| MUSICAL
CONCEPTION IN LIVINGSTON, NJ
Ah,
the beginning... Such innocent times for some not such innocent kids...
For those of you old enough to remember growing up in the late 70’s
and 80’s - we didn’t have the distractions this current
generation enjoys. There were no cell phones, computers, PSP’s
or IPOD’s, and “texting” was something kin to the
CIA or FBI. All we had was sports and music – the pillars of shaping
youth. Well, the first strike against me for sports was that I grew
up on a main road. The only neighbor my age that I had was Holly Hoffman,
who lived in back of me in a nice neat cul-de-sac. Holly, as I recall,
was not much of an athlete. The second obstacle was the road I lived
on itself. The speed limit may have been 25 MPH on rolling Shrewsbury
Ave in Livingston, NJ, but the majority of the traffic usually went
about 60, anxious to get off and on the nearby 280 interstate. This
is not the kind of environment - conducive for playing ball in the street.
Thus, sports for me came at a later age. But my parents did have a piano
in the house. It looked beautiful, but this Hardman model was maybe
the worst sounding baby grand piano ever assembled! I didn’t know
the difference then, and that “old piano” would help form
some of the early moments of my original repertoire.
I was the youngest of four kids – all 5-6 years apart from each
other – so classic rock was constantly playing throughout the
house. The first albums I bought were “Breakfast In America”
from SUPERTRAMP, “The Grand Illusion and “Pieces
of Eight” from STYX, and of course, “News Of The
World”, from the greatest of all the legendary rock bands –
QUEEN. I became obsessed with QUEEN, and with good
reason. No rock band matched the musicality, songwriting, harmonies,
talent, sense of humor, sense of arrangement or overall quality of the
music. There were worse bands to idolize. Don’t believe me? Your
head will spin with one listen to QUEEN
2,
Sheer Heart Attack, A Night At The Opera
or any of their early albums ( Of course, I wanted to play their
songs on the piano. My piano teacher, Stanley Green, who was somehow
my 2nd cousin (and he also taught the “event guru” herself
- Stacey Prince), taught me by the book (to read music) and all I remember
is “one E and a two E and a three E”. I didn’t really
get it, and my parents used to bribe me with $1 for each lesson I took.
Wise investment. Especially, when I started playing with chords and
forging my own “creations”. I didn’t quite know what
I was doing at the time, but I knew I liked making new songs, rather
than playing established songs. My dad would always say, “Jason,
why can’t you ever finish playing a song”? I guess I had
A.D.D (before anyone knew what it was), in that I got bored and always
started playing something else.
CREATION, DISCOVERY, PEGASUS....TO THE SOLAR SYSTEM
When you’re 10 years old in 1979, the allure of the universe becomes
more than a curiosity. Hence, the mythical Journey-like early band names.
The first CREATION show was played in Brian Schacter’s
backyard in the fall of ‘79 (5th grade for those scoring at home).
Armed with a rented KORG Odyssey keyboard, I remember that our drummer
had mysteriously quit that day, and I had to teach our “new”
drummer, Ronnie Spiaggia, all the songs in a matter of hours. It’s
not like he had a chance to even rehearse the songs with us, but “the
show must go on”. I don’t even think we had a bass player,
as Marc Brien and (can anyone name the other guitarist who played one
gig with us and now works undercover for the CIA...???) Alan Licht were
the guitarists that day. There is no recording of this momentous event
- so I couldn’t tell you what we played, but chances are that
a few of my original offerings -”The British Mutiny”, “The
Bomb Fell In NYC” (obviously written 22 yrs before the real thing)
and the catchy, “That’s The Way The Days Used To Be”
were on the list. Special thanks to Bob and Rhona Schacter for hosting
my very first live performance.
Other “gigs” followed through 5th and 6th grade, as CREATION
soon turned into DISCOVERY (a very important, prolific name
change). Marc Brien had entrenched himself as the lead (and rhythm)
guitarist in the group, as Saul Sutton took on permanent drum duties
- basically from this point forward for the majority of the next 27-28
years. We still did not have a bassist, as I would play the bass parts
on the keyboard. However, there was room for David Cohen to add his
trumpet to “Eight Days A Week” and other rock classics.
I recall a 6th grade talent show where we played “We Will Rock
You”. There really wasn’t a call for bass or trumpet in
that one. However, there was a call for deodorant! During this event,
the principal of Mt. Pleasant Elementary school, Dr. Whiting proclaimed,
“I think the time has come where everyone should be responsible
for their own hygiene and start to wear odor protection on a regular
basis.” I guess the parents of the day were not too hip on sharing
this information. It was a good thing we found this out, as 7th grade
opened up the band to a whole new touring circuit – bar-mitzvah
season!
