David Spero
Encyclopedia
David Spero was a "rock-radio
pioneer" in the 1970s and is a "high-profile" music manager and owner of the Cleveland office of Alliance Artists Ltd.
), WNCR-FM (now WGAR-FM
), WMMS
, M105-FM (now WMJI
), and WNCX
, Spero worked as a cue card holder on The Upbeat Show
which his father, Herman Spero, produced. At 15, Spero was helping to set the order of songs as a co-writer and assistant producer of the show. In describing the show, Spero explained that it was like Dick Clark’s American Bandstand
in that it featured the newest performers and their music, but unlike Clark’s show, which had just one act and mostly dancing, Upbeat had eight or more live acts each week.
At the age of 16, Spero got his start in radio on WXEN's graveyard shift. Shortly after WXEN, Spero moved to WNCR and then WMMS at around 19 years of age. While still living with his parents, Spero got a break at WNCR when radio host Don Imus
helped him get promoted to the morning spot on the station. As a DJ at WMMS in the 1970s, Spero interviewed most of the rock stars who went to Cleveland. In fact, Humble Pie
credits Spero for breaking the band locally in the US. And, although his fellow DJ "Kid Leo" is widely credited with breaking Bruce Springsteen
, it was Spero who "told fellow WMMR [sic] DJ 'Kid Leo' about Springsteen."
career. Spero managed the Michael Stanley Band during their early building process. According to Jim Girard of Citi-Music Magazine, Spero used his influence to get the band a deal with Epic Records
, although Spero credits Bill Szymczyk
and Irving Azoff
– Joe Walsh’s manager at the time, with getting Michael's new band signed. Michel Stanley's second solo album, Friends and Legends
, was the first project Spero was involved with as his manager.
Spero was managing Stanley when his band opened for the Eagles on tour, thus Spero gained valuable experience in managing a band and developed a relationship with the Eagles, both of which proved helpful to Spero's career.
In 1978 Spero returned to radio at Cleveland's M105-FM (now WMJI
) both to avoid the travel since he was newly married and because he missed working in radio.
, Spero left M105-FM and spent over ten years with Columbia Pictures
. In March, 1984, Boxoffice magazine
listed in its "On the Move" page that Spero was promoted to Manager of the Cleveland-Cincinnati branch office. He continued to work up through the ranks and was Columbia's Regional Managing Director in Independence, Ohio
, when the film company relocated that office to Chicago
.
manager just before Walsh released his ninth studio album Ordinary Average Guy
. Spero and Walsh have maintained a friendship for over thirty years.
Spero produced ‘The Joe Walsh/Glenn Frey Tour’ – the precursor to ‘The Eagles: Hell Freezes Over Tour
’ – after facilitating the reconciliation between Walsh and Frey which eventually brought the entire band back together. He describes the Hell Freezes Over Tour as "the coolest thing I ever did."
In the late 1990s, in addition to Joe Walsh, Spero was managing other musicians including the classic pop act Raspberries
and Ted Neeley
, a rock and roll musician well known for performing the title role in the 1973 movie
and long-running road production of Jesus Christ Superstar
. He also was managing Harry Nilsson
in 1994 when the Grammy award winning musician died in his sleep a few days after completing work on his album "Lost and Found".
In 2000, Spero accepted a position as Senior Director of Programming for the The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame where he set up many shows and creative events including MTV Live At The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. John Mayer
, Linkin Park
, Avril Lavigne
and Godsmack
are among the artists Spero brought to the Rock Hall. Spero served as a member of their Board of Trustees into 2008. Among the many events he brought to the Rock Hall, in October, 2005, Spero recreated Upbeat in a benefit helping inner city teenagers.
In addition to his involvement with Cleveland's Hall of Fame, on October 7, 2007, Spero himself was inducted as one of the Radio/Television Broadcasters Hall of Fame of Ohio's Class of 2007. And when Graham Nash
was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010 for the second time, this time with The Hollies
– the first time was in 1997 with Crosby, Stills and Nash – Nash acknowledged the help and support of Spero during his remarks.
, Spero helped his Edge of the World
album get off the ground with a summer tour. A few years later, in 2007, Spero was Yusuf Islam's manager, co-managing him with his brother David Gordon, for the Deluxe reissues of Tea for the Tillerman
and Teaser and the Firecat
. David then did the A&R
work for the former Cat Stevens' Roadsinger
CD and put together his tour in Europe and the US in 2009 which was Islam's first full tour since 1976.
Spero was instrumental in bringing together Paul McCartney
and Islam into the recording studio for one of the tracks. That track, "Boots & Sand," also features Dolly Parton
, Islam's longtime friend and collaborator.
