing. When I got to his
office in New Jersey he said we should go for a ride. I said cool. He drives a Caddy so we went in
his car. We drove down to a river, it was a lovely scenic spot, a nice place for a meeting. He told
me the river was very deep. He explained his offer to me. It sounded pretty good, except for
thepart about swimming with Dolphins and a new pair of shoes. I told him I would think about it,
and discuss it with some of my business associates. He told me I shouldn\'t wait to long because
things could change. I tried to talk with everyone I know about the deal, but when I mentioned
Mr. Bings
name they all got real nervous. Hmmm...Some people get so paranoid about nothing.I\'ll just have
to decide on this one myself. I don\'t want to let Mr Bing down, he seems like such a
kind man, but I do have an issue about the shoe thing...I mean, I think it\'s my business how I
should dress. I\'ve contacted my lawyer at their firm, Dewey, Cheatem, and Howe to see what
their opinion is. Meanwhile, I\'m meeting with a new agent today, her name is Imma Liah. She\'s
got very
long finger nails that would make any cat jealous(I don\'t think they\'re real though). But the
lengthhas a purpose,(other then a weapon) she writes all her phone numbers on them, quite handy
I think. A few fingernails even have some photos on them. She\'s way cool.
Till the next time...
JUST LOVE YOUR BROTHER AND DRINK A GOOD GLASS OF RED WINE EVERYDAY
---Advice on aging from 112 year-old Italian Shepherd, ANTONIO TODDE (the world\'s oldest man)
Bye4Now
Frank
');document.writeln('04/15/01
How\'s it goin\'?
Did ya\'ll have a great holiday weekend?
My wife Janice and I had a splendid day with some friends and family...great food, great wine,
great company, who could ask for more?
STAGES is up on the site and should have the finishing touches within the next few days..I hope
you enjoy it.
While my computer was in the shop, I missed telling you about a play Janice and I went to see
March 31. It was at the High Point Regional High School, and the play presented was \'How To
Succeed In Business Without Really Trying\'. It featured the two rising stars (and sisters) Jenny
Baker and Jilli Baker. They were great in their respective roles. They\'ve got loads of talent.
Singing, acting, dancing, wow! I was quite amazed by how professional it was. I enjoyed it more
than the production and casts of the cruise ships I\'ve been on. I wish them the best of luck in their
ventures.
Tommorrow I\'m teaching in the afternoon, I have a meeting with my manager Mr. BA DA BING
after that. He says he\'s from the West Indies although he seems more like someone I\'ve seen on
TV. He works with his brother Mr. Ba DA BOOM. They both have real big necks, and always
wear a suit. People come into Mr. BA DA BING\'S office and kiss his ring, it is a nice ring but...I
don\'t get it. Anyway he says he has this great offer for me, something I won\'t want to refuse! I
can\'t wait to find out the exact details. I\'m so excited maybe he\'ll tell why all those garbage trucks
are around his property. I\'ll let you know what happens...
ITS NEVER TO LATE TO BE WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN...------GEORGE ELLIOT
Bye4Now
Frank
');document.writeln('04/12/01
Hello gang,
First off I want to wish everyone a Happy Passover, Good Friday, and Happy Easter and any
other denominatonal religious thang you might be celebrating. I celebrate Easter but I don\'t hunt
for eggs, I\'m always looking for my keys and never can find them.
It\'s such a beautiful day in NYC today so I\'m going outside to enjoy it. I spoke to Kenna the web
Goddess and she\'s just about ready to put \'Stages\' up on the website. Hope you all get a kick out it.
Have a great Holiday!! I\'ll see you next week.I\'ll leave you with 3 Quotes for today, tommorrow
and Sunday.
TO LEARN THE WORTH OF A MAN\'S RELIGION,
DO BUSINESS WITH HIM.
--JOHN LANCASTER SPALDING
DON\'T BE AGNOSTIC. BE SOMETHING
--ROBERT FROST
IN THE NAME OF GOD, STOP A MOMENT, CEASE YOUR WORK, LOOK AROUND YOU...
--LEO TOLSTOY
BYE4NOW,
Frank
');document.writeln('04/11/01
Wasup?
Some of you have asked how to get previous posts, so without talking to the computer gurus I
decided to add to the daily posts and keep a rolling log.
So it will start with the most recent and follow with the previous ect.
I received emails suggesting that you liked the \'quote of the day\' thing so I\'ll keep up with that as
well. Today is a teaching day so I\'ll have to be brief...No tests today and my students love that.
One of my class assignments is to learn \'the Venture\'s\'song, Walk Don\'t Run, remember that? I\'m
trying to get the beginners class to learn the rhythm part and the intermediate class to learn the
lead. They have to get it
together by the end of the term for a performance at the school. I might even join in, but only if I
can learn it! I was hoping to teach them some more contemporary instrumental songs, but The
Ventures are a great place to start.They would much rather learn a Metallica song, but I insist that
they must learn to walk before they can run.
(There\'s some kinda wisdom in there somewhere).
After school today I\'m off to the recording studio to work on my CD that will be released
sometime this century hopefully. Yes it is a little closer to getting done and out but like the saying
goes... \'I will sell no wine before it\'s time\'. So I won\'t whine....
_________________
YOU CAN NOT BELIEVE IN HONOR UNTIL YOU HAVE ACHIEVED IT. BETTER KEEP
YOURSELF CLEAN AND BRIGHT; YOU ARE THE WINDOW THROUGH WHICH YOU
MUST SEE THE WORLD
-George Bernard Shaw
Have a great day everyone!
Bye4Now
Frank
');