Of course, what wedding band wouldn’t want three 7th graders pounding
on their precious instruments? What parents who spent 15-20K on their
son’s or daughter’s bat-mitzvah wouldn’t want PEGASUS
(another startling band name change) to grace the stage with less than
stellar versions of “Crazy Train”, “All Day and All
of the Night” and of course, “Freebird”. What did
I want for my birthday/bar-mitzvah present? A keyboard, naturally. Much
like the JETS selecting Ken O’Brien over Dan Marino in the NFL
draft a year later, my generous parents gave me the choice between a
KORG M1 keyboard and a CRUMAR Orchestrator. After playing both, I chose
the CRUMAR. You should never leave decisions like this up to a 13 year
old boy. While the CRUMAR had a nice string section (which explains
the “orchestrator”), the piano sounded like - when the dentist
drills on your teeth and you get that squeaky sound. Not attractive.
CRUMAR went out of business some years later and KORG remains one of
the premier keyboard manufacturers on the planet. Sort of like O’Brien
having a nice but forgettable career, as Marino broke NFL passing records
(NOTE – But current JET QB – Mr. FAVRE has broken Marino’s
records, so life does come full circle). But my inferior keyboard didn’t
stop us from playing at a different bar-mitzvah every week (on the hired
band’s equipment!). It was at these performances, when I debuted
this little catchy song I wrote entitled, “Solar System”.
“Solar System” had a basic piano hook (this is the LOOP
you hear when you come to the site) with an octave bass line, and also
featured a memorable sing along chorus. It was “Mr. Roboto”
meets “Cold as Ice”, and pre-dated the opening piano section
of Van Hagar’s “Right Now.” If you talk to anyone
today from Livingston, NJ, who grew up in my age range, nothing I do
will ever top “Solar System”. This first “hit”
gave me the confidence to keep writing through my junior high years,
as I tried and tried to grow my hair long. In 8th grade, I remember
a girl not recognizing who I was, and when I turned around, she said,
“Jason?”, as if to confirm that my hair was indeed getting
longer! Needless to say, I was very psyched!
Entering 1984, and in the Spring of 9th grade, I realized that PEGASUS
was actually the name of a race track, so we switched back to DISCOVERY
for the oh so important Junior High Battle of the Bands. Marc Brien
had left the band to pursue athletics and Saul and I recruited Joe Leibovici
on keyboards and guitars, Bobby Myers on guitar and Eric Baker on the
bass guitar. We all decided (or maybe it was just me) to get sleeveless
shirts with lightning bolts on them. Very Flash Gordon. Very DEVO. In
addition, I think we all sported spandex colored pants. Hey, it was
the mid 80’s and MTV and hair metal were very influential! Kenny
Spielman even drew a diagram of our classic stage set up that I still
have to this day! It would be the first time where our band would have
two dueling keyboardists, as Joe L. was already a virtuoso on the keys,
while also honing his hard rock chops on the guitar. Our competitors
in this Jr. High Battle of the Bands were TEMPEST (Marc Orciouli
and Rob Fusari’s old band) and TUNGSTEN – and you
wonder why we were named DISCOVERY! While our set list was a blur, we
did play “Solar System” and another minor “hit”
single of mine - “You’re Just So Crazy” - as well
as this incredible progressive instrumental medley with bits from SAGA
(“Don’t Be Late”) and GENESIS (“Dance on a Volcano)”.
But our biggest reaction in the medley - came when we threw in that
NENA song, “99 LUFT Balloons” in the middle!” You
know... The “da di da...da da...” The crowd went crazy,
I tell you! Again, there’s no recording or video on record. What?
Was there not portable VHS or even BETA back then? Where’s DILBER
when you need him? As Jr. High came to a close, it was off to summer
camp again. It was in my high school years where the 1st truly classic
PERL band evolved.
GREEN EGGS AND HAM....TO THE FOG
Livingston High School – 1985. It was very much like your typical
high school with jocks, nerds, druggies, geeks, sluts, prudes and also
featured the illicit student-teacher affair (Where is Rachel Donnington
now?). The only difference between LHS and other high schools in America
- was there were a lot more Jews! Jews who loved tuna from Nana’s
Deli! This is where I bonded with my core group of friends – most
from the Mt. Pleasant section of town, but a few from the Heritage section
of town as well. We were connected by our love of music. Let me rephrase
that... our love of “good” music. Keep in mind that we possibly
were growing up through the worst stretch of music (1985-1987) ever
produced. HUEY LEWIS & THE NEWS? They were the one of the
biggest bands at the time. How about ROXETTE? Yeah, I tell
you “who’s got the fucking look”! POISON was another
horrible band, and the worst song ever written, “We Built This
City for Rock n Roll” from STARSHIP also came out during
this time period. How could a young songwriter be inspired by such garbage?