With his son Adam working alongside him, Spero continues to manage artists from his home in South Euclid, Ohio, representing Dickey Betts
, Dave Mason
, The Funk Brothers
and many others. Like he did in the '70s with Michael Stanley, Spero continues to work with up-and-coming artists explaining "You need to mix the old with the new to keep up the variety of interests."
Rock Radio
Rock Radio is a brand of radio stations in the United Kingdom owned by GMG Radio.96.3 Rock Radio was the first station in the network. It operates in West Central Scotland...
pioneer" in the 1970s and is a "high-profile" music manager and owner of the Cleveland office of Alliance Artists Ltd.
Radio DJ
At the age of 13, before beginning his career as a DJ at WXEN (now WHLKWHLK
WJQM is a radio station serving Madison, Wisconsin and surrounding areas. The station is owned by Mid-West Family Broadcasting and launched a Rhythmic Contemporary format as "106.7 Jamz" in January 2007 before the move to 93.1 FM in October 2008....
), WNCR-FM (now WGAR-FM
WGAR-FM
WGAR-FM — branded 99.5 WGAR — is a commercial radio station in Cleveland, Ohio with a country music format. Studios are located at 6200 Oak Tree Boulevard off of Rockside Road in Independence, Ohio along with other local Clear Channel stations, and its transmitter is located in Parma.- WGAR:The...
), WMMS
WMMS
WMMS — branded 100.7 WMMS: The Buzzard — is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, widely recognized as one of the most influential rock stations in America throughout much of the history of FM broadcasting...
, M105-FM (now WMJI
WMJI
WMJI — branded Majic 105.7 — is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio broadcasting a classic hits format. The station serves Cleveland, Akron and much of surrounding Northeast Ohio....
), and WNCX
WNCX
WNCX — branded 98.5 WNCX — is commercial radio station in Cleveland, Ohio, broadcasting a classic rock format. The station's studios are currently located in Cleveland's historic Halle Building, in the Playhouse Square District...
, Spero worked as a cue card holder on The Upbeat Show
Upbeat (TV series)
Upbeat was a syndicated musical variety show produced in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, at WEWS-TV that aired from 1964 to 1971 which spotlighted on the performers and their hit songs of the 1960s Top 40 pop music genre which was common on such AM radio stations as WIXY in Cleveland and CKLW in...
which his father, Herman Spero, produced. At 15, Spero was helping to set the order of songs as a co-writer and assistant producer of the show. In describing the show, Spero explained that it was like Dick Clark’s American Bandstand
American Bandstand
American Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...
in that it featured the newest performers and their music, but unlike Clark’s show, which had just one act and mostly dancing, Upbeat had eight or more live acts each week.
At the age of 16, Spero got his start in radio on WXEN's graveyard shift. Shortly after WXEN, Spero moved to WNCR and then WMMS at around 19 years of age. While still living with his parents, Spero got a break at WNCR when radio host Don Imus
Don Imus
John Donald "Don" Imus, Jr. is an American radio host, humorist, philanthropist and writer. His nationally-syndicated talk show, Imus in the Morning, is broadcast throughout the United States by Citadel Media and relayed on television by the Fox Business Network.-Personal life:Imus was born in...
helped him get promoted to the morning spot on the station. As a DJ at WMMS in the 1970s, Spero interviewed most of the rock stars who went to Cleveland. In fact, Humble Pie
Humble Pie (band)
Humble Pie was a rock band from England, finding success both in the UK and the US. They are remembered for songs such as "Black Coffee" "30 Days in the Hole", "I Don't Need No Doctor", and "Natural Born Bugie"...
credits Spero for breaking the band locally in the US. And, although his fellow DJ "Kid Leo" is widely credited with breaking Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
, it was Spero who "told fellow WMMR [sic] DJ 'Kid Leo' about Springsteen."
Michael Stanley
In the spring of 1974, Spero took a break from being a DJ and resigned as the afternoon drive host on WMMS to manage Michael Stanley'sMichael Stanley
Michael Stanley is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and disc jockey. Both as a solo artist and with the Michael Stanley Band, his brand of heartland rock was popular in Cleveland and around the American Midwest in the 1970s and 1980s.-Biography:Michael Stanley Gee graduated from Rocky...
career. Spero managed the Michael Stanley Band during their early building process. According to Jim Girard of Citi-Music Magazine, Spero used his influence to get the band a deal with Epic Records
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
, although Spero credits Bill Szymczyk
Bill Szymczyk
Bill Szymczyk is an American music producer and technical engineer best known for working with rock and blues musicians, most notably the Eagles in the 1970s. He produced many top albums and singles of the 1970s, though he retired from the music business by 1990...
and Irving Azoff
Irving Azoff
Irving Azoff is an American personal manager, representing recording artists in the music industry such as Christina Aguilera, Journey, Jewel, the Eagles, X Japan, Bush, REO Speedwagon, Seal, David Archuleta, Alter Bridge, Van Halen, 30 Seconds to Mars, Neil Diamond, New Kids on the Block, Steely...
– Joe Walsh’s manager at the time, with getting Michael's new band signed. Michel Stanley's second solo album, Friends and Legends
Friends and Legends
Friends and Legends was the second solo album from Michael Stanley. The album title refers to the backing musicians accompanying Stanley on the album, which was recorded at Applewood Studios in Golden, Colorado...
, was the first project Spero was involved with as his manager.
Spero was managing Stanley when his band opened for the Eagles on tour, thus Spero gained valuable experience in managing a band and developed a relationship with the Eagles, both of which proved helpful to Spero's career.
In 1978 Spero returned to radio at Cleveland's M105-FM (now WMJI
WMJI
WMJI — branded Majic 105.7 — is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio broadcasting a classic hits format. The station serves Cleveland, Akron and much of surrounding Northeast Ohio....
) both to avoid the travel since he was newly married and because he missed working in radio.
Columbia Pictures
Radio felt increasingly corporate and no longer held the same appeal for Spero, so he again looked for a change in career. Even as he kept a foot in the door with radio via a Saturday show on WNCXWNCX
WNCX — branded 98.5 WNCX — is commercial radio station in Cleveland, Ohio, broadcasting a classic rock format. The station's studios are currently located in Cleveland's historic Halle Building, in the Playhouse Square District...
, Spero left M105-FM and spent over ten years with Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
. In March, 1984, Boxoffice magazine
Boxoffice (magazine)
Boxoffice is a film industry magazine dedicated to the movie theatre business published by Boxoffice Media LP. It started in 1920 as The Reel Journal, taking its current name in 1931 and still publishes today, with an intended audience of theatre owners and film professionals.Boxoffice is the...
listed in its "On the Move" page that Spero was promoted to Manager of the Cleveland-Cincinnati branch office. He continued to work up through the ranks and was Columbia's Regional Managing Director in Independence, Ohio
Independence, Ohio
Independence is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 7,133.-Geography:Independence is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....
, when the film company relocated that office to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
.
Joe Walsh
Returning to talent management, Spero became Joe Walsh'sJoe Walsh
Joseph Fidler "Joe" Walsh is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has been a member of three commercially successful bands, the James Gang, Barnstorm, and the Eagles, and has experienced notable success as a solo artist and prolific session musician, especially with B.B...
manager just before Walsh released his ninth studio album Ordinary Average Guy
Ordinary Average Guy
Ordinary Average Guy is the ninth studio album by Joe Walsh, released in 1991 .-Reception:Writing for Allmusic, critic Vincent Jeffries wrote of the album "This collection of nostalgia, decent balladry, and quirky anthems probably reinforced any notions of Joe Walsh's creative decline.....
. Spero and Walsh have maintained a friendship for over thirty years.
Spero produced ‘The Joe Walsh/Glenn Frey Tour’ – the precursor to ‘The Eagles: Hell Freezes Over Tour
Hell Freezes Over
Hell Freezes Over is a live album by the Eagles, released in 1994. The album contains four new studio tracks and eleven tracks recorded live for an MTV special. It went to #1 on the Billboard album chart upon its release where it stayed for two weeks. It is the band's second live album behind their...
’ – after facilitating the reconciliation between Walsh and Frey which eventually brought the entire band back together. He describes the Hell Freezes Over Tour as "the coolest thing I ever did."
In the late 1990s, in addition to Joe Walsh, Spero was managing other musicians including the classic pop act Raspberries
Raspberries (band)
Raspberries is an American power pop/pop rock band from Cleveland, Ohio. They had a run of success in the early 1970s music scene with their crisp pop sound, which Allmusic later described as featuring "exquisitely crafted melodies and achingly gorgeous harmonies." The members were known for their...
and Ted Neeley
Ted Neeley
Ted Neeley is a rock and roll drummer, singer, actor, composer, and record producer. He is probably best known for performing the title role in the film Jesus Christ Superstar in 1973....
, a rock and roll musician well known for performing the title role in the 1973 movie
Jesus Christ Superstar (film)
Jesus Christ Superstar is a 1973 American film adaptation of the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice rock opera of the same name. Directed by Norman Jewison, the film centers on the conflict between Judas and Jesus during the last weeks before the crucifixion of Jesus...
and long-running road production of Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Tim Rice. The musical started off as a rock opera concept recording before its first staging on Broadway in 1971...
. He also was managing Harry Nilsson
Harry Nilsson
Harry Edward Nilsson III was an American singer-songwriter who achieved the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. On all but his earliest recordings he is credited as Nilsson...
in 1994 when the Grammy award winning musician died in his sleep a few days after completing work on his album "Lost and Found".