By accident, I was rummaging through my brothers’ cassettes and
found a double sided tape from a guy named TODD RUNDGREN.
I didn’t know what to make of RUNDGREN at first. He had
that freak hit song, “Bang on The Drum All Day”, and this
weird kid from school, Andrew Waltzer, was obsessed with Todd’s
work. His sizable cult following would often say, “Todd is God”.
So, I listened to 1978’s “Hermit of Mink Hollow” album
and 1971’s “Runt: The Ballad of TR” and although I
was not blown away with my first listen, his sound grew on me like a
fungus. Todd introduced me to the usage of different kinds of chords
- Major 7’s, Minor 7’s, suspended chords, 5th’s, 9th’s.
For those of you who know Todd’s “Hello, It’s Me”
or “Can We Still Be Friends”, you can hear what I’m
talking about. The chords he uses are so pretty, poignant and musical.
It became my mission to get everything TODD related and I even dragged
my friends to some shows over the years, and a few of them dug him too!
My writing output was out of control. It wasn’t like high school
today where kids have to discover a planet to get into a good college.
So, I wrote and wrote and wrote. I even got a sales job at SOUNDS EASY
– the keyboard store in the Livingston Mall. At first, the manager
didn’t want to hire a 16 yr old kid, but Jason Miller turned to
me and said, “Jay, play something.” I did, and I got the
job that could line my pockets with cash, and provide a rehearsal space
for my music. Not that it was all roses... I overused the blueprint
that Rundgren laid out on many different songs, but there was one tune,
a tender ballad called “Your Eyes” that almost gained “Solar
System” like popularity. “Your Eyes” started with
the most gorgeous of chords – an Emaj7 – and was the first
thing I’d written that was truly for the ladies. It was sugary
and sweet, and while it helped me hook up...I didn’t score a girlfriend
because of it.
In 1986, in my junior year, I had to decide what band to play with for
the Battle of the Bands. A few of my band members - Saul (who would
sing in this band and not play the drums) and Joe were teaming up with
Steve Mazzarella and Robert DuBoff – two incredibly gifted guitarists
- and drummer Dave Weichert (who later with Rob and Steve would help
me with the Pasquarelli sessions). Marc Brien re-emerged as the bass
player, and Lee Bodner (who was as big of a QUEEN fan as me)
filled in as the 3rd guitarist in TRIPPE (very vital to add
the extra P and E). There was no room for me in TRIPPE, so
I stumbled upon a jam session with Chip Michaels (a dead ringer for
Jim Morrison), Brian Jamison (another guitar prodigy), Matt Crane on
drums and Vinny Giambatista on bass. We affectionately called ourselves
GREEN EGGS AND HAM . Hands down, that was a better name than
TRIPPE! While the TRIPPE set list included mellow
classics like “Breathe”, “Hotel California”
and “Blue Sky”, the Dr. Suess set list was a little more
rockin’ with “That Smell”, “Communication Breakdown”,
“Feels Like the First Time” and the only epic of the set
“Foreplay/Long Time”, which featured yours truly playing
all those crazy keyboard solos! GREEN EGGS AND HAM edged out
TRIPPE that night to win the 1986 Battle of the Bands, and
while I was happy to come out victorious, it didn’t mean as much
because I wasn’t playing with my core friends, and we didn’t
get to do any of my originals. That would change the next year.
As I built more trust at my job at SOUNDS EASY, I often closed the store
a few nights a week. That was fine with me. I was a 17 yr old kid forced
to stay in a room with over $500,000 worth of musical equipment! I would
stay late and record my ideas weekly. I wrote close to 100 songs between
1985-1987, and more importantly, I even had the occasional tryst in
the back room of the store! Uh... Rug burns? Blood stains? I digress...
The time had come to make my mark on LHS. Together, with Saul back on
drums, Joe L. on guitar, we added the aforementioned Lee Bodner on guitar,
and the deep voiced, Steve Klein on bass guitar. It helped that we would
hang out together anyway, and that Saul’s parents (Ike and Marilyn)
didn’t mind that we always rehearsed in their basement (or maybe
they did and were just being nice)! Our working band name was SENSITIVE
STEELE (named after a “Remington Steele” episode),
but cooler heads prevailed, and THE FOG was the only name we
all didn’t hate. The Mazzarella-DuBoff outfit was at it again
as well, with BREEN AND THE BANDITS (amazing how Marc Brien
– BREEN at this point - got his hands in everything and even got
the band named after him!) forming for the 1987 Senior Year “Battle
of the Bands”.