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
John Mayer
John Clayton Mayer is an American pop rock and blues rock musician, singer-songwriter, recording artist, and music producer. Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut and raised in Fairfield, Connecticut, he attended Berklee College of Music in Boston. He moved to Atlanta in 1997, where he refined his...
, Linkin Park
Linkin Park
Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. Formed in 1996, the band rose to international fame with their debut album, Hybrid Theory, which was certified Diamond by the RIAA in 2005 and multi-platinum in several other countries...
, Avril Lavigne
Avril Lavigne
Avril Ramona Lavigne is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She was born in Belleville, Ontario, but spent most of her youth in the small town of Napanee. By the age of 15, she had appeared on stage with Shania Twain; by 16, she had signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records worth more...
and Godsmack
Godsmack
Godsmack is an American heavy metal band from Lawrence, Massachusetts, formed in 1995. The band is composed of founder, frontman and songwriter Sully Erna, guitarist Tony Rombola, bassist Robbie Merrill, and drummer Shannon Larkin...
are among the artists Spero brought to the Rock Hall. Spero served as a member of their Board of Trustees into 2008. Among the many events he brought to the Rock Hall, in October, 2005, Spero recreated Upbeat in a benefit helping inner city teenagers.
In addition to his involvement with Cleveland's Hall of Fame, on October 7, 2007, Spero himself was inducted as one of the Radio/Television Broadcasters Hall of Fame of Ohio's Class of 2007. And when Graham Nash
Graham Nash
Graham William Nash, OBE is an English singer-songwriter known for his light tenor vocals and for his songwriting contributions with the British pop group The Hollies, and with the folk-rock band Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Nash is a photography collector and a published photographer...
was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010 for the second time, this time with The Hollies
The Hollies
The Hollies are an English pop and rock group, formed in Manchester in the early 1960s, though most of the band members are from throughout East Lancashire. Known for their distinctive vocal harmony style, they became one of the leading British groups of the 1960s and 1970s...
– the first time was in 1997 with Crosby, Stills and Nash – Nash acknowledged the help and support of Spero during his remarks.
Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens)
In 2003, managing Billy Bob ThorntonBilly Bob Thornton
Billy Bob Thornton is an American actor, screenwriter, director and musician. Thornton gained early recognition as a cast member on the CBS sitcom Hearts Afire and in several early 1990s films including On Deadly Ground and Tombstone...
, Spero helped his Edge of the World
The Edge of the World (album)
The Edge of the World is the second album by American actor and singer/songwriter Billy Bob Thornton. It was released in 2003 on Sanctuary Records.-Track listing:All tracks composed by Billy Bob Thornton; except where indicated...
album get off the ground with a summer tour. A few years later, in 2007, Spero was Yusuf Islam's manager, co-managing him with his brother David Gordon, for the Deluxe reissues of Tea for the Tillerman
Tea for the Tillerman
Tea for the Tillerman is an album by singer-songwriter Cat Stevens. This album, Stevens' second during 1970, includes many of Stevens' best-known songs including "Where Do the Children Play?", "Hard Headed Woman", "Wild World", "Sad Lisa", "Into White" and "Father and Son"...
and Teaser and the Firecat
Teaser and the Firecat
Teaser and the Firecat is an album released by Cat Stevens in 1971. It contains 10 songs including hits such as "Morning Has Broken," "Moonshadow," and "Peace Train." It is also the title of a children's book written and illustrated by Stevens...
. David then did the A&R
A&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
work for the former Cat Stevens' Roadsinger
Roadsinger
Roadsinger is a studio album by Yusuf . Roadsinger is Yusuf's second mainstream release since his return to music. The album made its debut on the Billboard 200 at position #41 and on the UK charts at #10.The album was released by Island Records in the UK...
CD and put together his tour in Europe and the US in 2009 which was Islam's first full tour since 1976.
Spero was instrumental in bringing together Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
and Islam into the recording studio for one of the tracks. That track, "Boots & Sand," also features Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
, Islam's longtime friend and collaborator.
With his son Adam working alongside him, Spero continues to manage artists from his home in South Euclid, Ohio, representing Dickey Betts
Dickey Betts
Forrest Richard "Dickey" Betts is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and composer best known as a founding member of The Allman Brothers Band. He was inducted with the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and also won with the band a best rock performance Grammy Award for his...
, Dave Mason
Dave Mason
David Thomas "Dave" Mason is an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist from Worcester, who first found fame with the rock band Traffic...
, The Funk Brothers
The Funk Brothers
The Funk Brothers was the nickname of Detroit, Michigan, session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown Records recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972...
and many others. Like he did in the '70s with Michael Stanley, Spero continues to work with up-and-coming artists explaining "You need to mix the old with the new to keep up the variety of interests."