Rehearsals for THE FOG started in the Spring of ‘87,
as one practice even had Jason Miller in the band for a day, singing
SAGA’s “On The Loose”. It may have been one day too
many! THE FOG definitely featured the first “classic”
line up in the LIVEPERL archives. You had Joseph Leibovici
(a Jew with a vowel at the end of this last name) who was our resident
metal head - who played guitar, keyboards, glockenspiel, drums and was
a master at racquet sports. Lee Bodner (who must have had an endorsement
deal with a wrist band company) provided the rhythm guitar and I knew
he would back me up in wanting to play QUEEN songs. Steve Klein
(a big RUSH fan with the alter ego of Geddy Lee) was the typical
bassist – quiet, reserved, slow speaking (sort of like the Jewish
version of FINCH from the movie, “American Pie”) and Saul
Sutton (the good looking drummer) who would be the only FOG
member to stay in the New York area in later years, and thus the only
member to continue to play on with LIVEPERL.
We entered the 1987 BOTB as the underdog. BREEN AND THE BANDITS
were a talented bunch and I remember they played some difficult material
- “Song Remains The Same” was one of their tunes, and you
have to give kudos for any band playing, “Yours Is No Disgrace”
from YES. THE FOG had a different approach. We didn’t
play 8 minute classics, and tried to keep our set upbeat. (VIDEO
of this 1987 LHS Battle of the Bands is available on the VIDEO PAGE
– By the graphics alone, you can tell this recording is lo-fi
– but all of our mullets are carefully displayed!). We opened
with “Detroit Rock City” from KISS, as I’ve
never had such fun being a front man, despite my microphone not working
for the first half of the song. Joe and Lee expertly navigated the dual
guitar leads in the middle. It was perfect. Next up was “Turn
It On Again” from GENESIS. I could never get that amazing
tripled piano sound on the CRUMAR, and even Ian Bishow’s (who
played on a couple songs and donated his KORG keyboard to the cause)
updated equipment (KORG) couldn’t help. Either way, we took pride
in our crunchy ending of that song, as we had to do something different
from the GENESIS version that faded out. Our 3rd song was the
aforementioned SAGA tune, “On The Loose”, that
featured a very progressive middle section that Joe and I were - supposedly
– playing together to perfection. It’s a good thing the
tape comes in and out to hide that fact. You can barely hear Joe’s
lead vocal on the track, but there is a better sounding version of this
song, that was to be played at our “Something Different”
gig, a few weeks later. The 4th song was my “Your Eyes”.
Choosing not to dedicate it to all the girls in my life (crickets commence),
“Your Eyes” was dedicated to my mom who was just coming
out of the hospital, after a successful operation removing a brain tumor
(NOTE – It’s amazing how well she’s done ever since
– and is even a computer maven, able to pull up this very biography
on the computer!). In retrospect, it might have been strange dedicating
a love song - more suited for a love interest my age - than my mother,
but who was really listening to the words anyway? The crowd went nuts
for my ballad, but then went even more crazy for “Runaway”
from BONJOVI. We actually had the keyboard sound right on that
one (although starting it way too fast), and I didn’t screw up
the words too bad! Joe’s solo is exactly like the recording -
and would make Richie Sambora proud. Joe put down the guitar and joined
me on keyboards for “Solar System”. The verse’s words
have changed through the years, but you can see how this tune fit right
in with the era it was written. Amazingly, “Solar System”
has enjoyed lasting staying power, but it is on this performance where
the energy of this song can never be duplicated. It is truly a rite
of passage. The slowed down, drawn out emotional ending (featuring Joe’s
singing lead guitar mimicking the SS hook) was purely classic and delivers
a memorable rock moment. With the set winding down, we played “Rocking
The Paradise” from STYX, which featured a Lee Bodner
guitar solo, but camera man Kenny Spielman was sleeping at the wheel
and only shows Lee at the very end of his shining moment! While ‘Paradise’
is a challenging vocal song, we were pretty impressive on the changes
and overall, pulled it off. Closing the show was Cheap Trick’s
“Surrender”, which features a great shot of me, Joe and
Lee huddled at the front of the stage. Steve Klein – our forgotten
bassist – got in on it as well. Halfway through the song, I come
out with less clothes than I had on before! I had to do something, since
you could barely hear the vocals at this point again! And like that,
the show was over.
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE VIDEO OF THE
1987 LHS BATTLE OF THE BANDS PERFOMANCE OF THE FOG
After the hoopla from winning the BOTB (two years in a row for me with
two different bands) subsided, we were asked to play this teen club
in Montclair, called “Something Different”, where we performed
two sets of various covers and versions of “Your Eyes” and
“Solar System. There are rumors that several bootleg copies of
this show were in circulation in Europe, Israel, Canada and even Australia.
(I hope to have copies of this show on the site in the near future)
Either way, summer was upon us, and soon we were all off to college
in the Fall of 1987. An era in the LIVEPERL history had ended.
But it wasn’t until the 90’s that LIVEPERL would
emerge and start to hit its’ stride.
COMING SOON – The LIVEPERL Years 1988-1999
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